Tin-Tin Kyrano is a fictional character introduced in the 1960s British Supermarionation puppet television series Thunderbirds. In the original TV series and its film sequels, the voice of Tin-Tin was provided by actress Christine Finn. In the live-action film adaptation, the character was played by Vanessa Hudgens, while in the remake series, she was voiced by Angel Coulby.
Thunderbirds (1965–66)
Background
Sylvia Anderson, Thunderbirds co-producer and character co-creator, writes that Tin-Tin was conceived mainly to "redress the balance" of the "male-dominated" primary puppet cast. Anderson regrets that the backstories that she had devised for Tin-Tin and her father mostly progressed no further than the script, and that the pair's on-screen visibility was limited, in her view, to a series of cameo appearances.
The Supermarionation puppet was sculpted by Christine Glanville.
Character biography
Born on 20 June 2004 or 2043, Tin-Tin is the daughter of Kyrano – an old friend of, and manservant to, International Rescue founder Jeff Tracy. She joins the organisation shortly after it starts operations, having inadvertently become involved in IR's first mission when the maiden flight of Fireflash, in which she is travelling from London to Tokyo, is sabotaged by her villainous half-uncle The Hood ("Trapped in the Sky"). Her further education, specialising in mathematics and engineering, was fully paid for by Jeff in gratitude for her father's service to him ("Trapped in the Sky").
Tin-Tin performs a variety of roles on Tracy Island, IR's base of operations. They range from a secretary to Jeff ("Terror in New York City"), to a laboratory assistant to the scientist and engineer Brains ("City of Fire", "Danger at Ocean Deep") to active participation in missions, most notably the rescue of the Sun Probe spaceship ("Sun Probe"). She is also known to accompany Lady Penelope on espionage missions ("The Cham-Cham") and is a qualified pilot. Tin-Tin is romantically involved with Alan Tracy, although their relationship is briefly strained when Tin-Tin's ex-boyfriend, Eddie Houseman, visits the island ("End of the Road").
Name
Tin-Tin's name was derived from the Malaysian term for "sweet".
For the 2010s remake, Thunderbirds Are Go, Tin-Tin was renamed Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano due to potential copyright issues in respect of the Hergé comic book character Tintin.
There is no character for "ti" in Japanese, and "chi" is usually substituted; however, chin-chin is a Japanese colloquialism for phallus. In Japan, broadcasts of TV series typically include subtitles introducing the names of characters when they first appear on-screen, and Thunderbirds episodes introduced Tin-Tin as "Min-Min".
Reception
Sylvia Anderson remembered the character as "mostly house-bound" and less of an adventurer than Lady Penelope, although she "had her followers" and served as a "decorative sidekick to her macho boss". Commentators are divided on the subject of Tin-Tin's significance to the narrative. Jack Hagerty and Jon C. Rogers argue that prior to her sizeable role in Thunderbird 6, and despite her status as a series regular, the character was "usually nothing more than window-dressing, with her actual contributions being a bit vague". David Ryan of website DVD Verdict characterised Tin-Tin as "part hanger-around-the-house, part local-squeeze-for-Alan's-pleasure, and 99 percent useless".
Stephen La Rivière is less critical, asserting that over the course of the series the character moved away "from being the submissive hired help to a more assertive, independent role". However, he concedes that her development was overshadowed by Lady Penelope's. John Peel offers a similar assessment, criticising the character's appearance in the first episode, "Trapped in the Sky" ("a helpless-female-to-be-rescued role"), but praising her contributions in "Sun Probe" and "The Cham-Cham" (stating that in the latter she "really comes into her own", emerging as Penelope's "sidekick"). He argues that compared to other Anderson series, Thunderbirds gave its minority of female characters more opportunities to prove their worth. Daniel O'Brien describes Tin-Tin, as well as Penelope and Grandma Tracy, as "intelligent" and "independent-minded", praising Thunderbirds for its progressive attitude to characterisation.