When Tintin and Snowy are cast a drift in sarcophagi during Cigars of the Pharaoh they are rescued by a passing arms dealer. That man was based on Henry de Monfreid, a french drug smuggler who became famous after the publication of the autobiographic Hashish: A Smuggler’s Tale and Secrets of the Red Sea.

Monfreid first went to the Red Sea in 1911 with the intent of trading in coffee but spent the next thirty years smuggling guns, hashish and diving for pearls. He also spent a fair amount in prison because of this. Following the outbreak of World War II he worked for the Italians until captured by the British. When the war was over he retired to France and continued to write. Over the next 30 years he wrote about 70 books. When money got tight he mortgaged the family collection of Gauguin. After his death these paintings were found to be fake.

Hashish: A Smuggler’s Tale was published in the early thirties just when Herge was writing Cigars of the Pharaoh. It seems odd that the conservative, strait-laced Herge should put a character like Monfreid in his book but one can imagine the exotic, devil-may-care, existence of the smuggler would appeal to the shy Belgium who had never left his country. Though possible it was Monfreid attitude to Germans that appeal. On seeing the Pyramids he couldn’t wait to leave. Saying “The only thing that one might possibly admire is the stupendous effort it took to build them, and this admiration demands the mentality of a German tourist.”

Tintin made his first appearance on January 10th, 1929. So happy birtheday to Tintin and Snowy though not to Captain Haddock, the Thompson Twins or Professor Calculus as they didn’t appear for several more years.

Can you spot the cover of Tintin in Tibet in this music video?

There are lots more Tintin cameos in this list on Tintinologist.

The Inveresk Street Ingrate has an excellent suggestion about which book to make as the third film.

Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece plus Tintin And The Blue Oranges, the first and second live action Tintin films made in 1960’s seem to be available in Australia. No sign of them having a UK or US release.

Le Tintin Movie, despite its name, is an English language blog about the Tintin Movie.

Crooked Timber has a great post and an excellent discussion in the comments on advice to (American) Librarians about Tintin in America

Picked up from the Crooked Timber post is this page of what Captain Haddock says in the Danish editions of the Tintin books including “Pocket-Mussolini! Mackerel-eater! Carnival pirate! Fatbladder!” .

Dom Joly is mad about Tintin.

A Tintin fire escape on Flickr.

I’m afraid I don’t understand a word on this site, PierreTintin, but it has a lot of non-English Tintin links and resources. Amongst many other things, it hosts a document [ PDF ] looking at Nyon, on the shore of Lake Geneva, and how Herge used it in The Calculus Affair. Again, non-English, but the pictures are worth a look. You can also check out the locations on used in The Calculus Affair and all the Tintin books using the Tintin Map.

Source: Nyon: Following the Tracks of Tintin and Snowy