50 B.C. Gaul is occupied by Caesar’s army. The only resistance comes from a small village somewhere in Britanny. The indomitable Gauls notably Asterix and Obelix refuse to cow down to the might of the Romans.

August, 1959 A.D. In a cheap apartment, Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo are busy putting the finishing touches to their comic book. The first issue of Pilote is two months later on October 29. Asterix takes his bow. A year later, in August, 1960, the second issue hits the stand with Obelix holding up the date and issue number. In the October, 1961 issue, Asterix And The Goths Obelix’s role as Asterix’s partner is well defined.

Other Stories

And the story goes on

The fourth issue, Asterix And The Gladiator released in September, 1964 has a print order of 50,000 as against the 6,000 copies of the first Asterix comic. A year later Pilote is published under the title Pilote, The Home Of Asterix and Obelix and in September 19, 1966 Asterix makes it to the cover of the weekly news magazine L’Express as France’s “New Favourite”.

In December, 1967, the animated adventures of Asterix are released. Asterix The Legionary is published in German and Latin besides French. More than a million copies are sold.
In 1973 Asterix leaves Pilote to branch out on his own. A year later the the idefix (Dogmatrix) animation studio is founded. In ’76 the animated film, The Twelve Labors Of Asterixis is released. It’s a disappointment but Asterix comics are still popular with France alone, printing 1,300,000 copies.

On November 5, 1977 Rene Goscinny dies. Asterix In Belgium (’79) is the last issue written by Goscinny. His partner, Albert Uderzo sets up The Albert Rene Publishing Company and in June, ’80 comes out with The Great Divide, his first solo Asterix. It is followed by five others. Two million copies are sold in six months.

Five years later another animated film, Caesar’s Surprise, produced by Paul and Gaetan Brizzi for Gaumont’s Asterix Studios, is released. In ’89 the Asterix amusement park opens and the July 8, 1991 Time magazibe in its special editon on France has Asterix and Obelix on the cover. Two months later, on October 18, the 29th issue, Asterix, The Rose And The Sword is released. On that day, 7 million copies were available throughout western Europe. Asterix is no longer just France’s national hero. Five years later, on October 30, 1996, Obelix’s Galley is released. Three million copies are distributed in France and 8 million abroad.

On June 26, 1998, Asterix And Obelix Versus Caesar goes on the floor. Produced by Claude Berri and directed by Claude Zidi it has Gerard Depardieu as Obelix and Christian Clavier as Astrix. Roberto Benigni and Laetitia Casta are also part of the cast. It has Julius Ceaser himself coming to the Gaul village when his tax collector Claudius Incorruptus complain to him that Asterix and company refuse to pay up. With the help of Tullius Destructivus, the intriguer, the Romans try to get Obelix and the Druid into their hands in order to wipe the little village off the map. It’s Caesar’s mighty army versus Asterix and Obelix and the determined villagers.

It was in ’93 that Claude Berri first started thinking about this film. It was his son Thomas who gave him the idea. His first difficulty was getting together Gerard Departidu and Christian Clavier both of whom are big stars constantly working in Hollywood projects. Depardie was easier to convince because the French superstar had always wanted to do the Asterix impressed with Oblelix’s superhuman strength. Clavier was another Asterix fan and spent two months working with his director along with the costume, make-up and the SFX department working on his Asterix look.
Berri wanted Roberto Benigni to play the part of Detrtitus. When he was working on Life Is Beautiful, Berri with his entourage would often drop in on Benigi to persuade him. For eight months Benegi said “no” and then one one day phoned Berrito say, “Hello.... this is Detritus... the man who can’t turn you down!”

Getting Claude Zidi to direct was a coup for Berri because his namesake is known as the Steven Spielberg of France. Almost all his films have been huge hits and his Crazy Boys series have brought him international fame. Zidi read all the Asterix comics before penning his script.
The film was wrapped up in just 21 weeks of shooting with 60 actors putting in 324,000 hours and 1,495 extras doling out 9,000 work days. Eight hundred costumes were tailored including 420 costumes and accessories (helmets, armor, shields) for the extras playing Romans. Six hundred equipment and service suppliers were recruited along with 61 animals for the village and 398 animals for the Roman arena including trapdoor spiders, crocodiles and snakes. It is budgeted at U.S. $48 million and is the most expensive film ever made in France.

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