The Adventures of Tintin- The Indiana Jones Movie No One Talks About

This week will see the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the newest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise that has been at least 15 years in the making and will make for Harrison Ford’s last go around as this beloved character. It’s a movie that thus far has left plenty of people with a lot of questions before it’s release. Will it be better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Can Harrison Ford still play Indiana Jones even at 80 years old? Does the movie even need to exist in the first place? And the most important question on everyone’s mind, is it the w word?! All of these questions and more I’m sure plenty will get the answers to this weekend when the movie comes out in theaters, that’s assuming they haven’t read the online leaks for it. However, no matter how Dial of Destiny does in terms of box office and audience reception, I do think attention should be turned to another movie that can basically be described as a Indiana Jones flick even if it’s not strictly Indiana Jones. Not only because it’s a damn good flick in it’s own right but it’s arguably a better Indiana Jones flick than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and even Temple of Doom (Yeah I said it!). That movie I’m referring to is The Adventures of Tintin, also known in other areas as The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

In case for anyone that’s not aware, The Adventures of Tintin is an animated, action adventure film that was released in 2011, based on the comic books of the same name. It was directed by the co-father of Indiana Jones himself in Steven Spielberg, had a screenplay written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish, and was even produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and *bullet shield* Kathleen Kennedy. Oh, and also composed by the legendary John Williams, who is still doing strong music work at 90 years old! It’s a film that follows the title character of Tintin played by Jamie Bell, his lovable fluffy dog, Snowy, and his mentor figure Captain Haddock played by Andy Serkis, has they search for the treasure of the so-called Unicorn, a ship once captained by Haddock’s ancestor Sir Francis Haddock. However, the pair face dangerous pursuit from Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine played by Daniel Craig, the descendant of Sir Haddock’s nemesis, Red Rackhlam, and must find the treasure before it’s too late.

When looking through all of that, it’s easy to see why one would mistake this for being an Indiana Jones movie. It’s got some of the main people that were involved in the Indiana Jones franchise from Spielberg to Kennedy to Williams, there’s an adventure that leads to the main character needing to look for a McGuffin before it falls into the enemy hands, there’s plenty of action set pieces that the main character will have to go throughout their journey, and it even has an unlikely sidekick or two that sounds like the most oddest yet awesome pairing ever. However, the one element that Adventures of Tintin captures just as well with the original Indiana Jones trilogy and arguably does it better than either Indiana Jones movie that has come out in the 21st century thus far, capturing that exact feeling of adventure, excitement, and discovery.

Tintin himself is a really fascinating character who acts as a professional journalist who will do whatever it takes to uncover the story he needs even if it will put himself in great danger. Snowy makes for possible the most useful yet lovable pet in cinema history. Archibald Haddock makes for a great leader/mentor for Tintin and helps add great intrigue to the McGuffin that is the treasure of the unicorn with the connections he has with it and his. The main antagonist of the picture in Sakharine and his personal thugs feel right at home with the other traditional bad guys in the Indiana Jones franchise, even if none of them are Nazis or Russians. The amount of action and tension that Tintin constantly throws himself into feels like everyday occurrence just as it is with Dr. Jones. And of course, the treasure of the Unicorn, would be something that the young Indy in Temple of Doom would certainly put a grin on his face and lusting over the potential fortune and glory that would come with it.

It’s all these elements and more that make The Adventures of Tintin the most worthy spiritual sequel to the original Raiders trilogy imaginable and more than just another Indiana Jones knock-off. The action is there, the adventure is there, the characters are there, the banter is there, the intrigue and lore is there, and most importantly, the heart is there. So, the bigger question is how come this one didn’t get any sequels made? It’s a complicated story.

The film was considered a success at the time of it’s release grossing 374 million dollars worldwide. Because of that, a sequel was greenlighted. However, next time around, it wouldn’t be Spielberg that would be taking over directing duties but it would be Peter Jackson this time around. According to Spielberg, the pair agreed to take turns when it came to directing new installments in this franchise. It was initially suggested that the second movie would based on Hergé’s The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun. Unfortunately, this project still has yet to see the day.

For the past several years since the original Tintin came out in theaters, the cast and crew have given significant updates on the process of the sequel while constantly claiming that the picture was not dead and would eventually see the light of day. However, 12 years later, that has yet to be made and has remained in development hell. Even though, there has yet to be a confirmation that a Tintin sequel has been officially cancelled for good, it is looking less and less likely that a follow-up will ever get made.

It’s a massive shame that Tintin and Snowy has never gotten a proper sequel or franchise. I along with many others that have watched this movie would certainly love to see more adventures with this pairing and learn more about the whole that Tintin himself inhabits in. It’d give that perfect Indiana Jones vibe without actually being Indiana Jones and possibly even showing off a better younger Indy than any episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Even though it’s been over a decade since The Secret of the Unicorn got released, I still believe there is a proper way to re-introduce this character for a worthy follow-up in the 2020s. Not only because of the cast and crew still have desire to do another one but because they could take a page for what Dreamworks did with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Just like with Tintin, Puss in Boots 2 was also a sequel that was multiple years in the making and took over a decade to come out but it exceeded possibly every expectation that anyone had for it. The main key ingredient with that was the way they were able to update the animation style that the Spider-Verse movies had and used it as a template to tell an incredibly story in a way you could never do in live-action. It could fit perfectly for the world of Tintin as that too had animation that at time was over-the-top and nonstop but also felt like something that could only exist in animation, and of course motion capture. Even if using the animation style is becoming more apparent with recent animated films, I believe Tintin could learn the right lessons from that and used it to create stellar animation that would work perfectly with telling it’s story, making creative action sequences, and having characters be more expressive than ever before. If DreamWorks could make it work with The Last Wish, then I don’t see how it can’t work here.

Regardless, of how you feel about Dial of Destiny, I do think The Adventures of Tintin is something that you should check out if you haven’t already. It contains all the fun, heart, spirit, and excitement that the better Indiana Jones movies have while also being an incredibly unique picture in it’s own right. It’s one of the most overlooked animated movies in recent memory, one of Spielberg’s best films in the 21st century, and is just a terrifically enjoyable ride all around.

Tbh, I would honestly add that movie to my ranking of Indiana Jones movies even if it really isn’t one. Like, how else can I convince people to watch this movie who haven’t already? Even so, check out The Adventures of Tintin if you haven’t already. You won’t be disappointed!