Snowy (character)
editSnowy (French: Milou pronounced [milu]) (Dutch: Bobbie) is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Snowy is Tintin's dog companion; a white fox terrier. Snowy is loyal to Tintin, he seldom leaves his side, and he occasionally speaks in conversation with him as they go on every adventure together. The character was created in 1929, the same day as Tintin, when they were both introduced in Le Petit Vingtième ("The Little Twentieth"), a weekly youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle ("The Twentieth Century").[1] Snowy appears as a male fox terrier dog, entirely white in colour,[3] with a bravery surpassing even that of his master. Through this bravery and resourcefulness, Snowy can be counted on to stay by Tintin's side.
Origin
editThe cafe to which journalists would adjourn for drinks and meals
When Snowy appeared in the first panel of Tintin's first adventure, Tintin called him by his original French name: Milou, the name of his creator's ex-girlfriend.[2] During his school days, Hergé became acquainted with a young woman named Milou.[3] Milou’s parents were not impressed that young Hergé wanted to become a professional artist and prevented him from seeing more of her.[4] In 1929 Brussels, it would have been unthinkable for Tintin’s companion to be a young woman. Hergé made Milou a dog companion.[3]
When Tintin and Snowy were translated into English for the first time in Eagle, Snowy retained his Belgian name, "Milou".[5]
Characterisation
editSnowy is a talking dog,[6] speaking his mind as he wishes, usually to his master.[1] In the earliest adventures, he and Tintin occasionally have lengthy conversations. (Readers of Le Petit Vingtième read even more of their conversations printed in the spaces between adventures.[6]) Tintin in America contained Snowy's last conversation with Tintin in which Tintin understood Snowy's words.[7] In later adventures Snowy nearly ceased speaking, only making the occasional remark.[1] Snowy occasionally breaks the fourth wall and speaks to the reader.[2] In The Castafiore Emerald, Snowy dryly observes a [speaking animal] and says, "I can't stand animals who talk."[8]
Hergé explored the comic potential of drunkenness in The Black Island when Snowy first (? The Broken Ear) got a taste for Loch Lomond whisky.[9]
Occupation
editSnowy was Tintin's confidant until the arrival of Captain Haddock in 1940.[6] Snowy's escape from being washed away in a raging river was removed from The Broken Ear and insterted into The Shooting Star(?)[10]
Outward appearance
editIn his early appearances, Snowy has a curious beard, which he even combs before a mirror in one panel.[11] Later he is marginally redesigned.[12]
Name
editAge
editSkills and abilities
editPersonality
editPossessions
editFamily
editIn Tintin in America, American businessmen offer Tintin "Ten thousand dollars for Snowy's picture on our Doggie Dinners: 'I won the tricks with Bonzo Bix, says super-sleuth Snowy!'"[13] In Cigars of the Pharaoh, in the first of Herge's dream sequences, Snowy and Rastapopoulos, in Egyptian dress, carry Tintin off.[14] The Crab with the Golden Claws starts innocuously with Snowy getting his nose stuck in a crab tin.[15] A scene in which Snowy defuses a bomb by urinating on it ("He did his best," says Tintin) was placed into The Shooting Star after it was removed from Cigars of the Pharaoh.[16] Scenes cut from Explorers on the Moon for space reasons include one in which Snowy is nearly jettisoned into space with some of Thomson and Thompson's discarded hair.[17]
Critical reception
editAdaptation
editSee also
editReferences
editNotes
editCitations
edit- ^ Farr 2001, p. 8.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 16, 36.
- ^ a b Thompson 1991, p. 16.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 19.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 109.
- ^ a b c Thompson 1991, p. 36.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 59.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 255.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 100.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 89.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 33.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 81.
- ^ Thompson 1991, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 68.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 127.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 138.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 200.
Bibliography
edit- Farr, Michael (2001). Tintin: The Complete Companion. London: John Murray Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7195-5522-0.
- Thompson, Harry (1991). Tintin: Hergé and His Creation. London: John Murray Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84854-672-1.