''Corentin'' is a series of comics created by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

artist

Paul Cuvelier Paul Cuvelier (22 November 1923 – 5 July 1978) was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series '' Corentin'', published by Le Lombard, which first appeared in the first issue of ''Tintin'' magazine. Biography Paul Cuvelier was born ...

(1923-1978). Influenced by

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

, Cuvelier created the character of ''Corentin Feldoë'' in 1943. The character first appeared in a series of

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

that Cuvelier made for his own family.

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

, convinced of the merit of these watercolors, commissioned Cuvelier to do a series of comic strips. Thus, ''Corentin'' first made its appearance in ''

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

'' magazine on September 26, 1946. The final story was published in 1974, four years before Cuvelier's death.

Story

At the end of the 18th century, Corentin Feldoë, an

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

origin, decides to flee the house of his uncle, an inveterate drunkard who has been abusing him. Corentin runs off to sea, only to be

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

ed onto a

desert island A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...

. Corentin befriends a

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

named Belzébuth and a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

named Moloch, and subsequently befriends Kim, an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n boy, and Sa-Skya, a beautiful princess.

Western-themed story

Seeing the need for a Western-themed comic in ''Tintin'', editor

Raymond Leblanc Raymond Leblanc (born 22 May 1915 – 21 March 2008) was a Belgian comic book publisher, film director and film producer, best known for publishing works such as ''The Adventures of Tintin'' by Hergé and ''Blake and Mortimer'' by Edgar P. Jaco ...

asked Cuvelier to shift the focus of ''Corentin'' in 1949. Cuvelier situated his new adventures in the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

but made the hero a grandson of the original Corentin.

Animated series

In 1993 Media-Films TV and

Saban International Paris SIP Animation (known as Saban International Paris until 2002) was a French animation studio, and a former subsidiary of Saban Entertainment. By 2009, the company had produced over 390 hours of animated content. Despite the name, the company was n ...

made an animated TV series about the comic called ''Les Voyages de Corentin''.

envisioned this project since 1987. The series consisted of 26 episodes of 25 minutes each and was broadcast on

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services providing ...

and the

RTBF The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...

. It was broadcast in English as ''

Journey to the Heart of the World ''Journey to the Heart of the World'' (french: Les Voyages de Corentin) is an animated series that ran from September 6, 1993 to 1994. It was based on the Franco-Belgian comic strip '' Corentin''. Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 ...

''.

References

External links

*{{in lang, fr}
Paul Cuvelier: ''Corentin''
1946 comics debuts 1974 comics endings Adventure comics Belgian comic strips Belgian comics characters Male characters in comics Comics about orphans Comics adapted into animated series Comics set in the 18th century Drama comics Lombard Editions titles Western (genre) comics