Asterix - The A to Z of Asterix - Characters - Getafix The A to Z of Asterix Druid, inventor of all types of potions and fountain of Gaulish wisdom. Citizenship : Gaul Italian name : Panoramix Portugese name : Panoramix In a village like that of Asterix, where people are all kids at heart who think only of lazing around, feasting or fighting, there was an obvious need for a father figure, an acknowledged wise man who could keep the community from sinking into joyful but total anarchy. This role quite naturally falls to Getafix, the venerable druid of the village, fountain of knowledge, as well as creator and keeper of the secret magic potion (making him the star of all the yearly gatherings of druids in the forest of Carnutes). A clear foe of the brute force deployed so unilaterally by the stupidly authoritarian Roman Empire, Getafix stands surety for another concept of order, based on much more humanist values.

He thus refuses to dole out any magic potion during quarrels between Gauls, willingly offers assistance to a Roman in distress, and, under the watchful eye of the ecologically-minded Dogmatix, helps preserve the forest surrounding the village (yes, he also invented magic potions for that! See The Mansion of the Gods ). We have to admit that his methods are a roaring success: while the Roman hierarchy quickly crumbles under the hefty blows of Obelix, Getafix is the only one who can make the famous menhir deliverer see reason. And how many people do you know who would dare to say firmly to Obelix: ï¿½No, Obelix, not you!ï¿½ when he insists on having a portion of the magic potion? Asterix Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Not brilliant, but it's a faithful adaptation of the book from United Kingdom 9 April 2002 Asterix is the hero of the only French village to hold out against the might of Rome. The village achieves this with the use of a magic potion that gives superhuman strength, made by druid Panaramix.

However a roman spy discovers this and kidnaps the druid, leaving Asterix to rescue him. One of the first Asterix films and sets a solid standard for the rest. The story remains quite faithful to the book and even manages to have quite a lot of the pun and wit. It's not rocket science, but for fans it's important. A minor complaint is that many of the characters don't use the same names that are used in the English books. So here we have the chief called Tonnabrix, the bard called Stopthemusix and Getafix called Panaramix The animation is solid  it's not flashy but it is similar to the books and works quite well. Certainly kids won't be disappointed with it. The voices are OK but some don't fit  for example Asterix isn't very heroic sounding, and Obelix sounds way too dopey. However in the English version of the film it's a comparatively all star cast  Bill Oddie, Brian Blessed, Michael Elphich, Andrew Sachs (Manuel in Fawlty Towers), Tim Brooke Taylor, Douglas Blackwell etc.

Overall it's not brilliant, but it's a faithful adaptation of the book and manages to bring some of the wit and charm of the characters out Was the above review useful to you? 4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: A promising start ... but the Magic Potion lacked some spice ... from France 19 August 2013 Watching "Asterix the Gaul" reinforced my conviction that its success in French theaters was mostly due to the popularity of the comic-book adventures, at its peak in 1967. At that time, the little Gaul was a national phenomenon whose iconic status expanded into the neighboring European countries. So, before reviewing the film, let's explore the secret of Asterix' appeal, the magic potion's recipe, to use a fitting metaphor. First, there's the tough little guy who personifies the French touch. The seminal setting is a small tribe resisting the Roman invasion, representative of France under De Gaulle's leadership, a small country defying the American imperialism in the name of cultural exception. Yet beyond the political undertones, there was a comical genius named Goscinny heavily influenced by Anglo-Saxon humor made of slapstick, parodies and adult innuendo.

And because there's no content without a form, there's Uderzo's drawing style, one of the most admired in the French-Belgian school, along with other talents like Franquin and Gotlib, renowned for the extraordinary fluidity and dynamism when it came to draw movements. The shot of a roman soldier vertically ejected through one single uppercut is one of Asterix' defining trademarks, making the cover of the first adventure: "Asterix the Gaul". A punchy drawing for a punchy humor: nothing could have stopped the success story to reach the silver screen, only 8 years after the first publication in the magazine Pilote, a European combination of Mad and Marvel. The result is an objective disappointment and undermines any pretension to compete with American animation. Numbers never lie, in 1967, the film was viewed by 2,4 millions spectator against 14,7 for "The Jungle Book". Granted the film couldn't rival with Disney, but still, they could have made a better effort: the design of the Roman legionaries created an overabundance of gray and red, half the images were recycled, not to mention the horizontal movements worthy of the worst Hanna Barbera cartoons.

To make it worse, the characters, who were all human, had four fingers, which is technical blasphemy, even by Disney standards. At the end, the most graphically interesting part was the opening with the five major Gauls' drawing (notice that the English names are different probably because the film was made before the comic-book adaptation, to tell you how old the film is). The rest is just pure cheap animation, typical of the worst TV programs, colors are bland, Obelix is inexpressive, with two dots for eyes and a mouth mechanically moving when he speaks, Jules Caesar looks nothing like the imposing Emperor who already had his distinctive traits in the books. What saves the film is the quality of the dubbing and a catchy theme with a child-like quality that seems like imploring you not to be so harsh on the animation department. All right, I'll temper my criticism now that I have the music in mind. Besides, to say that the film's only weakness is the animation would make too much honor to the screenwriters.

The biggest problem is with the story, the first animated opus of Asterix' adventure could have got away with the rudimentary animation, but, why; of all the adventures, they picked up the least interesting story? Obelix plays no part during the whole third act, the starring duo was Asterix and the druid, the Romans were constantly ridiculed and the antagonist, Caius Bonus is so naive it's sometimes disconcerting. The gags are there, but the format of the story, perfect for a comic book or a TV episode, was stretched for almost one hour. And for the first time, the chauvinism seemed almost unintentional, the repetitive 'Hails to the Chief' whenever he spoke, made me cringe, even as a kid, especially since the character is supposed to be comical. And that's what the film clearly betrays, it feels as if it was not written by the authors. And guess what? I found out that no René Goscinny or Albert Uderzo were ever consulted for the making of the film, and they learned about the project a few months later and didn't like it.

I knew there had to be a reason for the script' laziness but at least, the authors' honor was left intact, and their disappointment urged to make another film, with better quality. "Asterix and Cleopatra" is everything "The Gaul" is not, it has terrific music, animation, escapism and at least, it respects the spirit of the album with some hilarious fourth-wall breaking gags that show that the author's ambitions were aimed toward the big screen. In "Cleopatra" they apologize in advance for the problems of dubbing, which is humor-wise light-years ahead of "The Gaul"'s inoffensive cuteness. In conclusion, "The Gaul" isn't certainly as bad as my review implies, but heavily suffers from the comparison with its glorious successors. Its merit is to have put Asterix on screen, to have provided its eternal voice, to have grabbed the viewer's interest, but the authors knew it could have been a disaster for Asterix' future in cinema not to come with a new film, with higher quality, the flaws made the following films' strength. But it was a close one.

Although it doesn't do justice to the comic-book, it's still an Asterix movie and worth viewing, but unlike the others, it won't give you the urge to watch it again. Even Asterix' reactions after drinking the magic potion didn't have that electrifying pep we used to enjoy, the potion indeed lacked some spicy flavor. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 10 people found the following review useful: The first but one of the worst Asterix-films from Froland, Norway 5 July 2000 Asterix The Gaul was the first Asterix-movie and came out way back in 1967, and was based on the first Asterix-comic with the same name. The movie is exactly the same as in the comic and there isn`t a single scene here that isn`t present in the cartoon. I can`t write about the plot and the characters because I only know the names in the Norwegian version of Asterix. Asterix the Gaul is for the fan of the series but there are others far better Asterix-movies out there. The best is Asterix and Ceasars` surprise(9/10).

It`s easy to see that Asterix from 1967 is an experimental movie, and the sequels are far better. 6/10 Was the above review useful to you? 4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Not as good as the album... 4 April 2006 I read the album then one day later I saw the film. Now in comparison to the other albums Asterix the Gaul is no where near the best. But its still good. And with this film it is the same Asterix the Gaul is no where near as good as the other films but it is still good. Maybe its the dubbing in the English language version but it just doesn't feel like it all came together. At times it was also confusing. They didn't explain or really animate the rapid hair growth of the Romans very well. The animation is not great but Asterix fans and young children should like it... Was the above review useful to you?

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: First cinematographic adaptation about the popular comic book with primitive drawings Author: ma-cortes 8 January 2011 First cinematic rendition based on the first comic book with the same title from Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo . It's an enjoyable cartoon movie with original story featured by ours immortal heroes , though drawings are badly realized . The year is 50 Bc. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Roman.

Well,not entirely..One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders.and life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps .In the village are our friends : ¨Asterix¨,the hero of this adventure,he's a shrewd,cunning little warrior,all perilous missions are immediately entrusted to him.¨Obelix¨ his inseparable friend,he's a Menhir delivery-man by trade and addicted to wild boar,he's always ready to drop everything and go off on a new adventure with Asterix,so long as there's wild boar to eat, and plenty of fighting.¨Panoramix¨,the venerable village druid,gathers mistletoe and brews magic potions,his speciality is the potion which gives the drinker superhuman strength although also has other recipes up his sleeve.¨Abraracurcix¨,the chief of the tribe,majestic,brave and hot-tempered,the old warrior is respected by his enemies,he has only one fear,he's afraid the sky may fall on his head tomorrow,but as he always says,'Tomorrow never comes'.

And of course ¨Cacofonix¨,the Bard,opinion is divided as to his musical gifts,he thinks he's a genius,everyone else thinks he's unspeakable,but so long as he doesn't speak,let alone sing,everybody likes him..... Learning of this potion, a Roman centurion sends a Legionaire dressed in Gaul clothes and later on he orders the kidnapping Panoramix to get the secret formula out of him and which gives the drinker superhuman strength . Then ,the diminutive Asterix and his rather larger companion Obelix, warriors of the last village in Gaul still free after the Roman invasion, set out on a mission to free the kidnapped druid . This is a nice adventure with hilarious moments here and there, and has Asterix and his inseparable friend fighting, as always, against stupid Romans. It contains some customs critical about actual way of life and modern anachronisms that's common thing in comic books. The cartoon movie brilliantly captures the outrageous adventures, tongue in cheek, satire, comedy from original story with the same title and drawn by Albert Uderzo and writing credits by Rene Goscinny .

As usual, on the finale the village people eating boars in a gargantuan lunch and the Bard tied a tree . This amusing movie is accompanied to lively musical score with a catching leitmotif on the start and the ending. Full of humor , it's a funny entertaining for kids and grown-ups . The picture will appeal to Asterix and Obelix comic-books nostalgics. Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 4 people found the following review useful: A primitive incarnation of the famous Gaul indeed from The Penumbra 10 September 2009 I wasn't expecting Pixar animation from a French cartoon from the Sixties, but I did expect the drawings to be a little more complex. It doesn't distract from the enjoyment of the movie but if you've ever seen some of the early Charlie Brown cartoons you'll find the stiff animation style quite familiar. The story itself is very simple and involves an undercover Roman spying on the Gauls to learn the secret of their superhuman strength. We all know it's because of the magic potion but this first movie is very "entry level" so don't expect it to get any more complex than that.

It is an almost direct adaptation of the comic-book, but a few of the character names have been changed, for example Getafix is now called Panoramix. I am glad they didn't follow through with these weird changes for the rest of the movies. At a running time of less than 70 minutes there's not much time for a plot to develop but there are a decent amount of laughs and it's always fun to watch the hapless Romans get beaten up. Thankfully, the animated Asterix never got any worse than this. Was the above review useful to you? 0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Those wacky Gauls with their wacky magic potions from Helsinki 6 September 2015 Asterix the Gaul is the film adaptation based on René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's comic strip series. In said series Rome has invaded almost all of Gaul. All but for one tiny village on the northern shores of the land, where the villagers still keep the legions at bay with the help of their druid Getafix, who knows the recipe of a very special magic potion, which is capable of increasing its drinker's strength to inhuman levels.

The comic strip is a beloved children's classic in Europe and widely read by adult population as well. So a film adaptation was inevitable. And in my opinion they succeeded pretty well. The film adapts the first album of the series, bearing the same name as the film, following its plot very closely. It's a simple story as far the adventures of Asterix and Obelix go, mainly meant to introduce the setting and the characters, but it's still filled with tons of humorous moments, outrageous characters and odd twists. It's nowhere near my favourite of these stories, but it's definitely head and shoulders above most of its peers. What really keeps this movie from achieving a greater ranking is the animation, and to a lesser degree the music, which both show the constraints of the budget. The character designs are identical to the comic books, so no complaints there, but the film reuses its animation sequences heavily, the movements are either too jerky or too linear, depending on the scene, and the backgrounds, while nice, are a bit simplistic. The music has a few good moments, and I especially like the main theme, but it's nothing overly special.

Nevertheless, Asterix the Gaul is a good introduction into the world of Asterix and well worth a watch for all fans of humorous animation adventures. Was the above review useful to you? 5 out of 12 people found the following review useful: For devoted Asterix fans only from London, UK 30 November 2005 This is the first of the Asterix films and, I would say, the weakest. It is a very faithful translation of the first Asterix book. What this means is that many of the hallmarks of later Asterix books- the satire, the anachronisms, the well-developed cast of regular characters- are not present. Such humour as survives is rather weak. Excruciating pun names, such as Romans Phonus Balonus, Marcus Sourpuss and Petroleum Pumpus, are much in evidence, and attention is drawn to them wherever possible. There is a lot of cartoonish violence, but this becomes repetitive. There seems to have been a problem in translating this into English, as much of the dialogue seems to have been simply chopped up and fitted in wherever there is lip movement in the original.

The result is that sentences are often rushed or split awkwardly, so one is presented with odd lines like, "He wanted to... become emperor!" and "What a brilliant... idea that is!" To add more translation confusion, there is an opening segment with pictures of the characters and their names. Unfortunately, this has been left in French. So the bard Stopthemusix (remember those awful puns?) is introduced as Assurancetourix at the beginning, and so on. While it's faithful to the book, it's not a film that you should watch unless you really, really like Asterix. And then only for curiosity value. Was the above review useful to you? The Collected Adventures of Asterix | DVD Review | Film @ The Digital Fix The Collected Adventures of Asterix 18:00 on 27th Jul 2006 By Michael MackenzieMichael Mackenzie Subtitles None Michael Mackenzie reviews The Collected Adventures of Asterix, a 6-disc box set featuring the first six animated adventures of the wily Gaul. Optimum's R2 UK standard definition release leaves something to be desired, to say the very least...

Note: the bulk of this review features the same text for my review of the French Ast�rix: La Trilogie Gaumont set released last year. If you have already read that, you may wish to skip down to the individual film reviews or the DVD Presentation section. The challenges facing any director approaching a property as rich as Asterix are daunting. The bandes dessin�es (strip cartoons to laymen) are some of the most subversive, witty and genuinely engaging graphic novels ever made, and it irks me no end they are almost always consigned to the "children's" section of book shops (you wouldn't believe the odd looks I've received while perusing the shelves between Noddy and Teletubbies). The series, for those who have yet to encounter it, takes place at the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul (ancient France) and centres on the exploits of Asterix, a short and wily little man who lives in the only village that has yet to be defeated by the invaders. Asterix's tribe hold out against their more powerful aggressors thanks to a magic potion which gives them superhuman strength.

Asterix, along with his best friend, the large and slightly slow-witted Obelix, travel the known (and sometimes unknown) world, the primary purpose being to laugh good-naturedly at the bizarre habits of various nationalities, but also to comment on contemporary social issues in an often bitingly accurate manner. The brainchild of writer Ren� Goscinny and artist Albert Uderzo, the Asterix series has been phenomenally popular both in its native France and around the world, and has been translated into over 70 languages. What makes the books work so well is the decidedly adult perspective from which they are written. While young children can enjoy the slapstick humour and beautifully-illustrated panels, adults can appreciate all that and then some more. While the earliest stories (and, later on, many of Uderzo's solo efforts) were for the most part straightforward adventure tales with little in the way of social commentary, at its peak the series was a bitingly potent satire of modern life. While the vast majority of the stories tend to conform to a fairly straightforward formula, usually involving the magic potion, the potion is in fact essentially the Asterix McGuffin.

Frequently the focus of Asterix's missions, it is really nothing more than a tool to take our heroes to a far-off land ripe for satire, or to parody one of modern society's many vices. A level of nonchalance pervades in even the most action-packed books, as Asterix and Obelix approach seemingly insurmountable hurdles with a level of self-confidence (arrogance, even) that makes it entirely possible to believe that this rag-tag little village is capable of withstanding the combined might of the entire Roman army. It is not surprising that the film adaptations have largely been culled from the series' earlier period - and probably just as well too, for I could never imagine the vicious satires of consumerism that were The Mansions of the Gods and Obelix and Co. (unless George A. Romero suddenly decided to try his hand at adapting them), or the dessimation of political campaigns that was Asterix and Caesar's Gift, working on screen.

The closest the films ever got was in the Goscinny/Uderzo-directed The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, whose "Place That Sends You Mad" sequence was as accurate a portrayal of office life as I have ever seen (and much more amusing than The Office's infuriatingly smug brand of "comedy"). Of course, it could be argued that Asterix is entirely unsuited to adaptation for the screen. The books are so firmly rooted in verbal humour that to render them faithfully on-screen would result in "animated radio" (a phrase coined by the great Chuck Jones to describe animation that relies on writing rather than cartooning) of the worst possible kind. Certainly, the first film adaptation of an Asterix story, 1967's Asterix the Gaul, which was little more than a frame-by-frame fascimile of its source material, was an extremely lazy example of filmmaking that retained all of the book's content but sucked it dry of any resonance.

Clearly the formula that worked so well on paper has to be modified for the screen, and it is interesting to watch how, through the course of seven animated and two live action efforts (with an eighth animated feature was released through most of mainland Europe earlier in 2006), various directors have applied different methods and styles, with varying degrees of success. This box set includes the first six films, omitting both Asterix Conquers America, whose rights reside with 20th Century Fox, and the recent Asterix and the Vikings, which is yet to see a release in any English territory despite being animated to an English voice track. Asterix the Gaul (France/Belgium: director uncredited, 1967) French title: Ast�rix le Gaulois Desperate to discover the secret of the Gauls' incredible stength, Centurion Crismus Bonus dispatches a spy to the Gaulish village. When it is discovered that the solution lies in the magic potion brewed by the druid Getafix, the Roman abduct him. Facing the might of an entire Roman garrison and with not a drop of potion to spare, Asterix bravely enters the lion's den to rescue the druid.

The history of this first Asterix adaptation is a bizarre one. It was actually created, without Goscinny and Uderzo's knowledge, by a Belgian studio, Belvision, at the behest of publisher Georges Dargaud. Originally intended for television, the end result, which was given a theatrical release at the last moment, is of an extremely low technical standard, with rudimentary animation and greatly simplified artwork which makes some of the characters almost unrecognisable. Worse still, it is not so much an adaptation as a frame by frame remake of the original book. The attempt to faithfully transpose the humour from page to screen is an unmitigated disaster, with absolutely no sense of timing or rhythm, and makes the film a chore to watch. It's not surprising that Goscinny and Uderzo were extremely disappointed by the end result, going so far as to shut down production on a similar adaptation of the second book, Asterix and the Golden Sickle.

2/10 Asterix and Cleopatra (France/Belgium: Ren� Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, 1968) French title: Ast�rix et Cl�opatre In Egypt, Queen Cleopatra strikes a bet with Julius Caesar that she can have a palace built for him within three months, in order to prove that her people are not decadent. Realising that he will be thrown to the crocodiles if he fails, the incompetent architect Edifis calls on his old friend from Gaul, the druid Getafix, to lend a hand. Asterix and Obelix, of course, tag along, but the group of Gauls soon find themselves up against Edifis' unscrupulous rival, Artifis, as well as the ultimate bad sportsman, Caesar himself. Created a year after Asterix the Gaul by the same animation studio, Asterix and Cleopatra shares a number of the same problems as its predecessor, but at the same time benefits substantially from the creative involvement of Goscinny and Uderzo, as well as a more liberal attitude to the adaptation.

The two creators were both huge admirers of Walt Disney, and, with its musical numbers and slapstick, this at times feels like a loving homage to the Mouse House. Still, the comparatively cheap-looking animation doesn't help, and the rather episodic nature of the book's plot (it, like all of the Asterix stories until Asterix in Corsica, was originally published in serialised form in the magazine Pilote, with every two pages essentially being comprised of their own mini-adventure) gives it a somewhat disjointed feel. Still, there's some fun to be had with it, even if it seems to aim more towards a child audience than an adult one. 5/10 The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (France: Ren� Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, 1976) French title: Les Douze Travaux d'Ast�rix After yet another Roman garrison is defeated in its attempt to conquer the Gaulish village, some of the senators in Rome begin to suspect that the inhabitants are in fact gods. His reputation in tatters, Caesar sets the villagers a series of twelve tasks that only gods could accomplish, with the promise that, should they succeed, he will admit defeat.

Should the Gauls fail in even a single task, however, they must surrender. Going for a combination of wits and strength, Asterix and Obelix are dispatched to face the challenge, guided by the ever-blas� Caius Tiddlus. The Twelve Tasks of Asterix is one of only two films completed at Goscinny and Uderzo's own animation company, Studios Id�fix (Id�fix is the French name for Dogmatix), and also bears the honour of being the only Asterix film not based on an already existing book. A riff on the twelve tasks performed by Hercules, the film is something of a send-up of films based on Greek and Roman mythology, and actually manages to be extremely funny at times. It also manages to capture the tone of the books better than any other Asterix film, although the general lackadaisical tone proves to be its undoing: the stakes are simply never high enough, as Asterix and Obelix's complete nonchalance towards the increasingly ludicrous tasks to face, while a great source of comedy in its own right, means that we never really fear that their mission will fail. 6/10 Asterix vs.

Caesar (France: Paul & Ga�tan Brizzi, 1985) French title: Ast�rix et la Surprise de C�sar When the lovely Panacea and her fianc� Tragicomix are kidnapped by the Romans, Asterix and the smitten Obelix follow them, joining the foreign legion in order to track them down. Their pursuit leads them from Gaul to Africa and then on to Rome, resulting in a thrilling climax in the arena of the Coliseum during Julius Caesar's birthday celebrations... The first Asterix film since The Twelve Tasks of Asterix in 1976, this effort by Paul and Ga�tan Brizzi, who later went on to great success working at the Disney studio, is intriguing for a number of reasons, not least because it actually amalgamates the storylines of two separate books, Asterix the Gladiator and Asterix the Legionary. An interesting idea that was also used later on for Asterix and the Big Fight, it makes the plot slightly less predictable for fans of the books, but interferes with our suspension of disbelief by mangling the storylines and warping the series' chronology.

By transposing and merging various characters and events, the film is clearly established as taking place within a different reality to that of the book, which at the end of the day does more harm than good. Nevertheless, Asterix vs. Caesar is a reasonably enjoyable adventure story that initially struggles to find its feet but makes up for lost time as it progresses. The Brizzi brothers do a great job of balancing the emotion with the humour, especially in the final act, where they manage to work in a superb gag involving the descruction of half of the Coliseum. The joke of Asterix and Obelix damaging a famous monument has been repeated on many occasions throughout the series, most notably in Asterix and Cleopatra when Obelix managed to destroy the Sphinx's nose, but it works especially well here because of the animators' close attention to detail (the results of the carnage are an extremely accurate portrayal of what the building looks like today).

6/10 Asterix in Britain (France: Pino Van Lamsweerde, 1986) French title: Ast�rix chez les Bretons Exploiting the inhabitants' refusal to fight on weekends and habit of stopping to drink hot water at 5 o'clock every afternoon, Julius Caesar invades and conquers Britain. Eventually, only one small village holds out, inhabited by Asterix's distant cousin Anticlimax. Anticlimax escapes to Gaul to look for help, and soon he, Asterix and Obelix are crossing the Mare Britannicum (the English Channel) armed with a barrel full of magic potion. The Romans, however, will stop at nothing to prevent the potion from reaching the beseiged village... It is best to treat Asterix vs. Caesar and Asterix in Britain as a pair, as they were produced simultaneously by different directors but with largely the same team. In terms of tone, Asterix in Britain is decidedly closer to the books, and indeed in many ways is the best Asterix film of the lot, since this is probably the only one to come anywhere near to the style of humour of the texts. Like Asterix vs.

Caesar, it was written by Pierre Tchernia, a close friend and collaborator of Goscinny and Uderzo. The film is peppered with astute observations of British (or rather English) stereotypes and visual gags that on occasions even outdo their counterparts in the book, my favourites being wooden 50 BC representations of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. The attempts to retain the feel of the books, however, proves to be this film's undoing, as sections really do drag, the plot gradually unwinding but without the controlled sense of pacing that was present in the source material. It could also do with more in terms of music; most of what is present is a mere recycling of Vladimir Cosma's score to Asterix vs. Caesar. This film certainly works better in French than in English, with the French renditions of British dialogue proving to be absolutely hilarious and impossible to translate with anything more than a shadow of the original intent being maintained.

(The humour plays heavily on the differences between French and English word order, something that simply doesn't work when everyone is speaking English.) In the books, translators Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge would, on occasions, virtually rewrite entire passages to replace non-translatable humour with a suitable equivalent, but on-screen, where the dialogue must fit into a pre-alloted length of time, this luxury is not afforded. 7/10 Asterix and the Big Fight (France/Germany: Philippe Grimond, 1989) French title: Le Coup du Menhir While attempting to rescue the druid Getafix from the Romans, Obelix inadvertently manages to crush him with a menhir. When he comes round, the druid has lost most of his mental faculties, and the Gauls quickly realise that, without his magic potion, they are sitting ducks for the Romans. Into the mix comes a fraudulent Soothsayer, who sets out to exploit the villagers' superstitious beliefs... Asterix and the Big Fight showed up four years after Asterix vs. Caesar and Asterix in Britain, and it is a very different product.

Much more sombre in atmosphere, there is scarcely a single gag in the whole film, the humour instead coming from Getafix's mental illness. It doesn't work particularly well, with many of the attempts at slapstick coming across as clumsy at best and downright embarrassing at worst. Furthermore, although the film's English-language title is Asterix and the Big Fight, the script is actually a rather uncomfortable m�lange of two books, Asterix and the Big Fight and Asterix and the Soothsayer, the latter of which contributes by far the most material. In fact, this issue provoked ire amongst English-speaking fans when the film was released, because the adaptation effectively removes any trace of the Big Fight of the title. In other territories, the fact that it didn't share the name of the book led to considerably less confusion. Still, though, the overall combination never quite gels, and unfortunately the middle of the film is comprised with around 30 minutes of dead time, which worked quite well in the original books given that it left ample time for some very amusing gags (in the case of Big Fight) and sharp social satire (in Soothsayer), but is absolutely disastrous in the comparatively straitlaced film.

What saves Big Fight is its wonderful visuals. The animation is by far the best of the entire line-up of Asterix films, and the backgrounds have an almost life-like level of detail, courtesy of background art director Michel Gu�rin's fantastic attention to detail and lighting. The score, by the late Michel Colombier, is also an interesting piece of work, combining Stravinskyan strings with a theme tune reminiscent of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. This is overall a much more consciously cinematic film than any of the other entries in the series, and although the end result is not particularly inspiring, the technical proficiency is commendable. Interestingly, although the blandest of the three by far, it was a massive success in France, its box office sales beating those of Return of the Jedi. 5/10 DVD Presentation Asterix's life on home video, especially in the UK, has always been an unsatisfying one. Marred by poor presentations, just about every release, on VHS or DVD, has been unceremoniously cropped from its original aspect ratio and, more often than not, dubbed.

Last year, the French Ast�rix: La Trilogie Gaumont presented the three films produced by the Gaumont studio in their original aspect ratios and their proper French language, but unfortunately without the aid of English subtitles. Therefore, the news that Optimum, long a champion of foreign films, was planning on releasing the first six films in the UK was, understandably, a cause for celebration. It's a shame, therefore, that Optimum would appear to have invested the absolute minimum effort for this box set. Without exception, every film is presented poorly - the only question is just how poorly. All of the films are dubbed into English, the results of which range from barely acceptable to skin-crawling. Frankly, I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the failure to provided the original French audio tracks - if this were a live action release, I suspect that people would be up in arms. No subtitles are provided either. Because of the highly variable nature of the image quality, I have decided to deal with the transfer for each film separately. Asterix the Gaul - As this film was originally intended for television, its correct aspect ratio, which has been maintained for every previous release, is 1.33:1.

Optimum, however, have decided to reformat the image to 1.78:1, cropping off the top and bottom of the image. Whether or not this represents how the image would have been projected theatrically is a moot point: frankly, it looks absolutely awful and leads to an extremely unsatisfying presentation. As if this wasn't bad enough, it has been subjected to some extremely intrusive DVNR (digital video noise reduction), eroding the outlines and resulting in smearing. 0/10 Asterix and Cleopatra - There is some controversy as to how this title is supposed to be presented. One would assume that, as a French film from the late 1960s intended for a theatrical release, its proper ratio would be somewhere in the region of 1.66:1. And yet, every single home video release (including the French VHS and DVD editions, which have presented every other title in its intended ratio) gives Asterix and Cleopatra a 1.33:1 transfer. In the absence of any information to the contrary, I am going to assume that this ratio is correct.

In any event, it's clear that the version presented on Optimum's DVD is decidedly not how it is supposed to look. Taken from a 1.33:1 master and zoomboxed to 1.78:1, it looks cramped in the extreme and, during the opening sequence, which features a character speaking in hieroglyphics, the camera has to track vertically in an attempt to capture both the character and his speech bubbles. The transfer also exhibits severe noise reduction artefacts and intermittently choppy movement, particularly noticeable in panning shots. 0/10 The Twelve Tasks to Asterix - This transfer looks somewhat similar to the transfers for the previous two titles, although this time, the cropping, which reframes the image to 1.78:1 from its original 1.66:1, is considerably less intrusive. The image does look slightly cramped at times, but it is by no means unwatchable, and the DVNR artefacts, while still present, are nothing like as bad as in the previous two films.

However, some strange anomalies are present in the form of a number of interlaced frames, despite the fact that the bulk of the transfer is progressive, while the image looks a little too dark, with overly yellow cast to the colours. 5/10 Asterix vs. Caesar and Asterix in Britain - These transfers have been sourced from the French DVD releases, and as a result are by far the most faithful representations of their respective films. As I mentioned in my review for the French releases, they have been subjected to an extremely intrusive DVNR process, which results in very noticeable artefacts. Considering how bad the other films look, though, it is perhaps a blessing that DVNR is the biggest problem with these two titles. 6/10 Asterix and the Big Fight - The biggest anomaly of the set, this film is presented in a cropped 1.33:1 format, unceremoniously mangling the intended 1.85:1 presentation.

Why this disc is 4x3 when all the others were in a 16x9 format (in some cases wrongly) is anyone's guess, but in any event, the source for this title is the same master that was used for the poor quality Australian release from Video Unlimited. 0/10 Finally, it should be pointed out that all six films are presented on single layer discs, often with less than 3 GB of the available 4.3 GB used. As a result, every single film suffers from noticeable compression problems, including the two titles taken directly from the French DVDs. There are no extras at all. Overall So, for the �29.99 asking price, what do you get? Six rather fetching coasters is the answer. Optimum have really dropped the ball with this release, which is a hodge-podge of different sources, only around half of which come even close to being watchable. By putting this release out and charging a premium price for it, they are showing utter contempt for their customers.

Their thinking, I would assume, is that children will be happy enough with them, but quite honestly, when these shoddy presentations (or ones similar to them) were served up to me when I was a child, I was far from satisfied. In any event, I'd hazzard a guess that most Asterix fans these days are adults who, rightfully so, have come to expect better from Optimum. To make matters worse, at the end of last year, when we first became aware of the DVNR artefacts present on the French DVDs, DVD Times reviewer David Mackenzie contacted Optimum, warning them of the problem, in case the French releases ended up being used as a source. Not only was his email not replied to, his advice has clearly been ignored point-blank, and, to add insult to injury, ironically-named Optimum have committed far greater crimes against these films than the French distributors ever did. As such, I cannot possibly recommend this release in any way. To put things into perspective, I've seen VHS releases that are more watchable than these.

Asterix - The A to Z of Asterix - Characters - Suffix The A to Z of Asterix Druid whose inventions spread like powder in the wind Citizenship : Gaul French name : Baromï¿½trix German name : Praktifix Italian name : Barometrix Portugese name : Barï¿½metrix When the Druids, paragons of Gaulish wisdom, head to the Forest of the Carnutes for their big annual conference, they indulge in games and puns, relishing these days of recreation, far from their respective villages where they have to be on their best behaviour and maintain their irreproachable stature. Above all, they fight to compete in the Druid of the Year contest where they each present their magic potions. The winner is rewarded the coveted Golden Menhir, a trophy that incites much more interest than the modern day Oscarï¿½ or even the Cesar! As a result, the Druids vie to outdo one another with the best invention: we even were treated to a surprising Gaulish inventors' contest in the album, Asterix and the Goths .

That's how we discovered the powder invented by the Druid Prefix that makes it rain (giving the Druid referee a cold) as well as the potion, signed by the ingenious Botanix, that makes beautiful flowers grow in the blink of an eye, no matter what the season. Even more impressive, Suffix reduces soups and pots into powders so they can be transported more easily! But when Getafix shows that one gulp of his magic potion can make even a ï¿½feeble Druidï¿½ strong enough to uproot a tree effortlessly, the assembly of wise men is unanimous: Getafix walks away with the title of Druid of the Year! astérix - French rescue astérix Need help with a word ? Try this : The gadget spec URL could not be found You should read this comic book if : You want to know what every French child becomes impregnated with. About this comic book : excerpt from two pages of Wikipedia (English, here and there ), expurgated of the details : " Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo .

The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote in 1959. As of 2009, 34 comic books in the series have been released. The series follows the exploits of a village of indomitable Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonist, the titular character Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures. The "ix" suffix of both names echoes the name of Vercingetorix, a historical Gaul chieftain. In many cases, the stories have Astérix and Obélix travel to various countries around the world. The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into over 100 languages, and it is popular in most European countries. Asterix is less well known in the United States and Japan. The success of the series has led to the adaptation of several books into 13 films; eight animated, and five with live actors. There have also been a number of games based on the characters.

A theme park near Paris, Parc Astérix (a very good alternative to Disneyland Paris), is themed around the series. 325 million copies of the Asterix books have been sold worldwide. History : Astérix was originally serialised in the magazine Pilote, in the very first issue published in 1959. In 1961 the first book was put together entitled Asterix the Gaul. From then on, books were released generally on a yearly basis. Uderzo's first sketches portrayed Asterix as a huge and strong traditional Gaulish warrior. But Goscinny had a different picture in his mind. He visualized Asterix as a shrewd small sized warrior who would prefer intelligence over strength. However, Uderzo felt that the small sized hero needed a strong but dim companion to which Goscinny agreed. Hence, Obelix was born. When Goscinny died, Uderzo continued the series alone but most critics and fans of the series prefer Goscinny's albums. Synopsis and character : The main setting for the series is an unnamed coastal village in Armorica, a province of Gaul (ancient France), in the year 50 BC.

Julius Caesar has conquered nearly all of Gaul for the Roman Empire. The little Armorican village, however, has held out because the villagers can gain temporary superhuman strength by drinking a magic potion brewed by the local village druid, Getafix. The main protagonist and hero of the village is Asterix, who, because of his shrewdness, is usually entrusted with the most important affairs of the village. He is aided in his adventures by his rather fat and unintelligent friend, Obelix, who, because he fell into the druid's cauldron of the potion as a baby, has permanent superhuman strength. Obelix is usually accompanied by Dogmatix, his little dog. Asterix and Obelix (and sometimes other members of the village) go on various adventures both within the village and in far away lands. Places visited in the series include parts of Gaul (Lutetia, Corsica etc.), neighbouring nations (Belgium, Spain, Britain, Germany etc.), and far away lands (but these latter albums are not so good).

Humour and translation : The humour encountered in the Asterix comics is typically French, often centering on puns, caricatures, and tongue- in-cheek stereotypes of contemporary European nations and French regions. Much of the humour in the initial Asterix books was French-specific, which delayed the translation of the books into other languages for fear of losing the jokes and the spirit of the story. Some translations have actually added local humour (Italian and British editions for instance). In spite of (or perhaps because of) this stereotyping, and notwithstanding some alleged streaks of French chauvinism, the humour has been very well received by European and Francophone cultures around the world. The 34 books or albums in the series have been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects (even Latin and Ancient Greek). The translation of the books into English has been done by Derek Hockridge and Anthea Bell. They have been widely praised for their rendition of the English language edition, maintaining the spirit and humour of the original even when direct translation is impossible — as it often is when translating puns between languages which are not closely related.

A good example occurs in Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield — when Obelix redistributes the water in the spa pools by diving in, the other guests complain and the druid in charge arrives asking Vitalstatistix, "Where are your Gauls?" In the original French he responds Mes Gaulois sont dans la pleine ("My Gauls are in the full one") which is a play on a famous (in French) quote Les Gaulois sont dans la plaine ("The Gauls are on the plain") which of course sounds almost exactly the same, though not in English. Instead the translated reply is "Pooling your resources" (the water), a clever double entendre on a common phrase even though the original pun is lost. Sometimes nothing of the original joke is salvageable. In Asterix in Britain, much of the humor came from Goscinny's high-fidelity rendition of the English language using French words. This, of course, is totally lost by retranslation in English, but compensated for by making the British characters speak in an antiquated, early-twentieth-century style. Translating names In Asterix stories, many of the original names are humorous due to their absurdity.

For example, the bard is Assurancetourix (assurance tous risques or "comprehensive insurance"), the translation of which is pointless since the bard has no connection to insurance of any kind — it's the silliness that makes it humorous. To maintain the spirit and flow of the story the translators change the joke in the name to a comment on the character. Thus in the English language edition the bard's name is Cacofonix which is an allusion to the term cacophony (a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds), since the central trait of the bard character is that the Gauls all hate listening to his music. This happens in the original as well, as with Geriatrix (French: Agecanonix — canonical age — a French expression meaning very old or ancient), but it is not common, while absurd names in English, such as Dubius Status, are reserved for minor or one-story characters.

Fictional place names however tend to be equally silly in all translations, for example the four camps (castra) which surround Asterix's village: Compendium, Aquarium, Laudanum and Totorum (Tot o' rum, colloquial English for shot of rum) — in French this camp is called "Babaorum", a pun on baba au rhum or rum baba, a popular French pastry. (In one of the American translations, one of these camps is named Nohappimedium.) Astérix in the USA Astérix never achieved great success in the USA. From 1977 until early 1979 five albums were serialized in syndicated form in a number of North American newspapers. Since these were printed as part of the standard daily comics, and were broken into separately licenced but concurrent daily and Sunday strips, the art and dialogs needed considerable reworking. In addition, a number of names, jokes, and pieces of art were further changed to be more politically correct or idiomatic for the newspapers' family-oriented audience. The results were very different from the original translations. The stories printed appeared in essentially random order as well, and the experiment came to an end quickly.

From 1984, Robert Steven Caron translated five volumes into American English. These are Asterix and the Great Crossing in 1984, Asterix the Legionary and Asterix at the Olympic Games in 1992, and Asterix in Britain and Asterix and Cleopatra in 1995. For copyright purposes most characters' names were changed. With Asterix never achieving great popularity in the United States, this series of retranslations was halted after these albums. Comparison of names of major characters Original name in French Interview: Anthea Bell, the translator who makes Asterix funny in English - The Connexion The Connexion? Making Asterix funny in English Connexion edition: March 2010 MOST readers will have heard of Goscinny and Uderzo, the French writer and illustrator team whose Asterix books have sold 325 million copies. However, Asterix would not be a household name in English-speaking countries without the skills of translator Anthea Bell who (previously with Derek Hockridge, recently on her own) has made the adventures of the Gauls fresh and fun to generations of English-speakers.

Oliver Rowland spoke to Ms Bell, 73, from Cambridge, about her work, including translating the new album Asterix and Obelixï¿½s Birthday - The Golden Book (Orion Books Ltd) which marks the characterï¿½s 50th anniversary. It is said you get your lateral-thinking from your father, who compiled The Times crossword? Yes, he was approached by the editor of The Times with a problem - The Daily Telegraph had started this new-fangled craze from America and The Times needed to keep up. [Bellï¿½s brother is former BBC correspondent and MP Martin Bell.] Did you study modern languages? I did English - languages would have been my alternative. I had no idea I would turn out to be a translator. I just went on reading and reading French and German books, which I would have done anyway; but having a good grasp of English is very important for a translator, especially with something like Asterix, where youï¿½ve got to play tricks with words. These days people set out to be a translator but it happened accidentally to a lot of people in my time.

You work in French and German Yes, though I have read on the internet I have Polish as well - itï¿½s not true, I translated Wladyslaw Szpilmanï¿½s The Pianist [made into a film by Roman Polanski] from the German version, because that is what the author, who was still alive, wanted. In no other circumstances do you translate from a translation. You are also known for your translations of Goscinnyï¿½s characters [scheming grand vizier] Iznogoud, and [schoolboy] le Petit Nicolas Le Petit Nicolas has just been revived, very successfully, by Phaidon Press. To my surprise it has gone down very well in the USA as well. You think of him as being so typical of his time and place, but he seems to inhabit that kind of no-manï¿½s land where the English Just William stories live. It still seems to amuse people. Goscinnyï¿½s work with Jean-Jaques Sempï¿½ was his other great partnership. Sempï¿½s drawings were so brilliant for that world of little boys scuffling about below adult waist level.

How did you and Derek Hockridge get involved with Asterix? Our families lived in Leicester and had children at the same school. Finally, a decade after the first publication [in 1959] in France of the stories, at last a British publisher decided to have a go - Brockhampton Press, the childrenï¿½s side of Hodder, who were in Leicester. They thought two people working on it would be a good idea. Derek was a French lecturer at a local college and was the expert on the topical references - in the earlier books there were a lot of topical allusions - and I was the main translator. I had already done several childrenï¿½s books for the publisher. Are the topical allusions a problem as the years go by? Well yes - for instance in one book there is a character based on Jacques Chirac, much younger than he is now (see Naming Names box). Itï¿½s a tall order to expect young English readers to recognise him; but it doesnï¿½t really matter because Goscinnyï¿½s writing is so witty. Why did it take the English so long to cotton on to Asterix?

People thought ï¿½itï¿½s too French and itï¿½s impossible to translate.ï¿½ In fact experience has shown Asterix travels easily all over Europe. He is very popular in Germany and the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The USA has a different sense of humour. My American friends say they love Asterix and their children read him, but they are people in publishing and academia; he doesnï¿½t seem to hit the funny bone of the general public. To generalise wildly, the Americans donï¿½t understand irony as much as we do. Also a big joke for Europeans is making fun of our own history and the Americans just donï¿½t have as much of it. Thatï¿½s why ï¿½our ancestors the Gaulsï¿½ are even funny in Britain, where we donï¿½t know this famous French phrase. We have our equivalents, like ï¿½1066 and All That.ï¿½ Did you know Asterix before you were asked to translate it? I had seen an album.

I thought, ï¿½well, the strip cartoon is not really my favourite form of literature,ï¿½ but when I opened it I saw how witty it was and how brilliant the drawing. How was the translation and publishing order decided? The first was Astï¿½rix the Gaul, as it was in France, then the order was mixed up [until the end of the 1970s when the English versions caught up with the new French ones]. In that one the puns and allusions are not as thick on the ground as they became later. Some of the early French ones presented some problems, like the Le Tour de Gaule d'Astï¿½rix [Asterix and the Banquet] with lots of regional accents. It seemed essential to do Asterix in Britain early on, though that was the most difficult of all because of the terrible British accents with which the ancient Britons speak French. It has gone down very well in Britain. Goscinny spoke good English - which comes through in the funny English-style expressions the characters use He spoke excellent English.

While he was alive he was the one who gave the go-ahead to all of the translations and I visited him in Paris to discuss what to do about the British accents. I am not completely happy with it, but the only solution seemed to be to adopt a dated style of vocabulary such as you might find in the novels of PG Wodehouse, set in the early 20th Century. It couldnï¿½t be as good as the French, but Goscinny approved of it. I had them say a lot of ï¿½I say old chap, jolly good, what ho! Old fruit...ï¿½ he laughed at ï¿½old fruitï¿½ and said he wished heï¿½d thought of that - ï¿½vieux fruit.ï¿½ The book laughs at the idea that the Britons knock off battles at 5pm for a cup of tea, things like that. I think the rugger match is a brilliant scene. One thing about Asterix that is similar to English humourous writing is that it tends to be kindly. You see the Romans bashed about, but thereï¿½s no bloodshed.

How long would it take you and Derek to do a typical album? There is no answer to that. The jokes would sometimes come overnight. You puzzle away thinking of references and allusions - and youï¿½ve got to fit the length of the speech bubbles and it must fit the expressions on the charactersï¿½ faces and if there is a pun or an extended passage of wordplay itï¿½s no good doing it literally because then itï¿½s not funny anymore. Some of the later ones by Goscinny have long passages of extended literary allusions. In Le Cadeau de Cï¿½sar [Caesarï¿½s Gift] Asterix duels with a Roman soldier and he does it in the character of Cyrano de Bergerac, itï¿½s wonderful, it goes on for almost a page. I sat looking at that and thought ï¿½the most famous swordfight in English literature is probably Hamlet and Laertes,ï¿½ and the whole thing was done with quotations from Hamlet in the end. When you make a change because the British wonï¿½t understand a cultural allusion, are the French publishers OK with it?

Yes, we donï¿½t do anything without permission from the French. Uderzo only speaks French, so he has the books checked by a lovely Englishwoman who lives in Paris. Her mind and mine work very much alike. What happens when you are going to do a new translation - do you get a script? In the latter ones, itï¿½s been a script or lately a CD, labelled ï¿½confidential.ï¿½ Translating the character names must have been a challenge Yes - there are 400 of them now. The druid Panoramix could have been kept as Panoramix in English, but the name Getafix presented itself as if on a plate. Some people say they are shocked, but I have a perfectly good explanation, which is that there is a theory that the ancient peoples used standing stones as an astronomical observatory to ï¿½get a fixï¿½ on the stars. In a way I regretted losing the dogï¿½s name Idï¿½fix [idï¿½e fixe - an obsession], which could have been understood in some circles in England, but not universally and there again Dogmatix presented itself on a plate.

There are many English words ending in ï¿½ousï¿½ and those come in handy for the Romans - we had two soldiers called Sendervictorius and Appianglorius. It was sad Goscinny died so young - what was he like? It was tragic. He was a good friend and delightful company. What happened after that? Uderzo wondered about whether or not to import a writer and decided against it. Before they got together both he and Goscinny had both written and drawn their own bandes-dessinï¿½es [cartoons]. I have seen one of Goscinny's and the drawings were only just adequate, they were little pin-men figures, but Uderzo is a brilliant draftsman and he decided he would go on. He more or less observed the pattern of ï¿½home and away matches,ï¿½ in which the Gauls would outwit Caesar and his legions at home or they go abroad.

The first one on his own [The Great Divide] is about a couple called Fanzine and Comix, which are both names of English origin, but we had settled on calling all the women names ending in ï¿½aï¿½ - so we called Fanzine Melodrama and her lover is Histrionix. I felt a bit apologetic to Fanzine, who is bright as well as beautiful and I cite her if people say that Asterix is sexist. Which bits did you enjoy working on in the new one? It was nice to come across a section about travelling in France which Goscinny had written. It was great fun that again one was translating something dating back to him; and there were lovely parodies of great works of art towards the end. Do you know if Uderzo, 82, plans to do any more? I donï¿½t know - he has agreed with Hachette that Asterix can continue with other people after him. Do you feel any qualms about that? Yes, but itï¿½s not my business. Will you carry on?

Grog's Gamut: My Top 5 Asterix Books Running the gamut of emotions from A to B Wednesday, January 13, 2010 My Top 5 Asterix Books By the time I was 12, all I knew about ancient history, I had learned from Asterix comics. Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration – afterall I pretty much knew that Obelix was not the one responsible for the destruction of the Sphinx’s nose, and I was all but certain that Asterix was not the one who introduced tea to the English. But those and the other multitudes of historical twisting aside, Asterix and ancient history were one and the same. I guess the more accurate representation would be to say I gained my interest in ancient history from Asterix. In Year Six we had to do a project on a country, and I chose Egypt purely because Asterix and Cleopatra was my favourite Asterix comic. They are perhaps the only reading material of my childhood which I can still read and gain genuine enjoyment.

My six year old daughter now reads my Famous Five books, and while there is a certain nostalgic joy to them, I would not ever sit down and read one to find out whether Dick, Julian or George will be the first one to discover that those men who were doing something mysterious near the lighthouse at Demon’s Rocks are actually smugglers. But Asterix remains enjoyable for adults because it has humour that often flies way above kids, in much the same way that The Simpsons has for the last 20 years. René Goscinny (the writer) and Albert Uderzo (the illustrator) came up with characters and stories that never excluded kids, but never made it too easy for them either. While growing up, I liked reading the comics because I liked the jokes that rewarded those who knew a bit more than the average kid – like Caesar often asking Brutus’s advice by saying “Et tu Brute”. There aren’t many comics that a 10 year old who knew a bit of Shakespeare (mostly I should add from “Classic Comics”) could read and have him thinking himself clever for getting the joke. I wasn’t that clever, though. For many years I didn’t get the jokes of all the Gauls’ names.

The Roman ones – like Encyclopaedicus Brtiannicus – I found easier. For some reason the Gauls’ names often read like some dyslexic nightmare. I think I was well into my teens before I realised that the leader of the village was Vitalstatistix, and not (as I for some reason read it in my head) Vistalistatix (no wonder I didn’t get the joke). I had no idea what Cacofonix meant, let alone Impedimenta and Panacea. But still I read the books with religious devotion. At my Primary School there were always mad rushes during library lessons to get to read them, and I recall my friends’ and my excitement when the new story – Asterix and the Black Gold – came to the library (it was published in English in 1982, so that would have been Year 6 or 7). Oddly it was not until a few years ago that I discovered that the English translators of the series (Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge) not only translated the story, but also came up with Anglicised names for the characters.

It had never occurred to me that unhygienic is not the same word in English and French, and thus the name of the Gauls’ fishmonger, Unhygenix, would be nonsensical in French. In fact his original name is Ordralfabétix which means Alphabetical order, and is thus a rather odd name for a fishmonger (and a hell of lot less funny than the English version). Similarly the village bard Cacofonix, whose English name wonderfully describes the noise he makes is Assurancetourix in the French version, which means comprehensive insurance, again a rather meaningless joke. So yes credit to Gosciunny and Udeerzo, but big props to Bell and Hockridge) for superb translating (I ask you is there anyone who thinks the original French of Idefix is a better name for Obelix’s dog than the English Dogmatix, or that Panoramix is a better name for a Druid than Getafix?). The brilliance of Asterix comics is also realised in their current price – they are still anywhere form $20-$30 depending on the bookstore, and they are rare finds in a secondhand bookstore (in a decent condition at any rate).

What I also did not realise about Asterix, was that the English version came out in a different order to the French. Thus one the back of the English version of the comics the list of names imprinted on Obelix’s menhir started with Asterix the Gaul, then Asterix in Spain, Asterix in Britain, Asterix and Cleopatra and Asterix and the Goths. While the Asterix the Gaul was the first in the French series, Asterix in Spain was the 14th published, Asterix in Britain the 8th, Asterix and Cleopatra the 6th and Asterix and the Goths the 3rd. The story behind the odd publishing order is relayed in this great New Zealand site on Asterix. The site also gives excellent synopses and reviews of each book. Since 1977 (and the death of René Goscinny) the series has been written and illustrated solely by Albert Uderzo.

Many fans consider the series to have fallen off in quality since that time, and I must admit that I have little time for bothering with those books in the series after Asterix and the Black Gold but that may be as much to do with the fact that after that edition any that came out would have come out once I was in High School and thus felt myself above such childish things (fool I know). I was going to rank them all, but given that I have not read many for a number of years (I only own a couple books), I decided to stick to picking my favourite five: 1. Asterix and Cleopatra The original title page described it as the greatest story ever drawn, and who am I to disagree? A wonderful parody of the film Cleopatra, and also a great adventure yarn as Asterix, Obelix and Getafix (and Dogmatix) venture to Egypt to help architect Edifis build a palace for Cleopatra to win a bet over Caesar. I always liked the books that had Asterix and Obelix venture to other lands, and especially if it involved Caesar.

This story was full of puns using hieroglyphics, great bickering between Asterix and Obelix, and an excellent villain in Artifus. Just a great example of of the series and early enough in the order that it can be read first. 2. Asterix the Legionary This one had everything I liked – the lads venturing off to other lands, Caesar, some reference to Ancient history – the Roman civil war, and lots of word play jokes. The fun to be had as Asterix and Obelix join the Roman Army in order to rescue Tragicomix (betrothed to the beautiful Panacea) allows fun to be made of Army regulations and discipline, as well as the different cultures of the time (as they join a platoon filled with men from different countries). On the site “ Asterix around the World ” this one comes in as the most popular. For mine it comes in second, but only just. 3. Obelix and Co This one is perhaps the best satirical book of the whole series. The plot involves the Roman economist, Caius Preposterus, being sent by Caesar to the Gauls’ village to disrupt life. He does it by bringing capitalism to the Gauls.

He buys one of Obelix’s menhirs and promises more money (“heap big”) for more menhirs. Pretty soon he is rich (and wearing outlandish clothes) , and others in the village catch in on the game. With a huge store of Menhirs, Preposterus markets them to rich Romans, but soon the market is flooded with cheap Roman imitation menhirs, and results in tariffs and blockades against imports. My best friend, who grew up wanting to be an architect, loved The Mansion of the Gods because it involved lots of pictures of planned cities and buildings – he wanted to design a new city. That I ended up studying economics at uni can probably account for my loving this book. The satire and the explanation of capitalism appealed to my sense of humour and my interest in politics. It wasn’t till years later that I discovered the drawing of Preposterus was a caricature of French Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac. 4. Asterix in Britain For some reason this book was not in my Primary School library until after most of the others had been read to the point of needing to be rebound with masking tape. My friends and I wondered about this story – wondered if the library would ever get it.

I guess because the story was to be set in a country that spoke English – and thus we felt some knowledge of rather than the more obscure Corsica or even Belgium – it was a book we held high hopes for. We weren't disappointed. The story of Asterix and Obelix going to England to help out a similar village over there which is holding out against the Roman invaders is a pure joy to read. From jokes about the English stopping for drinks at 5pm, the Beatles, the tower of London and double-decker buses, the humour is spot on. The plot is also quite excellent as the search for the barrel of magic potion taken by the Romans that ends with a rugby match and Asterix making a pot of tea is first rate (and let’s face it, any story that makes fun of warm English beer has got to be good). 5. Asterix and the Black Gold This was the second book written by Uderzo, and it is actually a tribute to the Jewish Goscinny, as it is set in the Middle East and involves Jewish characters. Asterix and Obelix travel to Jerusalem to get some “Rock Oil” which is a valuable ingredient of the almightily magic potion.

They are accompanied by Roman secret agent Dubbelosix. The artwork in this book is absolutely beautiful. Uderzo gave the characters crisper lines and more natural colouring and it certainly sets it apart from the earlier books. The story is great as well – satirising the unending conflict in the middle east, and parodying James Bond films in the process. As I’ve written above, this was the last Asterix book I read before leaving Primary School, and thus in a great sense, for me this is the last one of the series – there have been another 8 written, but this’ll do me. Close runners-up would be Astrerix and the Laurel Wreath (my best friend and I at uni would often say “Zigzactly” when agreeing with each other in honour of the drunk Asterix and Obelix), Asterix the Gladiator – almost a companion to Asterix the Legionary), Asterix and the Roman Agent – especially for the drawing of the massive battle at the end, and Asterix and the Cauldron – a good mystery story. But they’re all good and I really should put some more effort into rebuilding my collection – looks like it’s off to ebay and second-hand book stores again! Posted by

Question: What is the name of the druid in the English version of the Asterix books?
Answer: GETAFIX