Red Rackham's Treasure
Red Rackham's Treasure (Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge) | |
---|---|
Date | 1944 |
Series | The Adventures of Tintin |
Publisher | Casterman |
Creative team | |
Creator | Hergé |
Original publication | |
Published in | Le Soir |
Date of publication | 19 February 1943 – 23 September 1943 |
Language | French |
Translation | |
Publisher | Methuen |
Date | 1959 |
Translator |
|
Chronology | |
Preceded by | The Secret of the Unicorn (1943) |
Followed by | The Seven Crystal Balls (1948) |
Red Rackham's Treasure (French: Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge) is the twelfth volume of
Red Rackham's Treasure was a commercial success and was published in book form by
Synopsis
- The synopsis continues a plot begun in The Secret of the Unicorn.
When they reach the coordinates shown on the parchments, there is no island in sight. Frustrated, Haddock ponders turning back, but Tintin soon realizes the problem: If Sir Francis had used a French chart instead of an English chart to calculate the position, the coordinates would have been measured on the
After traveling to the correct position, they discover an uncharted island, which is located about 230 km (140 mi) north of Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and 286 km (178 mi) East-South-East of Cockburn Town (Location of 20°37'42.0"N 70°52'15.0"W adjusted by 2° 20′ 14.02500″ E for the Paris Meridian). There, they find a statue of Sir Francis Haddock and other evidence, including parrots who still use Haddock insults handed down from Sir Francis. Tintin deduces that Francis Haddock had taken refuge on the island and that the wreck of the Unicorn must be nearby. They locate the wreck using Calculus' submarine and recover various artefacts from it, but do not find the treasure. Among the artefacts is a strongbox containing old documents revealing that Sir Francis Haddock had been the owner of the country estate Marlinspike Hall.
Back in Belgium, Calculus purchases the Hall, using funds from the sale of his submarine design, and gives it to Haddock. Tintin and Haddock search the house's cellars, where Tintin spots a statue of Saint John the Evangelist holding a cross with a globe and eagle at its feet. Tintin suddenly remembers that Francis Haddock's original three parchments said, "For 'tis from the light that light will dawn, and then shines forth the Eagle's cross" and realises that this message referred, not to the location of the Unicorn, but to Saint John "the eagle": his traditional symbol. Tintin locates the island on the globe, presses a secret button which he finds there, and discovers Red Rackham's treasure hidden inside. Sometime later, Haddock hosts an exhibition of the treasure and several Unicorn artefacts in Marlinspike Hall.[2]
History
Background
Red Rackham's Treasure was serialized amidst the
Red Rackham's Treasure was the second half of a two-part story arc which had begun with the previous adventure, The Secret of the Unicorn. This arc was the first that Hergé had produced since Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus (1934–36).[9] However, as Tintin expert Michael Farr related, whereas Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus had been largely "self-sufficient and self-contained", the connection between The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure is far closer.[10]
Influences
Red Rackham's Treasure introduced Professor Cuthbert Calculus to The Adventures of Tintin, who became a recurring character.
Calculus' shark-shaped submarine was visually based on a real American submarine; Hergé had seen a picture of this in a German newspaper.
The brief appearance of Dr. Daumière, who warns Haddock to cease drinking alcohol, was an allusion to Hergé's own physician, Dr. Daumerie.[21][a] Hergé made a comical reference to the French comedian Sacha Guitry in the story by advertising a play by Guitry titled Me in which Guitry himself plays every role.[23][b]
Publication
Le Trésor De Rackham Le Rouge began serialisation as a daily strip in Le Soir from 19 February 1943.[24] The title of the new adventure had been announced in an advertisement in the newspaper two days previously.[25] In Belgium, it was then published in a 62-page book format by Editions Casterman in 1944.[26] Red Rackham's Treasure contained one of Hergé's two favourite illustrations from The Adventures of Tintin. It combines three actions encapsulating a sequence of events into one drawing: Haddock striding up the beach in the foreground, Tintin, Thomson and Thompson bringing the rowboat ashore in the midground, and the Sirius weighing anchor in the background.[27][c]
Rather than immediately embark on the creation of a new Tintin adventure, Hergé agreed to a proposal that Le Soir's crime writer, Paul Kinnet, would author a detective story featuring Thomson and Thompson. The story was titled Dupont et Dupond, détectives (Thomson and Thompson, Detectives), and was illustrated by Hergé.[29]
The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure were the first two Adventures of Tintin to be published in standalone English-language translations for the British market, as King Ottokar's Sceptre had previously been serialised in Eagle in 1951. Published by Casterman in 1952, these two editions sold poorly and have since become rare collector's items.[30] They would be republished for the British market seven years later, this time by Methuen with translations provided by Michael Turner and Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper.[15] Farr reported that Red Rackham's Treasure is the best-selling story in The Adventures of Tintin,[10] while Harry Thompson referred to The Secret of the Unicorn-Red Rackham's Treasure arc as "the most successful of all Tintin's adventures".[31]
Critical analysis
Harry Thompson stated that the Secrets of the Unicorn-Red Rackham's Treasure arc marked the beginning of the third and central stage of "Tintin's career". He furthermore stated that in these two stories, Tintin has been converted from a reporter into an explorer to cope with the new political climate.[9] He stated that in this story, Hergé "abandons the complex plotting of The Secret of the Unicorn in favour of an episodic style of adventure not seen since the early books".[32] Thompson further draws attention to the arrival of Calculus in the story, describing him as the "third and final member" of Tintin's "family".[32] Thompson was critical of the use of colour in the story, stating that much of it looks better in black-and-white, as it was originally printed in Le Soir.[33]
Hergé biographer Benoît Peeters observed that both The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure "hold a crucial position" in The Adventures of Tintin as it establishes the "Tintin universe" with its core set of characters.[35] He felt that while religious elements had been present in previous stories, they were even stronger in The Secret of the Unicorn and its sequel, something which he attributed to Van Melkebeke's influence.[36] Peeters believed that Red Rackham's Treasure was "an unforgettable book" because it is the volume in which the "family"—meaning Tintin, Snowy, Haddock, and Calculus—all come together.[37] Fellow biographer Pierre Assouline echoed this idea, noting that Hergé had "settled" the three characters in their new home.[34] Focusing on the character of Calculus, he noted that the idea of the eccentric professor was "so universal that it would be inaccurate to point to any one source", suggesting possible influences from Charlie Chaplin and Hergé's own father.[38] For Assouline, the professor embodies "the gentle madness and subtle humour in comic strips".[34] He added that both Red Rackham's Treasure and its predecessor "reveal Hergé at a new level in his art", and suggested that the reason for their popularity lay in the fact that they were "the visual continuation of a literary universe that stretches from Jules Verne to Pierre Benoit".[34]
Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier opined that The Secret of the Unicorn-Red Rackham's Treasure arc represents "a turning point" for the series as it shifts the reader's attention from Tintin to Haddock, who has become "by far, the most interesting character".[39] They claim that the introduction of Calculus "completes the indispensable triangle that imbues Tintin with its mythic quality".[39] Asserting that here, Hergé's "art has reached a degree of near-perfection", they awarded it five stars out of five.[40] Michael Farr said that the scene introducing Calculus was "a comic tour de force" marking the start of the "rich vein of humour" that the character brought to the series.[15] Noting that unlike The Shooting Star, this two-book story arc contains "scarcely an allusion to occupation and war", he praised the arc's narrative as "perfectly paced, without that feeling of haste" present in some of Hergé's earlier work.[17]
In his psychoanalytical study of the Adventures of Tintin, the academic Jean-Marie Apostolidès characterised the Secret of the Unicorn-Red Rackham's Treasure arc as being about the characters going on a "treasure hunt that turns out to be at the same time a search for their roots".[41] He stated that the arc revolves around Haddock's ancestry, and in doing so "deals with the meanings of symbolic relations within personal life".[42] He compared Sir Francis Haddock to Robinson Crusoe and noted how the Caribbean natives deified Sir Francis Haddock by erecting a statue of him in the same manner that the Congolese deify Tintin at the end of Tintin in the Congo.[43] Highlighting that Calculus is one of many eccentric scientists to appear in the series, Apostolidès nonetheless emphasises the uniqueness of Calculus, by noting that the character approaches Tintin, rather than Tintin approaching him, as the young reporter had done with previous scientists.[44] Commenting on the introduction of Calculus' shark submarine, Apostolidès states that it "allows them to cross a boundary previously restricting human beings and to penetrate into another universe, the one beneath the seas that holds secrets hitherto unknown".[44] Ultimately, he believes that by the end of the story, "the family structure is in place", with Calculus representing a father figure with financial control, and Haddock and Tintin, who have become brothers through their joint adventure, adding that with the aid of Francis Haddock, "the ancestor", they are given a home at Marlinspike Hall.[45]
Literary critic
Adaptations
In 1957, the animation company
In 1991, a collaboration between the French studio
A 2011
References
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ Hergé 1959, pp. 1–23.
- ^ Hergé 1959, pp. 24–62.
- ^ Assouline 2009, pp. 70–71; Peeters 2012, pp. 116–118.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 72; Peeters 2012, pp. 120–121.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 73; Assouline 2009, p. 72.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 73; Peeters 2012.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 99; Farr 2001, p. 95.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 99.
- ^ a b Thompson 1991, p. 112.
- ^ a b Farr 2001, p. 105.
- ^ Peeters 1989, p. 76.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 147.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 119.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 118; Farr 2001, p. 105; Assouline 2009, p. 91; Peeters 2012, p. 147.
- ^ a b c d Farr 2001, p. 106.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 119; Farr 2001, p. 112.
- ^ a b c d Farr 2001, p. 112.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 119.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 111; Horeau 2004, p. 22; Goddin 2009, p. 120.
- ^ Horeau 2004, p. 30.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 120.
- ^ Hergé 1959, p. 11.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 54.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 52; Goddin 2009, p. 116.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 116.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 52.
- ^ Thompson 1991, pp. 119–120.
- ^ Hergé 1959, p. 25.
- ^ Goddin 2009, pp. 128, 130; Assouline 2009, p. 94.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 121; Farr 2001, p. 106.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 113.
- ^ a b Thompson 1991, p. 118.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 120.
- ^ a b c d Assouline 2009, p. 92.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 143.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 144.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 146.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 91.
- ^ a b Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 53.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 30.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 136.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 138.
- ^ a b Apostolidès 2010, p. 145.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 146.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, p. 79.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, p. 97.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, pp. 22–23.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, p. 109.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, pp. 87–88.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 90.
- ^ a b The Daily Telegraph: Michael Farr 2011.
- ^ Lyttelton, Oliver (16 October 2011). "Steven Spielberg Says 'The Adventures of Tintin' is "85% Animation, 15% Live Action"". IndieWire. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
- ^ IGN 2011.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-8047-6031-7.
- ISBN 978-0-19-539759-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7195-5522-0.
- Farr, Michael (17 October 2011). "The inspiration behind Steven Spielberg's Tintin". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-86719-724-2.
- ISBN 978-0-316-35834-7.
- Horeau, Yves (2004). The Adventures of Tintin at Sea. Michael Farr (translator). London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6119-1.
- ISBN 978-1-904048-17-6.
- ISBN 978-1-86207-831-4.
- ISBN 978-0-416-14882-4.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0454-7.
- Simmons, Alex (8 December 2011). "The Adventures of Tintin [The Game] Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-340-52393-3.
External links
- Red Rackham's Treasure at the Official Tintin Website
- Red Rackham's Treasure at Tintinologist.org