Latest news with #Obelix
Mint
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Lounge Loves: ‘Asterix and Obelix', a foldover pizza sandwich and more
Earlier in March, I carried my entire Asterix and Obelix collection from my parents' home in Bengal to Mumbai. I wanted to introduce the popular French comic series to my seven-year-old son, who surprisingly got hooked in no time. So you can imagine our excitement when Netflix released the comic adaptation of Asterix and Obelix recently. We binge-watched all five episodes of the The Big Fight series, that go back in time to the beloved Gaulish warrior duo's childhood, including an incident where Obelix accidentally falls into a vat of magic potion and acquires superhuman strength. What got us most excited are some new characters like Apothika, an old friend of the village druid Getafix, and Metadata, the cool rebel girl, who helps Julius Caesar strategise the big fight between the Gauls and the Romans. This one's an absolute riot of fun. Like most boys his age, eight-and-a-half-year-old Palash Ranjan Sen, aka Poltu, loves reading Phantom comics. But unlike his peers, he has a scientist mother who is headed for an Arctic mission, and an uncle with an odd job—rehoming ghosts ousted by the forces of climate change and urbanisation. Sudeshna Shome Ghosh's delightful middle-grade novel takes you on a night-long taxi ride through the spookiest neighbourhoods of Kolkata. With fun illustrations by Pankaj Saikia, the story will not only resonate with readers around Poltu's age, but also their seniors. Weren't we all eight once, looking for friendly ghosts to spice up our boring lives swamped with school and holiday homework? I have a WhatsApp group with two friends—each of us in our 30s, navigating very different life stages—united by a love for home improvement finds. I call it calming capitalism. We trade notes on bedsheets, diffusers, label makers, and most recently, sunscreen for the group's only man, who's new to skincare. When I needed a spray bottle that could handle both my plant babies and my unruly curls, I turned to the youngest in the group, our resident make-up artist. She suggested Inovera (Label)'s mist spray bottle, and it's been a quiet joy. My leaves are perked up, and taming my hair feels like less of a chore now. The group chat? Still going strong, fuelled by product recs, tiny upgrades, and the everyday thrill of making life feel a little nicer. Hipsters everywhere will hate me for saying this: I hate sourdough. Don't mess with sandwich bread, I say. So it was with great suspicion that I tried a 'foldover pizza sandwich' at Breakaway Pizzeria and Café in Panaji last month, and—you know where this is going—I loved it. It's a take on the panuzzo, and has roots in Naples, like the Neapolitan pizza they serve. Breakaway's dough is 70% hydrated, which means there's 700 grams of water for every 1,000g of flour, and fermented for 44 hours. The bread is pulled by hand and baked fresh for every sandwich, which gives every panuzzo that perfectly mild char and the light little pockets that make Neapolitan pizza special. There's the comfort of bread, without it overwhelming the filling itself, whether it's fresh tomatoes and stracciatella with basil pesto, or meatballs with mozzarella.
Indian Express
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Asterix & Obelix – The Big Fight review: By Toutatis! Netflix quenches thirst for nostalgia with magic potion for the soul
Unlike his fellow Franco-Belgian comic book icon Tintin, Asterix has a rich history of representation in cinema and on television. While Tintin has inspired mainly the beloved Canadian cartoon adaptation and a criminally underrated feature film directed by Steven Spielberg, the adventures of Asterix the Gaul have spawned 18 films, 15 board games, 40 video games, and one theme park. The latest is a glossy Netflix mini-series, originally announced in 2021 but released only this week. Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight is based on the 1964 comic of the same name, and will likely delight generations of readers who've grown up with the character. Co-directed by Alain Chabat and Fabrice Joubert, The Big Fight is a lovingly crafted homage to the classic comics that feels both fresh and familiar. For one, it's largely faithful to René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's original book. The show doesn't assume that audiences would be familiar with the source material, but it would certainly help if you were. For instance, a sudden altercation between the characters Fulliautomatix and Unhygeinix will be meaningless to folks who have no idea about their endless beef. But those who are aware of it will simply be glad to see a glimpse of it in the show. A still from Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight. Among the smartest creative decisions that Chabat and Joubert have made here is to devote the entire opening episode — there are only five in total; animation is time-consuming and expensive — to Asterix and Obelix's childhood. We learn that they share the same birthday, and actually get to witness the events that led to Obelix — the 'weakest' member of the tribe — falling into a vat of magic potion. It's like watching the moment Harry Potter got his scar. Concocted by the druid Getafix, the potion is of vital importance to the story; it's what makes our central characters 'indomitable' in the face of Roman opposition. While the rest of Gaul will fall to Julius Caesar, Asterix and Obelix's village will always hold out. In the second episode, the narrative leaps forward to the present day, that is, 50 BC. Caesar remains irritated at not being able to conquer all of Gaul, while his sneering mother never stops reminding him of the difference between being an all-powerful emperor and someone who is routinely defeated by a village-full of boar-eating, wine-swigging, potion-pounding men. Caesar won't tolerate this humiliation. And so, he instructs a chieftain named Fastandfurious to kidnap Getafix; no Getafix, no magic potion; no magic potion, no advantage. The druid out of the way, Fastandfurious enlists his bright niece Metadata to put together a gladiatorial duel between the chief of Asterix's village, Vitalstatistix, and a puppet leader named Cassius Ceramix. The rules dictate that the winning chief will take over the loser's tribe, meaning that if Ceramix defeats a potion-less Vitalstatistix, all of Gaul will finally be under Caesar's control. Ridiculous and slapstick as The Big Fight consistently is, like the comics, it's a sneakily political satire of authoritarianism. It's a whole other argument that France itself has occupied many territories across history, and continues to exploit various regions in Africa for their natural resources. The (French) man's folly is indirectly explored in episode four, when it is proposed that Obelix temporarily become the chief, seeing as he's the only one left with superpowers. The proposal encourages other members of the village to throw their hat in the ring as well; for a while, defeating Ceramix and protecting the sovereignty of the village is forgotten, as the Gauls begin fighting among themselves. There mere whiff of power awakens something inside them, a latent desire to be dictators themselves. The pure-hearted Obelix, on the other hand, turns down the offer. He's more than happy chipping away at his 'menhirs'. A still from Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight. The Big Fight combines Uderzo's instantly recognisable character design with brand spanking new animation. It takes a moment to train your mind to accept Asterix and his friends as 3D characters, but not too long. What's most striking about this new series is the obvious attention to detail that Chabat and Joubert have paid to the visual language. The lighting is extraordinary, adding a dimension that was wholly missing from the comics — mainly because of the medium's inherent constraints. The story is based only one book; it plays like a two-and-a-half-hour-long movie, and not an episodic show. While this might deter television purists, it'll certainly appeal to Asterix enthusiasts. There's an opportunity here to adapt other books in the series, but you'd wonder if a four-year turnaround is a feasible production model. The obvious move would've been to make hour-long episodes based on individual books, like the Tintin series, but they clearly wanted to create something more expansive. As vibrant as the show is, it's the flashback-centred first episode that delivers a charm-offensive so powerful that it might've gulped a glass of magic potion itself.
South China Morning Post
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Asterix, Obelix now on Netflix, with animated miniseries out to gain them fans in US, Asia
France's beloved comic book heroes Asterix and Obelix have their latest incarnation in a Netflix miniseries that could win over new fans, notably in the United States and Asia. Advertisement The plucky Gauls, created by illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer René Goscinny in 1959, have a vast following thanks to the original comic books that have sold around 400 million copies. A series of big-budget French films – the latest took them to China in Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, in 2023 – has also helped expand their reach. However, warrior Asterix and his powerful but dim-witted sidekick Obelix are yet to win over viewers in the United States and Britain, which have their own comic-book and animated hero characters from Marvel, Disney and other stables. Director Alain Chabat (white hair and glasses) with voice actors from the Netflix miniseries Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight, in Paris. Photo: Reuters 'Often unfortunately in these markets, the Asterix films tend to be released in art house cinemas,' said Céleste Surugue, head of the Editions Albert René publishing company that owns the rights to the original comics.
Japan Today
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Asterix, Obelix and Netflix: U.S. streamer embraces Gallic heroes
By Aurélie CARABIN and Adam PLOWRIGHT France's beloved comic book heroes Asterix and Obelix are set for their latest incarnation in a Netflix mini-series being released Wednesday, hoping to win over new fans, notably in the United States and Asia. The plucky Gallic rebels, created by illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer Rene Goscinny in 1959, have a vast following thanks to the original comic books that have sold around 400 million copies. A series of big-budget French films -- the latest in 2023 took them to China in "Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom" -- has also helped expand their reach. But warrior Asterix and his powerful but dim-witted sidekick Obelix are yet to conquer viewers in the United States and Britain, which have their own comic book and animated hero characters from Marvel, Disney and other stables. "Often unfortunately in these markets the Asterix films tend to be released in arthouse cinemas," said Celeste Surugue, head of the Editions Albert Rene publishing company that owns the rights to the original comics. Although the tales of Roman-era adventure have a following in Australia and New Zealand, Asia also remains a global weak spot for the potion-swigging Gallic underdogs. "The strength of a streaming platform is that access to viewers isn't limited by distribution," Surugue said. Netflix is set to release the new five-part animated mini-series based on the 1966 book "Asterix and the Big Fight" in 190 countries, with 38 different language versions including Mandarin, Korean and Arabic. It is directed by Alain Chabat, 23 years after his success with the "Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra" film starring Gerard Depardieu and Monica Bellucci, which remains one of the best-selling films in France of all time. Netflix has past form with Asterix, having experimented with streaming rights for "The Middle Kingdom" film in 2023, which featured French A-listers Marion Cotillard and Vincent Cassel but suffered from generally poor reviews. The platform has also helped bring other French productions to a global audience, overcoming the traditional aversion of English speakers to subtitles with hit shows such as "Lupin" and "Call My Agent". While creating the dubbing for the new Asterix series, it was able to rely on the 120 different translations of the original French comics as well as the foreign-language versions of the previous films. "They've done a great job," Surugue said. "Asterix and the Big Fight" is set in the year 50 BC with Asterix and Obelix's indomitable village still the last Gallic holdout against Roman occupation. The duo oversee the resistance, including a fight between their chief Vitalstatistix and a local Roman-backed rival, while struggling with the loss of the recipe for the magic potion that gives the villagers their super-human strength. "I always liked 'The Big Fight' for the dynamic with the Gallo-Romans. Here, there are truly invaders, resistance fighters and collaborators," director Chabat told reporters in March. The 41st Asterix album, "Asterix in Lusitania", will be released in October in 18 languages and is set in Portugal. © 2025 AFP
BreakingNews.ie
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Daisy May Cooper and Ruby Barker to star in Asterix And Obelix: The Big Fight
Actresses Daisy May Cooper and Ruby Barker are to star in the voice cast of Netflix animated series Asterix And Obelix: The Big Fight. Bafta-winning This Country star Cooper and Bridgerton actress Barker will voice Impedimenta and Metadata respectively when the series airs on Netflix on Wednesday. Advertisement The cast also includes Haydn Oakley voicing Asterix and Ben Crowe voicing Obelix. The show will see Rome desperate to conquer the last independent village in Gaul, the home of Asterix and Obelix. The Gauls have superiority in battle thanks to a magic potion, but when the potion master loses his memory, the villagers are left to their own devices against the might of Rome. Asterix And Obelix: The Big Fight has been adapted by Alain Chabat from the comic books by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Advertisement Since it was created in 1959, the Asterix series has produced a number of books, TV series, films and video and board games. It follows Asterix, a short man who wears a helmet with wings, and his friend Obelix as they resist Roman conquerors in Gaul. A theme park based on the characters, called Parc Asterix, opened about 20 miles north of Paris in 1989, and is one of the most visited tourist attractions in France.
