The Twelve Tasks of Asterix

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.

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
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

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
Obelix	Jacques Morel	Michael Kilgarriff
Dogmatix	Roger Carel

Original

• Roger Carel (Roman Senator #2, Roman Senator #3)
• Georges Atlas - Cétautomatix, Hermès, Fantôme romain
• Claude Bertrand - Brutus, 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.

External links

• The Twelve Tasks of Asterix at IMDb