Volume 1 – The Crab With the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, Cigars of the Pharaoh
Running time: 138 minutes

A few DVD volumes of this old cartoon series have recently been released, with each DVD containing six episodes.

The reason for this release of an old cartoon series can only be attributed to the movie The Adventures of Tintin – now in cineplexes. Both of which are based on the comic books by Belgian artist Georges Remi who wrote under the pen name Herge.

Thankfully, these fantastic cartoons have been released now, otherwise so many adults and children alike would have missed out on this series.

Tintin is one of those intelligent, intriguing and entertaining cartoons that can captivate an adult and child audience alike.

The stories are a bit long – in this DVD, each story comes in two parts. That makes each episode about 23 minutes long.

The stories are about reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy who solve mysteries with the help bumbling detectives Thompson and Thompson and Captain Haddock.

In the first story – The Crab With the Golden Claws, a man is found dead and the only clue is a piece of paper with the printed image of a crab with golden claws on one side and the name “Karaboudjan” written on the other side.

In the second story – The Secret of the Unicorn, Tintin gets a model ship for Captain Haddock only to find it's in demand as a few men at the market are keen to buy it off him. He thinks nothing of it until the model ship is stolen and his apartment is ransacked. It's up to Tintin, Snowy and the captain to figure out the mystery of why everyone wants that model ship.

In the third story – Cigars of the Pharaoh, Tintin meets Egyptologist Dr Sarcophagus who invites him to come along to find the undiscovered tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh. In Egypt, Dr Sarcophagus goes missing and Tintin and Snowy find mummies of other previous Egyptologists and three empty coffin boxes – for Dr Sarcophagus, Tintin and Snowy!

I had not read these comics as a child and was pleasantly surprised to get this DVD for review. I actually expected it to be just another cartoon series to be watched and written about.

However, I have to say, just watching this one DVD has made me a fan of Tintin and I can't wait to go and buy the other volumes.

Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thompson and Thompson are easily likeable characters and the English is excellent. It's indeed a refreshing watch compared to what's available on TV now.

Tintin is full of stories of adventure, going around the world and while long (each story lasting two episodes), you will not be able to keep Part 2 for the next day. It's that good.

I loved this. Highly recommended. - Review by S.N.