From an Unknown Village to Readers All Over the World

A look at a comic that began in France but has gained worldwide recognition spanning films, books and even a theme park based on the setting of the comic.
By: VacationRentalPeople
 
Aug. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Asterix is a series of French comic books that were written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, it was first published in French magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959.  But From 1977 Albert Uderzo took over as the writer of the comic after the death of co-creator Goscinny.

The plot of the comic is centred around the exploits of an unnamed village on the coastal region of Armonica, a province of Gaul as they resist Roman occupation.  They do so by using a magic potion that is brewed by their druid the potion gives the user superhuman strength this is brewed by a Druid named Getafix.  

The main character of the comic is Asterix who with his friend Obelix have various adventures. Asterix is a clever little character who the village trusts to handle most of their important affairs.  Obelix is a large and is slow witted character, who he fell into the Druid’s cauldron of the potion when he was a baby, which is the reason for his fat appearance but he gain permanent super human strength.  

This series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world.  It is mainly popular in Europe but still has a small following in America and Japan and the series have been translated into over 100 languages.  There are over 300 million copies of the 34 Asterix books have been sold over the world, which makes the creators France's best selling authors abroad.  With this success it has helped spawn numerous other forms of publication and media.  There have been 11 films made with 8 of them being animated while three were live action.  There have been various games based on the characters made as well, these range from video games, game books and board games.

There is also a theme park that centres around the Asterix theme and it is called Parc Asterix, this has 12½ miles which is based upon the series of the comic and is especially known for its large variety of roller coasters.  The rides have incorporated themes from historic cultures such as the Roman s and Ancient Greeks.  When Euro Disney was announced there were initial fears that there would be a loss of business due to the rumoured popularity of the Disney.  But those fears were dispelled as they were both have actually increased  the popularity which is a effect seen in other places such as Florida, for example in Orlando Disney has a main presence there as well which has seen numerous other theme parks such as universal studios have benefited.  When Parc Asterix first opened it was not heard of by most people that didn't come from France but today most visitors come from all over the world.  Its location is the top of Paris so you could find some villas in France that are of the relaxed nature.  There are roughly 1.6 million visitors per year

Asterix has been around for over 50 years and it doesn't look like it’s going to disappear any time soon they are making two more films and the comic is still ongoing, it is no wonder that the French are so proud of their little hero.

# # #

Vacation rentals from around the world, direct from the owner at vacationrentalpeople.com.

Try one of the great Villas in France at VacationRentalPeople.com.
End
Trending News
Most Viewed
Top Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share