The Twelve Tasks of Asterix

(Redirected from The 12 Tasks of Asterix) 1976 English/French animated film

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix
Original theatrical release poster
Les Douze travaux d'Astérix
Directed by	René Goscinny Albert Uderzo Pierre Watrin Henri Gruel
Screenplay by	Pierre Tchernia René Goscinny Albert Uderzo
Based on	Asterix by René Goscinny Albert Uderzo
Produced by	Georges Dargaud René Goscinny Albert Uderzo
Starring	Roger Carel Jacques Morel Jean Martinelli
Narrated by	Pierre Tchernia
Edited by	René Chaussy Isabel García de Herreros Minouche Gauzins Michèle Neny
Music by	Gérard Calvi
Production companies	Dargaud Films Les Productions René Goscinny Studios Idéfix Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films
Distributed by	Gaumont Distribution
Release dates	March 12, 1976 (1976-03-12) (Austria) October 20, 1976 (1976-10-20) (France) December 19, 1976 (1976-12-19) (United Kingdom)
Running time	82 minutes
Countries	France United Kingdom
Language	French
Box office	9.4 million tickets

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (Les Douze travaux d'Astérix) is a 1976 English/French animated feature film based on the Asterix comic book series, and the third in the animated franchise. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the creators of the series, wrote the story and directed the film themselves; with co-direction by Pierre Watrin and the screenplay co-written by Pierre Tchernia, a friend of Goscinny and Uderzo. The film was directed, produced and animated at Goscinny and Uderzo's own animation studio, Studios Idéfix, and is the only Asterix animated film that used xerography, instead of traditional inkers. At the time of its release, the film received mixed reviews since its tone is more cartoony and frequently breaks the fourth wall. Nowadays, its reception is more favourable, with it often being cited as one of the best Astérix films, even reaching the status of a cult classic.

It was the only Asterix film (animated or live-action) to be based on an original screenplay rather than on material from any of the comic book stories until the release of Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion in 2018. It was later adapted into a comic book as well by Albert Uderzo's brother, Marcel Uderzo, as an illustrated text story book and a series of twelve books for young readers.

Plot

Following constant defeats by the rebel village in Gaul, the Roman Senate begins to suggest that the Gauls might be gods, due to their apparent invincibility. Julius Caesar, openly disdainful of the suggestion, decides to test the village and meets with their chieftain, Vitalstatistix. Caesar declares that the Gauls must undertake a challenge, inspired by the Twelve Labours of Hercules: the village's best warriors shall perform a set of twelve new tasks, which only gods could carry out successfully. Completion of all the tasks will see Caesar hand over the Roman Empire to them, whereas failing just one task will result in the Gauls surrendering to Rome. Agreeing to the terms, the village assigns Asterix and Obelix to perform the tasks, with Caesar assigning Caius Tiddlus, a Roman man renowned for his honesty, to act as their guide to the tasks and serve as the challenges' referee.

In their first set of challenges, Asterix defeats the Greek Asbestos, champion of the ancient Olympic Games, by beating him in a race, and Cilindric the German in a judo match, by outsmarting his opponent. Obelix defeats Verses the Persian, by managing to throw a javelin further than him. In their next challenge, the pair find themselves crossing a lake that is home to beautiful Sirens, who reside in the centre on the "Isle of Pleasure". Although the Gauls nearly succumb to the women, Obelix comes to his senses when he learns that there are no wild boars for him to hunt and eat, allowing the pair to accomplish the challenge. After surviving the hypnotic gaze of Iris the Egyptian in the fifth task, with Asterix causing him to hypnotise himself, Obelix attempts the sixth task of finishing meals prepared by the Belgian cook Mannekenpix, consuming all the food (which he believes to be hors d'oeuvres).

Following their seventh task of enduring the "Cave of the Beast", the pair attempt the eighth task of getting a permit document from "The Place that Sends you Mad", a multi-storey bureaucratic building. After finding it impossible because of the clinically unhelpful people who direct them elsewhere, Asterix beats them at their own game by requesting an imaginary permit. The staff fall victim to their own behaviour, and cause the Prefect to unwittingly hand over what the Gauls came for. The pair continue to complete further challenges. They cross a ravine filled with crocodiles by beating them up, rather than using an invisible tightrope. They answer a riddle by the Old Man of the Mountain, conducted in the form of a washing detergent advertisement. They then endure a night on a plain haunted by ghostly legionnaires. The exhausted Asterix's furious complaint scares the ghosts away.

Asterix and Obelix eventually find themselves in Rome, alongside their fellow villagers, for their final task. Brought to the Circus Maximus, the Gauls fight against gladiators, whom they beat, and defeat various animals sent against them by turning the arena into a modern-day circus. Having succeeded in every task, Caesar agrees that they are gods, giving the Gauls control of the Roman Empire, while retiring to live a quiet and peaceful life with Cleopatra. As a reward for his service, Caius Tiddlus retires to the Isle of Pleasure. As the village celebrates their success, Asterix answers Obelix's question of them really conquering Rome by pointing out that everything that happened to them was a mere cartoon, in which anything is possible. Obelix takes advantage of this and teleports himself and his wild boar meat to the Isle of Pleasure by the High Priestess, along with Caius Tiddlus, to enjoy himself.

Cast

Character	Original Dub	English Dub
Asterix	Roger Carel	Sean Barrett
Caius Tiddlius	Roger Carel	Sean Barrett
Obelix	Jacques Morel	Michael Kilgarriff
Dogmatix	Roger Carel

Additional Voices

Original Dub: Roger Carel (Roman Senator #2, Roman Senator #3)

Original

Georges Atlas - Cétautomatix, Hermès, Fantôme romain
Claude Bertrand - Sénateur romain, Le centurion #2
Caroline Cler - Bureaucrate #5
Claude Dasset - Bureaucrate #2
Micheline Dax - Grande Prêtresse, Cléopâtre
Gisèle Grimm - Voix supplémentaires
Gérard Hernandez - Le vénérable du sommet
Jacques Hilling - Soldat
Nicole Jonesco - Voix supplémentaires
Henri Labussière - Bureaucrate #1
Odette Laure - Bureaucrate #4
Bernard Lavalette - Le préfet
Roger Lumont - Cylindrique le Germain, prof de karaté allemand
Jean Martinelli - Jules César, Jupiter
Mary Mongourdin - Voix supplémentaires
Pascal Mazzotti - Sénateur romain #1
Henri Poirier - Le centurion #1
Lawrence Riesner - Voix supplémentaires
Stéphane Steeman - Le Belge
Jean Stout - Voix supplémentaires
Monique Thubert - Vénus
Pierre Tornade - Abraracourcix, Assurancetourix
Nicole Vervil - Bonnemine
Henri Virlojeux - Panoramix, Iris

Uncredited

Alice Sapritch - Voix supplémentaires
Pierre Tchernia - Récitant, Le narrateur

English

Paul Bacon - Vitalstatistix, Centurion #1, Roman Senator #1, Indian Chief, Iris, Bureaucrat #9, Old Man of the Mountains, Ares
George Baker - Bureaucrat #2, Prefect, Hermes, Roman Soldier
Ysanne Churchman - Impedimenta, Bureaucrat #5
Christina Greatrex - Chief Priestess of the Isle of Pleasure, Bureaucrat #6, Hera, Mrs. Geriatrix
Alexander John - Julius Caesar, Bureaucrat #1, Zeus
Barbara Mitchell - Priestess #3
Gennie Nevinson - Bureaucrat #3, Bureaucrat #8, Cleopatra
John Ringham - Narrator, Soldier, Roman Senator #3, Bureaucrat #7
Geoffrey Russell - Getafix, Roman Senator #4, Cacofonix
Paddy Turner - Priestess #2, Bureaucrat #4, Aphrodite
Sean Barrett - Verses, Cylindric, Mannikinpix, Gladiator Trainer, Jailer, Roman Ghost, Fulliautomatix

Home media

In the United Kingdom, it was watched by 400,000 viewers on television during the first half of 2005, making it the fifth most-watched foreign-language film on UK television during that period.

Notes

In the opening scene at Caesar's senate Brutus is seen around the table playing with a knife of which Caesar says "Brutus, stop playing about with that knife you'll end up hurting somebody", while Brutus is off screen you hear an "ouch" in the background with the next shot of Brutus with a bandage around his finger. This is a reference to Brutus being one of the men who stabbed and killed Caesar.
The scene with the fight in the Native American village during the second task features a cameo appearance by Oumpah-pah, a character created by Goscinny and Uderzo for a separate comic series.
Especially in France, Italy and Germany, "The Place that sends you mad" sequence has achieved a strong cult status as a parody of absurd modern-day bureaucracy. In Germany, "Passierschein A38" ("Curfew pass A38") has become a popular slang term for a fictional document to ironically describe absurd bureaucracy. It was also referenced in the second expansion of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Blood and Wine; there, Geralt has to retrieve Permit A38 from a Touissant office, and face unhelpful clerks and confusing architecture.

Comic book and story book adaptations

In 1976, Uderzo's brother Marcel created a comic book adaptation of the film. This rare album has been translated in various languages, but is unavailable in the regular series. The English translation, only published as part of the once off comic book annual Asterix Annual 1980, was based on the dialogue of the English version of the film and was titled Asterix Conquers Rome.
There is also an illustrated book of the film (of the same name) containing the story in text. The story book is more regularly published and more widely translated than the very rare comic book.
In addition, there are also twelve rare illustrated text story books for young readers, one for each of the twelve tasks.

References

"Douze travaux d'Astérix (1976)". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^ "René Goscinny". lambiek.net.
^ "Albert Uderzo". lambiek.net.
^ "Marcel Uderzo". lambiek.net.
^ "Les DOUZE TRAVAUX D'ASTÉRIX (1975)". Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
^ "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
"4. Film on UK Television in the First Half of 2005". Research and Statistics Bulletin. 3 (1). British Film Institute, UK Film Council: 20-34 (26-7). September 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2022 – via Yumpu.
"Animated Asterix Films: 'The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'". h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
Kuykendall, Jeff. "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)". Midnight Only. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
"Warum das Coronavirus den "Passierschein A38" wiederauferstehen lässt". www.t-online.de (in German). 23 March 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
"ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl". www.zeit.de. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
"Apps statt Ablage - Der lange Weg zur digitalen Verwaltung". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). 27 July 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
"The best bit of The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine is a hilarious, throwaway side quest". VG247. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
"Asterix Conquers Rome (1976) - Read Asterix Comics Online". asterixonline.info.
"Chapter 1. The Twelve Tasks of Asterix". asterix.openscroll.org.

External links

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix at IMDb

Asterix

Comic books

Goscinny and Uderzo	Asterix the Gaul The Golden Sickle The Goths The Gladiator The Banquet Cleopatra The Big Fight In Britain The Normans The Legionary The Chieftain's Shield Olympic Games The Cauldron In Spain The Roman Agent In Switzerland The Mansions of the Gods The Laurel Wreath The Soothsayer In Corsica Caesar's Gift The Great Crossing Obelix and Co. In Belgium
Uderzo alone	The Great Divide The Black Gold Asterix and Son The Magic Carpet The Secret Weapon Asterix and Obelix All at Sea The Actress The Falling Sky
Ferri and Conrad	The Picts The Missing Scroll The Chariot Race The Chieftain's Daughter The Griffin
Fabcaro and Conrad	The White Iris

Other books

Films

Animated	Asterix the Gaul (1967) Asterix and Cleopatra (1968) The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976) Asterix Versus Caesar (1985) Asterix in Britain (1986) Asterix and the Big Fight (1989) Asterix Conquers America (1994) Asterix and the Vikings (2006) The Mansions of the Gods (2014) The Secret of the Magic Potion (2018)
Live-action	Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999) Mission Cleopatra (2002) Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008) God Save Britannia (2012) The Middle Kingdom (2023)

Video games

Characters

Categories: