The songs don’t advance the plot much, and don’t compare with anything Disney ever made, but they’re mildly entertaining. In it, Asterix and Obelix help their Egyptian architect buddy build a new temple for Cleopatra while thwarting the efforts of a rival architect, and Caesar, of course, to block its construction. It’s an adaptation of their album of the same name, originally serialized in Pilote. In 1967, the first Asterix animated film came out, Asterix the Gaul, produced by Dargaud, Asterix’ publisher, but without Goscinny and Uderzo’s involvement, so instead I’ve chosen to discuss the second film, made the next year, Asterix and Cleopatra, which the duo co-directed. Some examples Americans knew about for years include the animated film version of Heavy Metal the Jane Fonda flick Barbarella, and of course, The Smurfs on Saturday mornings! And it wasn’t just original creations: for decades, Donald Duck was a megastar in Europe in comics form.Įuropean comics characters crossed over into movies and TV when Kevin Feige was still in diapers.
For years, the newsstand magazine Heavy Metal exposed Americans to a more grownup and sophisticated alternate world of comics storytelling devoid of the childish power fantasies of Marvel and DC, but the tradition goes back much further, with one of the biggest and most important titles of the medium being the series Tintin. One of my teachers recommended I look to a different model of successful comics: a series out of France called Asterix.Įuropean comics, or bande dessinée, as the French call them, have a rich and diverse history, one which is not dominated by superheroes. A few already did while they were still in school, so I thought I had to draw superheroes too, and to draw like them: men and women with perfect physiques in a semi-realistic style.
#Asterix and cleopatra 1967 ost professional#
Many of my friends wanted to break into professional comics, which to them meant Marvel and DC Comics.
I was halfway through art school when I decided I’d rather study cartooning than illustration.