Interview With ASTERIX: THE SECRET OF THE MAGIC POTION Co-Director Alexandre Astier

Upon its 60th Anniversary, it’s worth considering the longevity of the beloved comic book series Asterix. Also known as The Adventures of Asterix to international audiences, the French comic began as an artistic partnership between writer René Goscinny and illustrator Albert Uderzo in 1959, spawning 37 volumes that have been translated in over 111 different languages around the world.

There’s a general paperback superhero sensibility to the tales of Asterix, the fearless hero who helps defend his tenacious town in Armorica against the power-hungry Julius Caesar, whose attempts to conquer their quiet village has provided a countless number of stories, told through the various forms comic books, video games, television series, live-action films and animated features.

Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion is the latest iteration in the long-standing French franchise, a 3D animated venture that combines the cartoonish sensibilities of Illumination Studios’ most popular work with the uniquely French narrative that we expect from an Asterix and Obelix serial.

The village that Asterix calls home has managed to hold off the aggressive advances of Caesar thanks to a magic potion that grants the villagers temporary super-strength, a cryptic concoction created by the local village druid, Getafix.

When a freak accident has Getafix questioning his own mortality, the elderly Druid decides to begin a country-wide talent scout for a new Druid, the one person he can trust to hand down his secret recipe to the potion that secures his safety. Guarded by Asterix and Obelix, Getafix’s long search is threatened by Sulfurix, an evil wizard who will stop at nothing to obtain the titular secret of the magic potion.

Coming off their previously successful collaboration with 2014’s Asterix and Obelix: Mansion of the Gods, co-directors Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy make their triumphant return with Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion, with one twist: this is the first adaptation to be completely original, not based on a pre-existing comic book/story.

Whilst a risky endeavour, Louis Clichy, a Pixar animator-turned-director, and Alexandre Astier, famed television star, deliver a delightful family-friendly fantasy adventure that invites both newcomers and die-hard fans to revel in the fast-paced antics of these madcap French scrappers.

I had the chance to talk with Alexandre Astier, the film’s co-director and writer, about his new film, the challenges of writing an original Asterix story, the enduring legacy of Asterix and differences between the French and English translations of the material.

Alex Lines for Film Inquiry: I think this is an animation that works for both children and adults. Do you feel the same way?

Alexandre Astier: Well, it’s a bit difficult because I have to restrain myself from writing too many cynical lines because I’m used to writing for adults, but I hope that it works for both.

This is the second time you’ve worked with Louis Clichy, are you able to speak about your collaboration and how that co-directing partnership works?

Alexandre Astier: The screenplay plays a big part because we had the opportunity to begin with the recording of Asterix here, without images at all. We started with some acting, then studied their work with the script, and then the CGI starts.

Our jobs are really separated; Louis is a wonderful animator and he’s in charge of the crew. The only thing I do myself with the crew is that we call the launch. It’s like acting and directing for the animators – including intentions, looks, attitude and acting — we do together, but the graphical part, the pure animated art, that is his job.

Speaking to that, what would you say the big differences are between directing live-action and directing animation?

Alexandre Astier: We shoot the actors that do the voices because it could be an inspiration for the animators — maybe some gestures, some movements, some attitudes that could be inspiring for them. It doesn’t work all the time, as some actors have an attitude that we can use, but some others do not — they may not work with CGI — so I think the way to direct those actors is to work with sounds.

It has to work like this: when you close your eyes and when you put the headphones on, I’ll ask them for more to do, for example, either some musical notions of lines, or ‘Do this with the down at the end, go up here, slow down this word, underline this one etc.’ It’s more like a musical painting.

What was the process in translating the original comic’s style into a 3D animated world?

Alexandre Astier: I think the original material is very comedically styled, there are many misunderstandings and fights, and I  think that the dialogue that goes with it gives it a real attitude, and I try to keep that dialogue with our actors. I think Louis would agree with me; I think the original drawings are kind of practical enough to be efficiently comedic in CGI 3D. This is because they are all round, they have many expressions, they are ready to be animated. With the translation from 2D to 3d, it is a lot of work to respect the 2D, but it is kind of natural.

With the character hitting its 60th anniversary, why do you think the legacy of Asterix and Obelix has endured for so long?

Alexandre Astier: It’s hard to say. I think there is something about the theme of resisting. These people, they are resisting the oppression of Rome, but they are not doing it the Hollywood way of making egos, where they are always speaking and saying very big things very seriously, and the adventures are not printed in the same way. They are weak in a way, but they are organised. They are easily angry, but they are French. They always think, but they are not very efficient at it, but it works. I think it shows us that some heroes are allowed to be inefficient.

The story of The Secret of the Magic Potion is an original one, as opposed to an adaption. Why was this decision made, and what were the major challenges of doing so?

Alexandre Astier: Asterix is, of course, something I knew when I was a child, and as every piece of heritage from your childhood, it is akin to making, to have the right to tell something new. To have the right to make them speak like you want, which of course, is intimidating. It has to be Asterix, but I have to find my spot in that. If I have something like a little style maybe, I have to put it in there and I have to hope that it doesn’t ruin the character.

The challenge is that it has to be an Asterix, without having any of the original material to help me. It has to be an Asterix and also have something I want to tell.

Because I noticed with this story, it’s one where Asterix isn’t quite the main character. It’s more so of the Druid’s story. Was this a different avenue you wanted to explore?

Alexandre Astier: Yes. The druid is the hero of this particular story, but I think Asterix is not always the hero of his adventures. Asterix is, of course, the most intelligent and clever person in the place, and you follow him in understanding everything, because his people are weak, and he has to take care of them.

But, in this one, I tried something that is forbidden in Asterix, I have to admit. It’s to talk about age and death, which is not normally permitted. To be totally honest, I thought it would be a ‘no’ when I proposed that, but to my very own surprise, it was not a ‘no’, it was a ‘yes’, so I had to do it.

But this was a very challenging thing because I had to give Asterix back as clean as I took him. In-between it all there is a question of aging, of death, of the future of the village, the future of people and the future of the resisting states, which is quite tricky, but I hope I succeeded with it.

Continuing on that, I felt that the villain Sulfurix, was a different type of villain for this story. 

Alexandre Astier: Exactly, because the villains in Asterix stories tend to be ridiculous, they tend to be villains because they’re ridiculous. Sulfurix is maybe the first truly strong and powerful villain. I wrote him to be as powerful as the Druid — maybe even more.

I tried to write a script about creation, I think the Druid is someone who has been asked to make the same recipe for 40-50 years, and I think that is dangerous, because he’s an artist, for his creativity. Then there’s the villain; he’s someone who is totally free, he’s always improvising, he’s always thinking about what’s not there. He’s creating, he’s inventing, he’s opportunistic and this is a challenge for the Druid, because his enemy is everything he is not.

Do you think, with Asterix being so intertwined with French heritage, that an American adaptation would work?

Alexandre Astier: It’s difficult to say. It’s really difficult because I know there are very talented actors who could do the job, but the usual problem with finding people to dub all the different languages is that they have to respect the rhythm of the language, they have to stick to the images.

It is a hard part of the job, and it is different than when the animations are originally made in English. I hope that our kind of humour works in English, I heard the English translation of our first film and I liked it very much. I hope it’s good – my English is not too good so I can’t appreciate the difference in pace, and how it works for Australian and American audiences.

With these two Asterix films being so successful, do you plan on doing a third?

Alexandre Astier: I think I don’t have any more challenges to do. This was a very big challenge for me to accomplish, I’m very proud of it and Louis and I are proud to present it. Now, I don’t know what is next, maybe there could be another movie based on an existing book.

Doing this original story was a very new thing and I don’t think I have to do it again; it is something I don’t want to repeat. I did my job with so many talented people here that can take the wheel now. Above all, I was very lucky to have the right to do this — I was very, very lucky.

Film Inquiry thanks Alexandre Astier for taking the time to talk with us.

What are your thoughts on the Asterix and Obelix franchise? Let us know in the comments!

Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion is out now in select Australian cinemas, information about session times can be found here.