Thank providence for YouTube, where I have discovered that several animated films based on various "Asterix" iconic novels actually exist. I recently watched "Asterix and Cleopatra" on YouTube and rated it quite favorably in my Amazon.com review. More recently I viewed the even more diverting "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix" (hereafter TToA), which adds understated but piquant British humor and attitude to ancient Greco-Roman themes.
TToA begins from the beginning, introducing us to the stalwart Gaulish village which is the sole hold-out against Julius Caesar's hordes and especially the village's cleverest warrior, Asterix, and its most powerful, Asterix's friend Obelix. They have repelled Caesar's forces so decisively for so long that many of the Roman military and senate leaders start to believe the villagers are immortal gods (or at least demigods) against which resistance is futile. Caesar angrily scoffs at this and personally travels to the village to propose a contest: if Asterix and Obelix can complete 12 excruciatingly difficult tasks, Caesar will admit that the Gauls are gods and will let them be. But if they fail even one task, the village must accept defeat and absorption into the Roman Empire. The short, phlegmatic, and unassuming Cassius Tiddilus (I think that his name) will monitor the heroes' progress.
And so we're off. TToA is an excellent place for the "Asterix" neophyte to learn the lore and why these Gaulish characters are internationally renowned. The animated movie is also a deft parody of the twelve tasks of Hercules (which are briefly referenced) and an unexpected showcase for droll, unflappable behavior in outlandish situations in the Monty Python vein. Some of the tasks are traditionally athletic like foot-racing, javelin throwing, and judo. Others allude to Greek myth like the sirens' island of voluptuous pleasure and the old man of the mountain's riddle. Still others are more satirical like the attempt to acquire a permit in a bureaucratic labyrinth and spending the night on a ghostly plain. Yet no matter what they face, Asterix and Obelix (speaking in delightful matter-of-fact British tones) address them with stately, unflappable resolve which, again, reminded me of Monty Python.
The ingenious beauty of TToA (and of "Asterix" in general) is its appeal to various levels, from connoisseurs of lively, sometimes cartoonishly violent action and fighting to appreciators of clever parody and sly dialogue. Best of all, TToA is unpretentious fun that, as the climactic scenes in the Coliseum show, doesn't take itself seriously.
TToA begins from the beginning, introducing us to the stalwart Gaulish village which is the sole hold-out against Julius Caesar's hordes and especially the village's cleverest warrior, Asterix, and its most powerful, Asterix's friend Obelix. They have repelled Caesar's forces so decisively for so long that many of the Roman military and senate leaders start to believe the villagers are immortal gods (or at least demigods) against which resistance is futile. Caesar angrily scoffs at this and personally travels to the village to propose a contest: if Asterix and Obelix can complete 12 excruciatingly difficult tasks, Caesar will admit that the Gauls are gods and will let them be. But if they fail even one task, the village must accept defeat and absorption into the Roman Empire. The short, phlegmatic, and unassuming Cassius Tiddilus (I think that his name) will monitor the heroes' progress.
And so we're off. TToA is an excellent place for the "Asterix" neophyte to learn the lore and why these Gaulish characters are internationally renowned. The animated movie is also a deft parody of the twelve tasks of Hercules (which are briefly referenced) and an unexpected showcase for droll, unflappable behavior in outlandish situations in the Monty Python vein. Some of the tasks are traditionally athletic like foot-racing, javelin throwing, and judo. Others allude to Greek myth like the sirens' island of voluptuous pleasure and the old man of the mountain's riddle. Still others are more satirical like the attempt to acquire a permit in a bureaucratic labyrinth and spending the night on a ghostly plain. Yet no matter what they face, Asterix and Obelix (speaking in delightful matter-of-fact British tones) address them with stately, unflappable resolve which, again, reminded me of Monty Python.
The ingenious beauty of TToA (and of "Asterix" in general) is its appeal to various levels, from connoisseurs of lively, sometimes cartoonishly violent action and fighting to appreciators of clever parody and sly dialogue. Best of all, TToA is unpretentious fun that, as the climactic scenes in the Coliseum show, doesn't take itself seriously.