Unless I'm very much mistaken, "Les 12 travaux" was based not on a comic book but on an original scenario. This may help to explain why the story flows so beautifully. The plot is a witty riff on a Classical theme (the 12 labors of Hercules), which allows for a wide variety of adventures and settings. It also allows for a wide variety of gags and jokes, many of them of an anachronistic nature.
The animation technique, while lively and expressive, is not perfect : for instance, you'll notice how the colors of the human skin vary from scene to scene. Some characters even have limbs that are more pale than their face, or vice versa. Still, these imperfections add to the handmade feel, which, anno Domini 2022, comes as a breath of fresh air to viewers marinated in computer-generated wizardry.
In the movie, our two heroes Obelix and Asterix need to confront a series of hair-raising dangers, ranging from a ghostly Roman legion to a gastronomic feast of epic proportions. (The last one is a satirical dig at the Belgian liking for great heaps of good food. Speaking as a Belgian : yes I like to eat and to eat well, so sue me.) Every viewer will pick his or her favorite challenges. Me, I'm particularly fond of the Egyptian hypnotist, the House-that-drives-you-insane and the riddle of the fearsome greybeard on the mountain.
Ever since the creation of "Les 12 travaux", the House-that-drives-you-insane has become a shorthand plus meme for the havoc caused by bureaucratic unhelpfulness. Still, I could tell you stories that make the sequence seem like a Spring picknick... A special mention, here, to the European Parliament, which once invited me in and then denied me entry.
Strange but true : the samba-dancing priestesses of Pleasure Island look enormously like our current crop of influencers, what with their silly duck faces and silicone-enhanced lips.
The animation technique, while lively and expressive, is not perfect : for instance, you'll notice how the colors of the human skin vary from scene to scene. Some characters even have limbs that are more pale than their face, or vice versa. Still, these imperfections add to the handmade feel, which, anno Domini 2022, comes as a breath of fresh air to viewers marinated in computer-generated wizardry.
In the movie, our two heroes Obelix and Asterix need to confront a series of hair-raising dangers, ranging from a ghostly Roman legion to a gastronomic feast of epic proportions. (The last one is a satirical dig at the Belgian liking for great heaps of good food. Speaking as a Belgian : yes I like to eat and to eat well, so sue me.) Every viewer will pick his or her favorite challenges. Me, I'm particularly fond of the Egyptian hypnotist, the House-that-drives-you-insane and the riddle of the fearsome greybeard on the mountain.
Ever since the creation of "Les 12 travaux", the House-that-drives-you-insane has become a shorthand plus meme for the havoc caused by bureaucratic unhelpfulness. Still, I could tell you stories that make the sequence seem like a Spring picknick... A special mention, here, to the European Parliament, which once invited me in and then denied me entry.
Strange but true : the samba-dancing priestesses of Pleasure Island look enormously like our current crop of influencers, what with their silly duck faces and silicone-enhanced lips.