The Gaul of it: Netflix announces new animated Asterix series

Asterix, Obelix and their friends will be appearing on Netflix in a new series from 2023

Credit: Alamy

The popular comic book character Asterix is to be rejuvenated for the 21st century, with Netflix announcing plans for a new animated series on Tuesday.

Stories of Asterix the Gaul, the scourge of bumbling Roman invaders in 50BC, have delighted generations across the world. The character first appeared in the French comic magazine Pilote, and the 38 Asterix books have since sold 385 million copies. 

Now, alongside his friend Obelix, the big-bellied menhir-deliveryman, and Getafix, the village druid with magic potions, Asterix has inspired a major animated series with a modern take on life.

Netflix will work with Asterix’s publishers, Hachette’s Les Editions Albert René, on a 3D animated series due to launch in 2023. The company’s name, ending with "ix", could almost have been dreamed up by writer René Goscinny, who created the first Asterix story in 1959.

Goscinny once recalled: "Taking our inspiration from the name Vercingetorix, [a real Gallic chieftain] remembered from our first history lessons at school, we named our characters Asterix, Obelix, Getafix and other names ending with ‘ix’. "Our Romans would have names ending in ‘us’, such as Poisonus Fungus. Their towns would have names ending in ‘um’, such as Totorum, Aquarium and Compendium."

The series is yet to be written, but will be adapted from one of the classic volumes, Asterix and the Big Fight (Le Combat des Chefs), in which the Romans – after being constantly embarrassed by Asterix and his cohorts – organise a brawl between rival Gaulish chiefs and try to fix the result by kidnapping a druid along with his magic potion.

Dominique Bazay, Netflix’s director of original animation, said: "I’m not giving anything away when I tell you it doesn’t go as planned."

Netflix, whose 42 nominations in the 2021 Golden Globe awards included The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Queen’s Gambit, and The Crown, is tapping into the success of its French productions such as Call My Agent!, a cult hit comedy set in an A-list talent agency.

Asterix is part of its ambitious animation plans, with Reed Hastings, the Netflix co-founder, having recently spoken of wanting "to beat Disney in family animation".

Netflix is also collaborating with Aardman Productions, the Oscar-winning British studio behind Wallace & Gromit, on Robin Robin, a family film about a baby robin redbreast that goes missing.