Studio Journal

Introduction

Many things have been said, both for and against, about working in a studio environment, but the essential facts are often overlooked. Let's delve into the creative process by taking a look at the Studios Hergé. We can compare the work at Walt Disney Studios, where the 80th anniversary of Mickey's first spoken words will be celebrated in November, to that of the Studios Hergé. The similarities and differences between these two artists have continued to profoundly affect the collective imagination, on every continent, for several generations.

Working alone vs. working in a studio

There are two opposing concepts. The European method, of the artist working by himself, and the American and Asian method, that favours a collective approach. That is why American "superheroes" such as Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Iron Man, originally created by individual artists, have been systematically taken over by groups of designers and screenwriters. That is the result of commercial methods in the U.S. Let’s not forget that the editor of a comic strip becomes the owner, free to do what he wants with it. Working in a group has the advantage of assuring the permanent presence of a successful character, both in the daily press and in comic books, which are cheap and appear regularly each month.

The studio: a gathering of talents

It is often suspected that the designer, working with a studio, is not the real author of his works. We have to remember that unlike Hergé, Walt Disney was a mediocre designer, and did not even create his famous Mouse. While it is true that his collaborator, Ub Iwerks, gave definitive form to Mickey, Disney was nevertheless the real creator. He identified so closely with his character that he used his own voice in the early talking animations. Of course, he did not design any of the animations on which his success was based. Nevertheless, one can clearly see the hand of the master in Snow White, 101 Dalma-tians, Peter Pan and Jungle Book. His absence was painfully apparent in productions bearing his name but completed after his death on December 15, 1966.

Excellent actors…who didn’t know it

It’s not necessary to compare Hergé and Disney, because the comic strip was just a secondary activity for Disney. Nevertheless, the two men had several things in common. Both loved to tell stories, and never failed to act them out in front of their collaborators. There is even a working film showing Disney playing all the roles in Peter Pan, just as the two documentaries, Tintin and I, and Me, Tintin, show Hergé posing as Haddock, the Thom(p)sons, Calculus and others. The greatest authors of work destined for the general public, from Alexander Dumas and Jules Verne to Hergé and Disney, were all actors, who didn’t know it.

The conductor

There are times when former collaborators, angered for whatever reason, lay claim to the creation of a work signed by a famous name. Most of the time they realise that their idea had been used, but transformed and improved in such a way that it has little in common with their original idea.In reality, Hergé worked like the conductor of an orchestra. He knew all the instruments, even if he did not play them. Nevertheless, it is the conductor’s personality that comes through in the interpretation of a symphony. The difference is that Hergé was the conductor of the orchestra – his studio – as well as being the composer of the work being performed.

Knowing how to find talent – and recognize it

Everyone who witnessed his work agrees that Hergé knew how to recognize the talents of his collaborators, both full and part-time. Without a doubt, this was one of his qualities. He could recognize and reveal talent where he found it. This was clear from the time he founded Tintin magazine, previously mentioned in our article about Raymond Leblanc. The initial success of that publication attests to the quality of those with whom Hergé surrounded himself, such as Edgar P. Jacobs and Paul Cuvelier, to name but two. This was an innovation in the comic strip field, but working in a studio environment had been common to painters like Rubens and Michelangelo for centuries. It was both an honour and a wonderful education for their collaborators to work with the masters, and the best of them knew when it was time to leave. Hergé was following in a great tradition.