On a treasured “Guys Night Out” recently, I took my 7 year old son to see The Adventures of Tintin, a mash of three or four Tin Tin books by dynamic duo Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg. It was a fun movie for both of us. Although the 3D extra cost was unnecessary, the animation was stunning and the action scenes–from Moroccan bazaar motorcycle chases to high sea battles–kept us on the edge of our seats. Comic relief from sidekick hyper-intelligent canine sleuth Snowy and tumble-down recovering failure Captain Haddock took an animated Indiana Jones adventure and gave it a nostalgic childish humour. I’m not sure my son fully appreciated Captain Haddock’s struggle to carve out his destiny in the face of apathy, failure, and alcoholism, but when a well-dressed villain got involved, we were all along for the ride.

What has my mind buzzing, though, is a quick shot of a picture in Tintin’s apartment. The movie is filled with little hints of Tintin’s story–newspaper clips and book covers are hidden here and there. One of the pictures, though, looks very similar to the book cover for my edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which I am reading to my son right now. I asked him, and he was certain that it was. I know of no other nods in the film to Lewis or any other writer other than Hergé and the Tin Tin comics I grew up reading in French class. If anyone has information on this, I would love to hear it. Meanwhile, my accolades for a film that has very little depth but all kinds of colour.