By Toutatis! Happy 50th birthday Asterix and Obelix
Last year the month of October saw both Paddington Bear (on the 13th) and the Smurfs (on the 23rd) celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first ever print appearance. In a curious coincidence, October 2009 marks the 50th “birthday” of yet another set of beloved fictional characters – whose colourful antics have kept children, and adults, entertained for decades.
A happy birthday today then to those “indomitable Gauls,” Asterix and Obelix (and Dogmatix of course)!
Created by writer René Goscinny (who also worked on the Lucky Luke series) and artist Albert Uderzo, the Asterix comic books have been translated into well over a hundred languages and dialects, and have sold over 325 million copies worldwide in the last half century, making them one of France’s most successful ever literary exports.
For those of you who don’t know anything about them, small, shrewd Asterix and bulky, dim Obelix are best friends and unlikely ancient world heroes in the year 50BC. They live a small village in Gaul (France) that has become a thorn in the side of Julius Caesar and the Roman authorities. You see, while Gaul is otherwise completely conquered by the Romans, Asterix’s village of idiosyncratic inhabitants (including chief Vitalstatistix, fishmonger Unhygenix and horrendously untalented bard Cacofonix) continues to hold out against the invaders.
The secret to the villagers’ success is a magic potion prepared by Getafix the druid, which gives all the villagers superhuman strength for short periods of time – enabling them to outmuscle and outpunch the Romans during every encounter. Obelix is the only villager banned from drinking the potion. The roast boar-loving warrior and part-time sculptor enjoys permanently enhanced strength after falling into a cauldron of potion when he was a baby.
The Asterix tales’ mix of wit, fantasy and a surprising amount of historical accuracy, along with their colourful illustration, made the series fantastic entertainment – and I’m sure the books are still fantastic reading for those just discovering them now.
Personally, I developed a real fondness and appreciation for the comics around the age of 10 or so. I loved the series, and I also repeatedly re-read my Asterix Adventure book, which basically was a Choose Your Own Adventure tale with the addition of dice and assorted props to up the “game” risk.
Given the success of the Asterix comics, it was inevitable that the characters would make the transition into other media. So there were films, video games and even a theme park (the location of which I accidentally found on our last day in France last year).
Anyway, I’m sure I’m not the only South African child of the 80’s who remembers fondly watching the animated films Asterix the Gaul, Asterix Versus Caesar and Asterix and the Big Fight several times on the SABC TV channels? While the local national broadcaster was never allowed to show Disney films for whatever reason, Asterix features were welcome.
Sure these animated films feel a bit stilted by today’s standards but they’re a lot more charming than the three live-action Asterix films made to date – starring Christian Clavier and Clovis Cornillac as Asterix, and Gérard Depardieu as Obelix.
While the live-action films (the most expensive movies in French cinema history) got the look of the comic spot-on, and were massive box office hits, they seem a bit too goofy and overly boisterous for their own good. Then again, I’ve only seen the first of the three, Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar, and the horrifically dubbed English version at that. Although I didn’t have a choice at the time I would much rather have watched the film in French with subtitles than be subjected to Terry (Monty Python) Jones’s distracting and inappropriate voiceovers.
Of course, while films are fun, there’s nothing like the immersive experience of video games, putting you in the shoes of your favourite character. Some gamer types and juvenile delinquents out there may remember Konami’s Asterix arcade game from 1992. The game was a colourful side-scrolling beat ‘em up, where you could pummel Romans as either Asterix or Obelix, or both if you played co-operatively. Growing up, my sister and I must have invested hundreds of coins into that ridiculously hard game. And we rarely ever made it past the Egypt stage, with its tornados, collapsing floors and lightning charged boss. Still, though, the game’s surprising fidelity to the comic books made the challenge worthwhile.
I honestly owe a lot to Asterix and Obelix, or, rather Goscinny and Uderzo. Not only did their work feed my love for ancient European history, but it filled an important gap in my comic reading experience. The Asterix books slotted in perfectly between my obsession with Garfield and other short newspaper cartoons, and the serious, long form tales of superheroes that I was reading at the time (mostly Superman). The Asterix stories are an unusual combination of elements, but for whatever reason they work.
Heroics, humour and history – nobody does it better than Asterix and Obelix!
A happy birthday today then to those “indomitable Gauls,” Asterix and Obelix (and Dogmatix of course)!
Created by writer René Goscinny (who also worked on the Lucky Luke series) and artist Albert Uderzo, the Asterix comic books have been translated into well over a hundred languages and dialects, and have sold over 325 million copies worldwide in the last half century, making them one of France’s most successful ever literary exports.
For those of you who don’t know anything about them, small, shrewd Asterix and bulky, dim Obelix are best friends and unlikely ancient world heroes in the year 50BC. They live a small village in Gaul (France) that has become a thorn in the side of Julius Caesar and the Roman authorities. You see, while Gaul is otherwise completely conquered by the Romans, Asterix’s village of idiosyncratic inhabitants (including chief Vitalstatistix, fishmonger Unhygenix and horrendously untalented bard Cacofonix) continues to hold out against the invaders.
The secret to the villagers’ success is a magic potion prepared by Getafix the druid, which gives all the villagers superhuman strength for short periods of time – enabling them to outmuscle and outpunch the Romans during every encounter. Obelix is the only villager banned from drinking the potion. The roast boar-loving warrior and part-time sculptor enjoys permanently enhanced strength after falling into a cauldron of potion when he was a baby.
The Asterix tales’ mix of wit, fantasy and a surprising amount of historical accuracy, along with their colourful illustration, made the series fantastic entertainment – and I’m sure the books are still fantastic reading for those just discovering them now.
Personally, I developed a real fondness and appreciation for the comics around the age of 10 or so. I loved the series, and I also repeatedly re-read my Asterix Adventure book, which basically was a Choose Your Own Adventure tale with the addition of dice and assorted props to up the “game” risk.
Given the success of the Asterix comics, it was inevitable that the characters would make the transition into other media. So there were films, video games and even a theme park (the location of which I accidentally found on our last day in France last year).
Anyway, I’m sure I’m not the only South African child of the 80’s who remembers fondly watching the animated films Asterix the Gaul, Asterix Versus Caesar and Asterix and the Big Fight several times on the SABC TV channels? While the local national broadcaster was never allowed to show Disney films for whatever reason, Asterix features were welcome.
Sure these animated films feel a bit stilted by today’s standards but they’re a lot more charming than the three live-action Asterix films made to date – starring Christian Clavier and Clovis Cornillac as Asterix, and Gérard Depardieu as Obelix.
While the live-action films (the most expensive movies in French cinema history) got the look of the comic spot-on, and were massive box office hits, they seem a bit too goofy and overly boisterous for their own good. Then again, I’ve only seen the first of the three, Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar, and the horrifically dubbed English version at that. Although I didn’t have a choice at the time I would much rather have watched the film in French with subtitles than be subjected to Terry (Monty Python) Jones’s distracting and inappropriate voiceovers.
Of course, while films are fun, there’s nothing like the immersive experience of video games, putting you in the shoes of your favourite character. Some gamer types and juvenile delinquents out there may remember Konami’s Asterix arcade game from 1992. The game was a colourful side-scrolling beat ‘em up, where you could pummel Romans as either Asterix or Obelix, or both if you played co-operatively. Growing up, my sister and I must have invested hundreds of coins into that ridiculously hard game. And we rarely ever made it past the Egypt stage, with its tornados, collapsing floors and lightning charged boss. Still, though, the game’s surprising fidelity to the comic books made the challenge worthwhile.
I honestly owe a lot to Asterix and Obelix, or, rather Goscinny and Uderzo. Not only did their work feed my love for ancient European history, but it filled an important gap in my comic reading experience. The Asterix books slotted in perfectly between my obsession with Garfield and other short newspaper cartoons, and the serious, long form tales of superheroes that I was reading at the time (mostly Superman). The Asterix stories are an unusual combination of elements, but for whatever reason they work.
Heroics, humour and history – nobody does it better than Asterix and Obelix!
Comments
MJenks thanks for your comment. I must admit I was curious as to the exposure Americans have had to Asterix, much like Tintin, given that they're cultural imports.