Asterix in Britain (film)

Distributed byGaumont79 minutesCountriesFrance
DenmarkLanguageFrench

Asterix in Britain (French: Astérix chez les Bretons) is a French-Danish animated film, directed by Pino van Lamsweerde (in his director debut), written by Pierre Tchernia, produced by Dargaud Films and Les Productions René Goscinny, and released in December 1986. The film is the fifth adaptation of a story from the Asterix comic series, and is based upon the plot from the graphic novel of the same name by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The film's plot focuses on Asterix and Obelix transporting a barrel of Magic Potion to a rebel village of Britons, as they attempt to hold out against the Romans. The original French release starred Roger Carel and Pierre Tornade in the lead roles, while the English release starred Jack Beaber and Billy Kearns.

Plot

Julius Caesar successfully conquers all of Britain, unaware his men know that one rebel village still holds. Sensing his chief does not have much hope of lasting much longer, Anticlimax decides to travel to Gaul and find his cousin Asterix, in order to secure some of the Magic potion that his village uses to hold back the Romans. The druid Getafix obliges to the request to supply a barrel of potion to help, upon his arrival, with Vitalstatistix assigning Asterix and Obelix, accompanied by Dogmatix, to transport it to Britain. While travelling across the English Channel, the group rescue a Phoenician merchant from pirates, who rewards Asterix with a small bag of mysterious herbs for their assistance. As they resume, the group encounter a Roman galley, much to Obelix's delight - due to missing them in recent weeks - and board it to satisfy his need for a fight.

Unknown to the group as they reach the British shoreline, Roman officer Stratocumulus, a passenger on the galley who was returning to Gaul, overhears Obelix unintentionally state their mission following the fight. Returning to Londinium swiftly, he warns the head of the British Roman command, headed by General Motus, of the situation. The group soon find the Romans on high alert for them, and are forced to hide out in an inn belonging to Gaulix, a native from Gaul. However, Motus orders all wine barrels in the city to be confiscated upon learning the group have arrived in Londinium, causing them to lose their barrel of magic potion along with Gaulix's supply of wine. Although they manage to recover it the following day, thanks to a Roman legion getting drunk trying to taste for the magic potion, Obelix gets drunk and waylays a Roman patrol while they escape with Gaulix's barrels, allowing a thief to steal them.

Asterix and Anticlimax soon track down the thief, and after rescuing Obelix and Gaulix from the Romans, pursue after the culprit. They soon find the barrel was sold on to a druid who is due to umpire a rugby match. The group swiftly reclaim it as the Romans close in, and make for a rowboat to reach Anticlimax's village. However, Stratocumulus manages to intercept them and sinks their rowboat, destroying the barrel in the process. Delighted with this, Motus orders his forces to attack the rebel Briton village the next day. Despite their loss, Asterix comes up with a plan after recalling the herbs they received, and leads the group to Anticlimax's village. Using a pot of hot water, infused with the herbs, the Britons swiftly drink it and find the courage needed to defeat the Romans, much to the disappointment of Motus and Stratocumulus. Delighted at their success, Anticlimax's chief declares Asterix's 'potion' will become the national drink for the Britons.

Asterix and Obelix soon return home in the wake of their victory, where they enjoy a banquet with their village to celebrate their latest adventure. During this time, Asterix asks Getafix what the herbs are, to which he remarks that they are tea, as the film concludes on a still of the Gauls enjoying themselves.

Cast

Character	Original	English
Astérix/Asterix	Roger Carel	Jack Beaber[1]
Idéfix/Dogmatix	Roger Carel
Obélix/Obelix	Pierre Tornade	Bill Kearns[1]
Jolitorax/Anticlimax	Graham Bushnell[1]
Le décurion Cétinlapsus/The decurion Totalapsus	Pierre Mondy	Herbert Baskind[1]
Châteaupétrus/Chateaupetrus	Maurice Risch	Jimmy Shuman[1]
Stratocumulus	Roger Lumont	Ed Marcus[1]
Motus alias Caius Faipalgugus/General Motus aka Voluptuous Arteriosclerosus	Nicolas Silberg	Sean O'Neil[1]
Epidemaïs, le marchand phénicien/Ekonomikrisis, the phoenician merchant	Albert Augier	Unknown
Le voleur de vin/The wine thief	Gerard Croce
Vendeur de vins/Wine seller	Alain Doutey
Olive Escartefix alias Gaulix/Olive Escartefix aka Gaulix	Michel Elias
Cétautomatix/Fulliautomatix aka Blacksmix	Michel Gatineau
Barbe-Rouge/Redbeard		Patrick Floersheim[1]
Panoramix/Getafix	Henri Labussière	Robert Watson Barr[1]
Le vendeur de cervoise/The cervoise seller	Pierre Mirat	Unknown
Abraracourcix/Vitalstatistix	Henri Poirier	Allan Wenger[1] (uncredited)
Jules César/Julius Caesar	Serge Sauvion	Gordon Heath[1]
Agecanonix/Geriatrix	Georges Atlas (uncredited)	Unknown
Le anglais chef Zebigbos/The english chief Mykingdomforanos
Bonemine/Impedimenta aka Instantmix	Unknown	Judy Martinez
Ordralfabétix/Unhygienix	Yves Barsacq (uncredited)	Unknown
Baba, la vigie des pirates/Pirate Lookout	Unknown	Thomas Pollard[1] (uncredited)

Voix additionnelles/Additional voices

• Original: Paul Bisciglia, Bertie Cortez, Ian Marschall, Judy Martinez, Edward Marcus, Martine Messager, Joseph Nyavri, Laurence Riesner, Christopher Wells
• English: Steve Gadler, Peter Hudson, Mike Marshall, Ken Starcevic

Non crédité/Uncredited

• English: Jerry Di Giacomo (Additional voices)

Differences from the Book

• As the comic was published before the creation of certain characters so Geriatix, Unhygienix and few of the other recurring cast didn't appear in it unlike the movie.
• Ekonomikrisis didn't run into Asterix in the comic and it was Getafix who gave the latter the tea leaves instead of the former.
• The uniforms worn by the rugby players were of a different design from the comic.
• Totalapsus and Voluptuous Arteriosclerosus from Asterix and the Soothsayer (the latter being referred to as Motus) are major antagonists in the film but both of them never appear in the comic at all.

See also

• List of animated feature-length films

References

External links

• Astérix chez les Bretons at IMDb