Scandinavians joined forces with the French to make the animated feature film Astérix et les Vikings, based on the adventures of two legendary French comicbook heroes Astérix and Obélix. All images © 2005 —SND Gr

In France, the Vikings were hardly remembered with fondness — back in the Middle Ages, their name was synonymous with pillage and rape from when these northern invaders sailed along the Seîne in their longboats and brought terror to the local people.

However, things in Europe these days have moved on somewhat and now we have Scandinavians joining forces with the French to make the animated feature film Astérix et les Vikings, the first alliance between two cultures without any obvious affinities! The film, which skillfully combines both Scandinavian and French references, is based on the adventures of two legendary French comicbook heroes, Astérix and Obélix, and, very loosely indeed, on ancient history and Caesar’s conquests in Gaul. It’s the eighth animated feature outing for the two Gallic warriors, which must be a record in the animation world.It should be said that within Europe, the saga has long since traveled beyond the French borders, particularly in Germany where the two Gauls are hugely popular. A phenomenon within the book publishing world, like Tintin, translated into dozens of languages, the adventures of Astérix and Obélix owe their success to a combination of highly verbal humor (not always that easily translatable) and drawings that appeal to a very wide audience.

In the late ‘50s, Uderzo, the series’ illustrator, developed a graphic style that clearly demonstrated the influence of American comics, yet added a distinctly French touch: his sinuous drawings combine caricature and realism, and are both well researched and stuffed full of deliberate anachronisms. Astérix’s adventures feature the ritual and highly good-humored destruction of a good many Romans. The latter are extremely well organized (excessively so) and technologically superior, but they always lose since they don’t understand the first thing about the Gauls.

This is the eighth animated feature outing for the two Gallic warriors. After a gap of almost 10 years, the prospects for this feature are bright in Europe, because the popularity of the Astérix books has grown.

The pirates pop up as a running gag from book to book, sinking to the ocean depths, watched ironically by the Gallic warriors who enjoy the advantage of a magic potion that makes them invincible. No doubt it’s this good-natured nationalism — (fortunately) full of self-mockery — that appeals to other nationalities. René Goscinny, whose credits also include Le petit Nicolas (with Sempé), Iznogoud (with Tabary) and Lucky Luke (with Morris) was the regular writer for the series, from its inception in 1959 for the comic strip magazine Pilote until his death in 1977. He was responsible for the best of the Astérix books. It was two of the latter that formed the basis of the film that will shortly be released in several European territories (the film has already opened in Belgium and France, and will soon be on release in Holland, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Norway).

Some will remember an initial and fairly disastrous — though legendary — adaptation from the Brussels studio, Belvision, in the 1960s. Goscinny almost lost his sense of humor when he discovered the studio’s first feature film, made without his knowledge, Astérix le Gaulois was animated in a style approaching that of The Flintstones, that cheap TV look. The studio boss had intended it as a surprise for Goscinny and Uderzo, which succeeded in spades. However, Raymond Leblanc, who was both director of the publishing house Editions du Lombard and the Belvision studios, had certainly come up with an idea of irrefutable logic: films based on the books would increase the popularity of the characters and hence… book sales.