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Cinephilia Quiz 2: Tintin

Hi all,

Today’s quiz is not really about Cinema but about Tintin. As a matter of fact Tintin’s adventures are no less than any blockbuster action adventure flick and secondly Spielberg is coming up with his Tintin film very soon. So, I think it is the right time to dedicate a set of questions to arguably the greatest comic book ever created.

Rules:

Put your answers as comments.

They are being moderated and will be published only after the deadline.

You can make multiple attempts and in case of conflicts your last answer will be taken as final.

Every question is worth 10 points irrespective of difficulty level (for ease of calculation).

Prizes:

After a three month cycle, the top three cumulative score holders will be given certain prizes. The nature of prizes are still being decided. (Please moderate your expectations, my resources are limited!!!)

Deadline:

24 hours from the moment of publishing.

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Questions:

1. Connect these two pictures.
Clue1: It has nothing to do with the official canon of Tintin.
Clue2: Don’t let Budweiser lead you to other alcoholic beverages, especially Loch Lomond and Johnny Walker.

2. Connect again. The lady in the first image is directly related. Rest are completely symbolic and this list is not exhaustive.

3. P is a journalist turned author who became popular during early 20th century for his work in horror and detective genres. Arguably his most famous work is Q, that has seen multiple film and stage adaptations over the years. He has also been called the Conan Doyle of his country due to his contribution towards detective fiction. But what is relevant here is a lesser known novel R written by him in 1915 which was the basis of a Tintin book S, so much so that both have a character named T with somewhat similar roles. Identify P-T.

4. Sitter of the day, what is this and what product produced from it gives us the name of a Tintin character?

5. George Orwell once wrote,
A particularly interesting detail is that out of the 100,000 tons allotted to the Stationery Office, the War Office gets no less than 25,000 tons, or more than the whole of the book trade put together. […] At the same time paper for books is so short that even the most hackneyed “classic” is liable to be out of print, many schools are short of textbooks, new writers get no chance to start and even established writers have to expect a gap of a year or two years between finishing a book and seeing it published.

How did the events referred to in the above paragraph affect Tintin publications OR what distinguishable characteristics of the Tintin books did it lead to? (The question may look vague but it is easily guessable)

6. The following transition occurred in two different editions of a single Tintin Adventure owing to the changing socio-political scenario of the world. Some other changes include the alteration of the name of an important character and complete removal of two particular characters. Identify the particular Tintin adventure for half marks and explain these changes for full marks.

7. Another sitter: His connection to Tintin is merely coincidental. Nevertheless, identify this officer of Royal Navy who participated in the Anglo Dutch wars and also became an Admiral later on.

8. What is the occasion?

9. The person on the right is believed to have inspired something in literature, which in turn inspired the person on the left to create something. Use the bottom pic as a clue and connect them to a Tintin character.

10. Arthur, Benedict, John, Joseph, Peter, Alfred… some common English names. Connect them to a single Tintin character who appeared only once.
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Answers:


1. Tintin in Thailand, is an unauthorized copy of Tintin. It is created by someone with a pseudonym Bud E Weyser which is again a play on Budweiser. Herge foundation is fighting a legal battle against it.

2. Snowy’s name in various languages. The lady is believed to be Herge’s first girlfriend who was called Milou, which was Snowy’s original name. Rest are symbolic.
Terry Giliam: It is called Terry in various languages.
A band called Mi Lu Bing: It is scalled Mi Lu in Vietnamese (Which is again derived from Milou).
Milo: It is also called Milo in some other languages.

3. P – Gaston Leroux
Q – The Phantom of the Opera
R – Bride of the sun
S – Prisoners of the sun
T – Huascar

4. Cassava roots. Tapioca is prepared from it. General Tapioca.

5. Orwell was referring to the papaer shortage which was common during and after WW-II. This also affected Herge and he was forced by his pubisher to use smaller frames and limit number of pages which led to the standard 62 page format for all books that we are now familiar with.

6. “The Shooting Star”. Published during the Nazi regime, the original version had American Villains. Later on it was changed to a fictional country called Sao Rico. The main financier of Tintin’s adversaries was named Blumenstein which sounded too Jewish. It was later changed to Bohlwinkel although that also sounds Jewish. Two Jewish characters were removed completely. The stereotypical Jewish men were seen hoping that the disaster will save them from to pay off their creditors. Some references to the God were also removed to avoid offending the church.

7. Sir Richard Haddock. Although, it is claimed that Herge became aware of him only after creating the character of Sir Francis Haddock.

8. Presenting the “Light of Truth” award in 2006 to Bishop Desmond Tutu and Herge Foundation. Tintin is the only fictional character to have received it, obviously for his exploits in Tibet.

9. Bianca Castafiore’s favourite song, the Jewel Song from Faust, an opera by Charles Gounod (pic 1) which was inspired in Goethe’s Faust which in turn was apparently inspired by the life of Doctor Johannes Faust (pic 2). Pic 3: Marguerite’s garden in the original production, where the Jewel Song is sung.

10. The English names, when converted to Italian, gives us Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Arcangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano, the Milanese driver in “The Calculus Affair”, who appeared only once in a memorable chase sequence.

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5 thoughts on “Cinephilia Quiz 2: Tintin

  1. daktar

    2. Names of Tintin characters in different languages- Milou in French/Belgian- I guess
    5. Paper rationing. So, the stories became shorter, less paper was used?
    4. Tapioca
    7. Admiral Richard Haddock

     
    Reply
  2. Rithwik

    1.Bud E. Weyser (a parody of Budweiser beer) is listed as the author of Tintin in Thailand
    2.Connect is Snowy ,Marie Louis served as an inspiration for th french name Milou , Terry Gilliams (Terrier) , Then a band & the drink milo .
    3.PG Wodehouse , Jeeves , Nestor , Tintin and the Castiafore Emerald .
    4.Cassava , General Tapioca
    5.The Shooting Star – First color story and first Tintin story that was restricted from the start to what would become the standard fixed length of 62 pages
    6.The Shooting Star – Sao Rican ships still have American names (the Peary and the Kentucky Star) and Tintin uses a World War II Arado 196 German reconnaissance aircraft.
    7.Richard Haddock , who may/may not inspired Captain Haddock
    8.Tintin in Tibet was published in the same year that the Dalai Lama fled the Himalayan kingdom , the book was honored along with Tutu & Su Kyi .
    9.The connect between Charles Gounod & Johann-Georg Faust is Faust .
    Famous aria sung by Marguerite – the jewel song served as inspiration for Bianca Castafiore ‘s jewel song .
    10.Arturo Cartoffoli appeared in The Calculus Affair

     
    Reply
  3. Vedanuj Goswami

    Answers::
    1.Tintin in Thailand by Bud E. Weyser is a parody of the The Adventures of Tintin books by Hergé. It was deemed to have violated copyright laws and thus its publication is illegal.Bud E. Weyser (a parody of Budweiser beer) is listed as the author.later Belgian Police arrested the designer.
    2.Snowy(Milou)is the connect…Marie-lousie van who was Herge’s ex-girlfriend was the inspiration for Milou. Milou was a contraction of the name Marie-Louise (“Malou”). the others are symbolic..Milubing band, milo drink etc.
    3.
    4.Tapioca::Debut: Tintin and the Broken Ear,also seen in Tintin and the Picaros..vain and mean ruler of San Theodoros.Tapioca is a beadlike starch extracted from cassava root. It is used in cooking as a thickening agent, especially in puddings.
    5.A post-war paper shortage forced changes in the format of the books. Hergé had usually allowed the stories to develop to a length that suited the story, but with paper now in short supply, publishers Casterman asked Hergé to consider using smaller panel sizes and adopt a fixed length of 62 pages.
    6.Tintin and the Shooting Star::The original version had some significant differences from later editions; for example the rival expedition is from the United States. There are also villainous Jewish characters which led to charges of anti-Semitism against Hergé: when the end of the world is announced, two stereotypical Jewish men are seen hoping that the disaster will mean they do not have to pay off their creditors. In addition, the main villain of the piece is an American financier with a Jewish name, Blumenstein.The two Jewish debtors were removed when the story was published in book form. In post-war editions of the book, the villains hail from the fictional country of São Rico, and Blumenstein’s name becomes Bohlwinkel, a name less immediately identifiable as Jewish.
    7.Richard Haddock.
    8.At a ceremony in Brussels, Dalai Lama presented a Tibetan butter lamp to the Herge Foundation representing Tintin books.The award was accepted by Herge’s widow, Fanny Rodwell. The book Tintin in Tibet was published in the same year that the Dalai Lama fled the Himalayan kingdom.He also presented a lamp and silk scarf to fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop Tutu of South Africa.
    9.Bianca Castafiore:: Her pet aria is from a French opera (Faust was composed by Charles Gounod(pic 1)) The famous aria sung by Marguerite(Marguerite’s garden in the original production(pic3)) – the jewel song which she always sings at high volume, never saying more than Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir or a few words more from other lines. Dr. Johann Georg Faust(pic 2) whose life became the nucleus of the popular tale of Doctor Faust from circa the 1580s, notably culminating in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s closet drama Faust which was the inspiration behind Charles Gounod’s Faust.
    10.Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Arcangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano is the mad Italian driver of a Lancia coupe in The Calculus Affair who eagerly helps Tintin and Captain Haddock chase the Syldavian agents who kidnapped Professor Calculus.In English, Cartoffoli’s name would be something like “Arthur Benedict John Joseph Peter Archangel Alfred Cartoffoli of Milan”

     
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  4. Roerich Bansal

    answers

    1. Tintin in Thailand (it is a parody on the original works of Tintin) Bud E Weyser is listed as the author which is again a parody of Budweiser beer

    2. The connect is Snowy (Tintin’s companion dog)…. the girl is Marie Louise supposed girlfriend of Herge who is said to have given the name Milou (a contraction of Marie Louise) also Milu, Milo, Milou are names of Snowy in various languages

    3. P – Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux
    Q – The Phantom of the Opera
    R – Bride of the sun
    S – Prisoners of the sun
    T – Zorrino

    4. Cassava plant gives us Tapioca and the Tintin connect is General Tapioca, a character in Tintin

    5. Due to paper rationing or paper being short in supply at the WW2 time, publishers asked Herge to consider using smaller panel sizes and adopt a fixed length of 62 pages which was followed thereafter and focus shifted from being verbose to imagery

    6. “The Shooting Star” The transition was changing of the identities of villains from Americans to people of a fictional country Sao Rico. The main character Blumenstein’s name was changed to Bohlwinkel which sounded less Jewish. 2 Jewish characters were removed because they were shown in bad light in earlier editions

    7. Sir Richard Haddock supposed inspiration of Captain Archibald Haddock’s lineage

    8. Desmond Tutu and Mrs. Rodwell (founder of the Herge foundation) being given the International campaign for Tibet “Light of Truth” award in 2006 (Tintin in tibet connection)

    9.Bianca Castafiore is the character. She is heard singing from Faust, an opera by Charles Gounod (pic 1) inspired in itself by life of Doctor Johannes Faust (pic 2)

    10. These are the english versions of the constituents of the name of a Tintin character “Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Arcangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano” an Italian driver in “The calculus affair”

     
    Reply
  5. kapinjal sharma

    4. General tapioca , from the foodstuff tapioca made from cassava root.

    5. It has to do with the decrease in the number of pages in the Tintin comic, which later was fixed at 62 pages , but earlier had more , due to the increase in paper prices .

    6. The adventure is ” Tintin and the Shooting Star” ….the ship , I think it was named Peary or something originally was shown as a US ship, but later changed to that new flag due to socio-political reasons. Two jewish characters were changed I guess , and one american …….dont remember that well.

     
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