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Asterix
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A key feature of the text of the Asterix books are the constant puns used as names of characters; The names of the two protagonists come from the French names for the asterisk and the obelisk. English language examples include the chief (Vitalstatistix), the druid (Getafix), the woeful bard of the village (Cacofonix), the fishmonger (Unhygienix), an old man (Geriatrix) with a young wife. Incidental characters often feature names like "Hiphiphurrax" and "Mykingdomforanos". This punning tradition occurs in other languages; for example, in the French original, the chief is called "Abraracourcix", derived from the phrase "a bras raccourcis" meaning 'with arms raised and ready, ready to punch'. The Egyptian in Ast�rix L�gionnaire is named "Courdet�nis" in French, "Ptenisnet" in English.
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The Asterix comic books were created by René Goscinny (text) and Albert Uderzo (drawing). The first of a series of 30 albums, Astérix le Gaulois, which appeared in 1959, set the tone and introduced the main characters. Since then, more than 300 million copies of the Asterix books have been sold, world wide.
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Since the comics first appeared in 1959, some 325 million copies of the 33 Asterix books have been sold, with translations into languages as diverse as Urdu, Arabic, and even Latin. That makes for a lot of children who have spent time cheering for the Gauls as they try to defend themselves against the nasty Roman forces.
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Asterix lives around 50 BC in a fictional village in northwest Gaul (Armorica), the only part of that country not yet conquered by Julius Caesar. The inhabitants of the village gain superhuman strength from drinking a magic potion prepared by the druid Getafix (originally Panoramix - names of all characters except "Asterix" and "Obelix" vary from one translation to another). Many books in the Asterix series have as their main plot the attempt by the Roman army of occupation to prevent the druid from making the potion, or the attempt to get some of it for their own use. Such attempts are inevitably foiled by Asterix and his friend Obelix.
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The eighth Asterix film, Asterix and the Vikings, follows a 12-year gap with no new animated features starring the indomitable Gaul being created. The source is Asterix and the Normans, a 1967 album from a period at which the series was going from strength to strength and could do virtually no wrong. The plot, appropriately enough, centres around an invasion of Gaul by the ferocious Normans (or Norsemen), who don't know the meaning of fear and believe that, if they can learn it, they will be able to fly (since, naturally, fear gives you wings). Their invasion coincides with the arrival of Chief Vitalstatistix's nephew, Justforkix, a snotty youth who would rather spend his days partying and listening to modern music than doing proper Gaulish activities like hunting for wild boar and fighting the Romans. Deciding that Justforkix is the Champion of Fear, the Norman chief, Timandahaf, has him captured, with the intention of dropping him off a cliff so they can watch him fly, and, predictably, it's up to Asterix and Obelix to save the day.
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René Goscinny, the ingenious story writer and one of the fathers of Asterix, was born on August 14th, 1926 in Paris. During his childhood and youth he lived in Argentina, where his family emmigrated in 1928. Soon after he finished school in 1943, his father died and he had to give up his plans to study.
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Asterix