Snowy became famous as Tintin's loyal dog and companion in one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century.
Ninety years ago an adventurous boy named Tintin and his faithful little white dog Snowy came to life in print. The characters, created by Belgian artist Georges Remi who wrote under the pen name Herge, solved mysteries and fought crime throughout the world. The comic strip made its first appearance in a Belgium newspaper on January 10, 1929, running as a serial until May 1930. The series was then published in a book form titled Tintin in the Land of the Soviets.
Herge never had a dog until his later years, but he did admire a white Wire Fox terrier that belonged to the owner of a little cafe he often visited. It was this dog that inspired Snowy's character. Herge named the dog Milou, the nickname of his first girlfriend Marie-Louise. When The Adventures of Tintin came to America, Milou was given the name Snowy. It was a short name to fit in the speech bubbles, and the name fit well with the color of his fur.
In the beginning Snowy was a cynical type of dog that often expressed his thoughts, but after the appearance of Captain Haddock he became more light-hearted, as the Captain took over the role of the cynic. The bond between Tintin and his dog is significantly strong. Snowy is always at his side, unless he is forced away from him. The dog's character is a lively one. He is known for mocking others, is superstitious, feels overly sensitive at times, and shows excessive self-satisfaction in his achievements.
Snowy is constantly saving Tintin from dangerous situations and freeing him from captivity. He is fearless against those who are bigger than him when it comes to saving Tintin, but he is extremely fearful of all spiders. Snowy is occasionally faced with problems of moral order when having to choose between duty and his desires. He loves bones, meat and whiskey. When Snowy is expected to come to the rescue, he sometimes finds himself distracted by his temptations. These might slow him down a bit but he always comes through in the end.
Twenty-three Tintin stories were published during Herge's lifetime, and a 24th issue that was still in progress at the time of his death was published posthumously. Before Herge passed away in 1983, he had expressed the wish that no other artist draw Tintin after his death. The comic strip on paper ended, but Tintin's adventures continued on the big screen for the first time when Steven Spielberg released The Secret of the Unicorn in 2011.
