Culture

Asterix and Obelix Google Doodle: Asterix and Obelix Turn 50

by Amy Judd | October 29, 2009 at 09:08 am

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You may have noticed the Google Doodle today that celebrates the beloved cartoon characters Asterix and Obelix turning 50 years old.

Throughout numerous books, cartoon series, and even a live theme park, the duo of Asterix and Obelix have been fighting off the Roman invasion and being the only town in Gaul to successfully do so.

Fifty years ago Albert Underzo and Rene Goscinny first published the duo in the pages of Pilote magazine and it has become France's most famous comic strip. There is an exhibition in Paris this weekend that showcases original plates and manuscripts from the first cartoons half a century ago.

Goscinny's daughter Anne said the show would reflect the "perfect osmosis" that existed between her father and Uderzo. "It is the first time that people will see this," she said. "My father and Albert were very different … But it is always out of differences that the most beautiful things are born."

Throughout Paris there will also be erected giant menhirs (the stones that Obelix makes) and speech bubbles around eight locations in the capital.

There is also a 50th edition commemorative book, street parties and a flypast by the French air force's aerobatics team.

Asterix and Obelix has sold over 325 million copies and has been translated in to 107 languages. Rene Goscinny sadly passed away in 1977, but Albert Underzo is now 82 and continues to create Asterix and Obelix adventures.

"This success was not expected at all. Even in France the success was not expected. We were pleased to discover the international appeal, firstly in Germany, which compared with that in France," says Uderzo.

Asterix and Obelix are not the only characters in the books that are famous. Caesar makes many appearances, as does Cleopatra, there is always the bumbling Roman army trying to take down the tiny village, Getafix the magician who fixes their magic potion, Dogmatix, who is Obelix's faithful dog, and Cacofonix, the questionable musical bard of the village.