Tintin in America America"). The dog Snowy was given a diminished role in "Tintin in America", which contained the last instance in the "Adventures" in which Tintin and Snowy have a conversation where they are able to understand each other. In the banquet scene, a reference is made to a famous actress named Mary Pikefort, an allusion to the real-life actress Mary Pickford. That same scene also featured a prototype for the character of Rastapopoulos, who was properly introduced in the following "Cigars of the Pharaoh" story. The strip's serialisation coincided with the publication of another of Hergé's comics set in the United
Tintin (character) uncomplicated as the story line". Hergé never explained why he chose Tintin as the character's name. He had previously made use of alliteration with the name of his previous character, Totor. Michael Farr speculated that Hergé had adopted it from Rabier's "Tintin le lutin", although Hergé insisted that he did not learn of this book until 1970. Farr commented that "Tintin" was probably the character's surname, as other characters, such as his landlady, occasionally refer to him as Mr. Tintin (as printed on his doorbell). Conversely, Assouline asserted that it could not be his surname, because he lacked a family.