Blistering barnacles - it’s time to open the book (or comic album) on Tintin and tackle the crab with the golden claws, discover the secret of the unicorn and find Red Rackham’s treasure. Barry Levitt re-joins the pod after a brief break from Amblin animation and together we piece together the whole story: the complicated history of Tintin creator Hergé (and how to properly pronounce his name), the long road to the film’s production, the pros and cons of motion capture, the uncanny valley, whether or not this Tintin has a weird face, Spielberg’s unchained digital camera, the sheer exuberance of the action scenes and, of course, Tintin’s status as a Belgian (NOT French) icon. A fun chat about an intensely fun film, and one that we argue is much deserving of a sequel. Now, how’s your thirst for adventure?

You can follow Barry on Twitter and Letterboxd @blevitt93, and catch his writing over at the likes of Vulture, The Daily Beast, Empire, LA Times, Rolling Stone and more.

If so inclined, you can watch the 1947 stop-motion adaptation of THE CRAB WITH THE GOLDEN CLAWS here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_DXY0FnOLc 

And, if Josh’s rendition wasn’t sufficient, you can listen to Joe Cornish’s full doodle story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFuh8NFb6hs 

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin), Instagram (@ramblinamblinpod) and Blusky (@ramblinamblin.bsky.social). Be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via our socials or email rambinaboutamblin@gmail.com. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.