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panzer
Advanced Member
12702 Posts
Member since 18/05/2005 |
 Posted - 18/07/2005 : 08:52:13
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The comic book hero Tintin will be feted for the first time in his hometown of Brussels next week, with soap-box races, exhibitions and a costume party being held to celebrate the boy reporter.
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From July 20-23 the Belgian capital, which is modelling itself as the world's comic book capital, will hold a festival dedicated to the blond-haired adventurer aimed at "Tintinophiles aged seven to 77."
According to organisers, the "father" of Tintin, Georges Remi -- better known as Herge -- "has become the best ambassador for his home town", even if the stories were set away from Brussels as they won international fame.
The adventures of the boy reporter, born some 76 years ago, have been translated into 60 languages and sold more than 200 million copies.
Nick Rodwell, the husband of the widow of the Belgian artist and administrator of the company holding the rights to his works, Moulinsart, and the Herge Foundation, wants to turn the event into a wandering festival.
"If it is a big success, we could get offers from everywhere. The idea is to organise a Tintin festival every two years, in Brussels, or Belgium, or abroad," he told the press recently.
For this first festival, a large mural of Tintin, Snowy the dog and their bad tempered partner Captain Haddock, inspired by a scene in the 1956 book "The Calculus Affair", will be unveiled on the Grand Place on July 20.
The following day, Belgium's national holiday, young Tintin fans will be able to race around the streets in soap-box wagons, along with other cartoon characters created by Herge.
An English fire truck straight out of "The Black Island", from 1938, and vintage cars, a lunar rocket, an aircraft, a 1930s motorcycle and other motorised machines used by Tintin will be on display on July 21.
A Tintin Rally will also take to the streets during the day.
On Friday night, Bianca Castiafiore, the opera singer character, and The Thomsons -- the bowler-hatted twins -- will host the costume party along with four other characters from the world of Herge, who died in 1983.
A rare film version of "The Crab with the Golden Claws", from 1941 and shown only once, in 1947, will be the centre-piece of a cinema retrospective organised at the Palais des Beaux Arts, which includes outdoor screenings.
Then on Saturday, the Beaux Arts will host a convention with round-table talks, conferences and debates on the roots of Herge's characters and the difficulties of translating his works.
During the day, a flea market dedicated to Herge will also be opened on the Place du Jeu de Balle, the spot where Tintin discovered the model of the ship the Unicorn at the beginning of the 1943 work "The Secret of the Unicorn."
Over the four days, visitors will be able to go on guided walks through Brussels following in the footsteps of Herge and taking in the parts of the city that were most dear to him.
Further details can be found on the Internet site: www.tintin.com.
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