Astérix le Gaulois

The first animated film based on René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's iconic French comic-books, Asterix The Gaul was made in 1967 and was based on the first of the books. Roger Carel voiced Asterix while Jacques Morel voiced Obelix.

Set in an alternative version of history in which Julius Caesar managed to conquer all of France save for one small village where the Gauls have stayed safe thanks to a magic potion, the comics follow Asterix and Obelix, with their dog Dogmatix, on their adventures. This first film sees nearby Roman camp send one of their most dim-witted soldiers disguised as a Gaul to Asterix's village in order to find out the source of their power.

Caligula Minus, the spy in question, finds out the Gauls' secret and shows off the power of the magic potion to his superior Caius Bonus' camp. This prompts the Romans to kidnap the druid Getafix, who makes the potion, and it's then up to Asterix to find him and bring him back. This being the first story, it's mostly a showcase of how clever and fearless Asterix himself is as he single-handedly outsmarts the Romans using only his wits. Obelix isn't really a big part of this particular story but he pops up again along with the rest of the village near the very end.

The creators of Asterix were not satisfied with this movie, especially since they only found out about it once it was being screened for them. After this, they decided to be significantly involved in the making of any further projects. Their disappointment was understandable as the film is infinitely more slight than the book and it only captures some of what makes these comics so lovable. The animation throughout is patchy and the voice acting is occasionally a bit off but, on the plus side, the film does have a lot of charm.

The characters are instantly likable, we're introduced to the most classic of Asterix music themes, there are quite a few funny, memorable moments and you definitely recognize key aspects from the book. You do get the feeling, however, that the making of the film was perhaps a bit rushed and, had a lot more work and supervision gone into the project, it could have been a lot better. It doesn't make the best use of all the characters and, watching it now, it does feel quite dated.

This first Asterix movie may be a bit of a mixed bag but it's still an enjoyable little film and a decent enough place to start if you're not too familiar with the comics or the characters. This is a fun, if slightly clunky, animated film with enough good humor and charm to make it worth it.

Enjoyable.

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

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...

I watched the Danish dub.

I returned to what I remembered as my least favourite of the Asterix original animated movies with a lot of scepticism, but was peltately surprised to no longer call it that. This is the most primitive though and probably the one that has the least going on, but the idea and overall execution was good and to kickstart an important franchise to my childhood it is important.

After the romans learn about how the Gauls become invincible, they kidnap their druid in order to make them make the magic potion. Although the druid and Asterix have other plans.

The animation here is pretty at times, but mostly primitive and out of proportions. The characters are sometimes as big as houses, their overall size is all over the place and the repetitive nature of the animation hurts the movie. There is a lot of reused animation throughout, walking, just repeated scenes mirror and so forth. It makes the movie feel cheap and long and that is insane for a movie that is just stretching the hour mark. Some of the characters also just look a bit wrong like Asterix with his chin, but overall the character look great.

The dub here is a bit hit or miss. Asterix has the voice he should have and overall the voicecast is pretty good throughout. It´s the minor characters that are given a bit too much screentime that is annoying. Like the Roman spy and the animal salesman. They have annoying voices and also annoying behaviour. The himour here is a bit mixed and the overall tone seem way more kiddish than it normally is for the rest of the original run. This is not a bad thing per say, but to me it makes the movie less universal than the rest.

This is a great idea for a story. A more Asterix centred story which means its more about brain than brawn. The normal dynamic of Asterix and Obelix is not really here, which means Asterix most rely on his brain, the thing he is the best at. Getafix is a great match with Asterix, no doubt the smartest in the village and it makes for a more unique dynamic for these movies. Speaking of dynamic. Even though the character models are resized, the Gaul village feels so much bigger and lived in than ever before. An aspect that disappears later as it seems like only around 20 people live in the village. An aspect that doesn't really work for the story though is that the rest of the Guals doesn't really do much or even try to help Asterix and Getafix, but one is of course budget and two it would ruin the concept for this movie, still it seems a bit unnatural.

The length of the movie is felt, but I am glad it is just an hour. Longer and it would have been too long.

The score is pretty good. The main theme is iconic and the music fits the characters and actions pretty well.

I am glad I revisited this movie and found it better than my kid self remembered. A movie I no doubt will return to later and even look back on a bit more fondly.

I picked up a recent "version remasterisée" blu-ray, with excellent picture and sound and the original English dubbing, on e-bay, as I was curious about Asterix and had a feeling the kiddos would enjoy it. The movie (I'm not familiar with the comics, which came first) is a light-hearted rethink of French identity in the wake of World War II, somewhat surprisingly in terms of Gaulish barbarians (or at least a single village of them in the NW) resisting invading Romans. But the main appeal of the show is its slapstick comedy, which was especially loved by my 7-year old son, including "Roman" names like Marcus Sourpuss and Phonus Balonus. There is some irony to this, given that Asterix builds on Graeco-Roman mime, with Asterix as an Odysseus figure and Obelix as a Hercules. The music is also great.