As announced some months ago, the new film will be released in 2014, and is loosely based on the album The Mansion of the Gods (Le Domaine des Dieux), which tells of the new plot devised by Caesar to weaken his Gaul opponents by bringing them in contact with Roman culture and sophistication.  After all, they were the bravest because they were far enough from the City of Rome…  The film is directed by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy and is currently being produced at the M6 Studio, in association with the celebrated Mac Guff animation studio (who also did Despicable Me).  And judging from the first images that were released some weeks ago on the French blog Lyricis, it would seem that the animators have really nailed the transfer of the 2D characters to a 3D world.  I only hope they also manage to make them move in a believable fashion…

Incidentally, as we learn from Bleeding Cool, a second Astérix movie is currently under production.  God Save Britannia is the fourth in a series of live action films in which celebrated French thespian Gérard Depardieu will play the role of Obélix, Astérix’ faithful companion.  The role of Astérix will this time be played by Edouard Baer (who played the minor, but very funny part of Otis, the inventor of the elevator, in Mission Cléopatra).  This film will be released next year, and is based on the album Astérix and the Britons.  Jolly good.

It used to be that all of Gaul was conquered by the Romans.  All of Gaul ?  No, one little village in the North-West of the country managed to take a stand against the foreign conquerer, relying on their own traditions and a healthy diet of wild boar, washed down with a dash of magic potion.  Well, it would seem that those times are gone, as a new ad campaign for McDonald’s in France shows the entire village of Astérix celebrating yet another victory in, yes, you guessed it, a McDonald’s restaurant.  They’ve tied their bard up outside as is customary (even though I don’t know what that says about McD’s non-discrimination standards) and are gorging away on… well, I’m not sure, really.  Actually showing Obélix munching a Big Mac seems to have been too much of a blasphemy for the Uderzo people after all.

Making things worse, other ads in this campaign feature some generic Cinderella and the creep from Scream, lobbing our beloved Gaul into a rather disreputable part of the popular culture domain, if you ask me.

Oh, and yes, McD’s in France are, indeed, in green.  It’s an image thing.

(thanks to Le  Blog du Bulle d’Encre for the tip)

Another anniversary, this time everyone’s favourite claymation man and his dog. Nick Park’s wonderful creations, Wallace and Gromit are 20 years old this week. Just like Sesame Street this week and Asterix last week they got their own Google Doodle, just as they should….

Happy birthday lads, here’s to many more.

Aardman Animation W&G site.

Asterix, that staple of wonderful childhood memories for most of us turned 50 today. Happy Birthday old man. To celebrate the occasion Google gave him and Obelix their own “google doodle”for the day.

The Guardian has a rather nice article on the subject.

(Via Wim)

(cover for the French version of the Golden Book, published Albert-René; the UK edition will be published this month by Orion and is available to order here)

It will be the 34th book in the series, and the tenth that Uderzo created on his own (or with other writers) after the death of his co-creator and writer René Goscinny in 1977.  The previous book, Asterix And The Falling Sky, in which Uderzo denounced the growing success of American and Japanese comics in Europe, was met with mixed reactions.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_3mDH9wlZU

(Anne Goscinny and Albert Uderzo give a press conference recorded by ActuaBD -- dialogue is in French)

Each Astérix book sells 2.5 to 3 million copies, and ever since the series was created, some 325 million books have been sold around the world.  Needless to say, publishing house Albert-René was quite happy announce that Uderzo has also give his permission to continue the series after his death.  This decision puts Asterix in a long line of classic Eurocomics that have been continued after their original creators had passed away, such as Blake And Mortimer,  Suske en Wiske or Lucky Luke (which, incidentally, was also written by Astérix scribe René Goscinny).  The most well-known example of comic series that effectively stopped when its creator died, is Hergé’s Tintin.

Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium where no-one considers it odd to don a huge, blonde moustache and winged helmet or blue and white stripey trousers to mark the Asterix golden anniversary; you can read more of his thoughts on his own Ephemerist blog.

In the Foundation Raymond Leblanc, Avenue Paul-Henri Spaak,7 in Brussels, a small but very nice exhibition tells of René Goscinny’s years in Brussels, from 1955 until 1961, and the work he did for Tintin Magazine and the Belvision animation studios. Somehow the genius that would later found Pilote Magazine in France, and would write two of the most important Franco-belgian comics (Astérix and Lucky Luke) is already clearly present here. Until September 29th.

The Atomium, a marvellous sight in its own right, is host to two exhibitions that center around its influential and intriguing silhouette, and the influence of the Atom style on comics. The first one, curated by Paul Gravett, tries to sketch the clear line that runs through the works of André Franquin to Yves Chaland, via Jijé, Tillieux, Will, Jidéhem, Joost Swarte, Ever Meulen, Serge Clerc and Daniel Torres, and aims at defining that dominant element that can be called, the Atom Style. In a second exhibition, fourteen cartoonists celebrate the Atomium and Expo 58. This show features works by François Avril, Ted Benoit, Philippe Berthet, Dupuy&Berberian, Ever Meulen, Floc’h, François Schuiten, Joost Swarte and others. Until September 20th.

(pic from the inside of the Marc Sleen Museum, (c) Marc Sleen Foundation)

In the Rue de Sable, across the road from the CBBD (the Belgian Comics Centre), the Sleen Foundation recently opened its doors to the public. This foundation aims at cataloguing and studying the immense body of work that Marc Sleen created during his long life as one of the most prolific cartoonists in the world. Even though he’s virtually unknown beyond Flanders, his popular strand of humor will doubtlessly appeal to anyone who’s even remotely interested in comics. A general introductory exhibition on Sleen’s life and work can be visited throughout the rest of the year.

Another founding father of the Flemish comic book, Willy Vandersteen, is the subject of two separate exhibitions. In the Brussels Town Hall, Dutch cartoonist and illustrator Joost Swarte curated a show about Vandersteen’s work for Tintin Magazine. When Hergé didn’t like Vandersteen’s quite populist style, he tried to emulate and gentrify his work. The result was the “Blue series”, seven stories that are considered to be among his best, and which can easily be compared to the best work of the likes of De Moor or Jacobs. A general introduction to the “Brueghel of Flemish comics”, as Vandersteen was affectionally known, can be enjoyed in the Maison de la Bande Dessinée, where a quite nice selection of original work from his various series has been compiled. Until November 15th.

And for those who are willing to leave Brussels, the Musée Rops, Rue Fumal 12 in Namur is host to the exhibition, “Wilhelm Busch, from caricature to comic”, showcasing a selection of highlights from the Wilelm Busch Museum in Hannover, Germany. This German artist is widely acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of the European comic, and gained worldwide recognition with Max Und Moritz (which the US papers quickly turned into the Katzenjammer kids). Since Busch usually threw away his drawings after they had been published, the show is predominantly made up out of original printings of his colored art, but the curators alzo managed to include original drawings, preliminary sketches and af ew of Busch’s paintings. Until August 30th.

Wim Lockefeer is trying to persuade the Belgian Tourist Board to sponsor him driving around the country in an old Routemaster bus stuffed with a mobile comics exhibit and singing “Summer Holiday” as he goes; you can read more from Wim on his Ephemerist blog.