Asterix Conquers America (1994)
"Asterix in America" (original title)

Caesar has had enough when another legion is hacked to pieces by the damned single indomitable village in Gaul because of the druid's magic potion, so he decides to tackle the problem at ... See full summary »

Director:

Gerhard Hahn

Writers:

René Goscinny (comic book "La grande traversée"), Albert Uderzo (comic book "La grande traversée"),

Stars:

Roger Carel, Pierre Tornade, Henri Labussière

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Carel	...	Astérix (voice)
Pierre Tornade	...	Obélix (voice)
Henri Labussière	...	Panoramix (voice)
François Chaix	...	Abraracourcix (voice)
Michel Tugot-Doris	...	Assurancetourix (voice)
Jean Dautremay	...	Ordralfabétix (voice)
Robert Party	...	César (voice)
Jean-Luc Galmiche	...	Tumulus (voice)
Olivier Jankovic	...	Stupidus (voice)
Nathalie Spitzer	...	Falbala (voice)
Yves Pignot	...	Centurion (voice)
Claude Chantal	...	Bonnemine (voice)
Joël Zaffarano	...	Capitaine (voice)
Sylvain Lemarie	...	Chef (voice)
Thierry Buisson	...	Barbe-Rouge (voice)

Storyline

Caesar has had enough when another legion is hacked to pieces by the damned single indomitable village in Gaul because of the druid's magic potion, so he decides to tackle the problem at the root before conspiratorial senators exploit his humiliation: sycophant Lucullus is ordered to capture the druid (believed immortal) and push him over the edge of the earth (according to the story still believed to be flat as a pizza; actually Greeks and Romans knew better). By pure luck, Lucullus' first net traps both druid and Obelix's pet dog, so the giant and Asterix follow them by ship on the Atlantic, and crash after a storm on the North America coast in pursuit of the druid who was catapulted off the Roman galley before Lucullus triumphantly sets sails back for Europe. They find the druid and meet a tribe of Indians (believing to be in India), literally a whole New World for the equally primitive Celts. At the home front, Caesar sees his chance to overrun the village, but has to wait till ...

---

Plot Keywords:

asterix | earth | medicine man | rescue | edge of the world | 

---

Taglines:

Danger lurks on foreign shores!

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

---

Details

Country:

Germany France

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

29 September 1994 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Asterix Conquers America

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$768,488 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Extrafilm, Hahn Film AG, Milimetros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an early version of the movie there was a scene where chief Vitalstatistix opens his fly, pulls out a fish and asks Ordralfabétix to smell it, but Albert Uderzo (Asterix creator) hated the joke and asked for it to be removed.

---

Goofs

When Asterix and his friends leave the Native Americans,the tribe chief speaks in what is clearly Getafix's voice; he says good bye in English for one thing, which the Native Americans cannot speak.

---

Connections

Follows Asterix the Gaul (1967)

---

Soundtracks

"Dance Dance Dance (Under the Moon)"
Written by Harold Faltermeyer & David Cooke
Performed by Right Said Fred
Vocals: Richard Fairbrass
Guitars: Rob Manzoli & Fred Fairbrass
Additional Arrangements by Gerald Elms
Produced by Harold Faltermeyer & Uli Fisher
Published by BMG Ufa

User Reviews

Good animation but has no wit or character of the books

Knowing that the Druid Getafix is only one of the mighty Gauls capable of brewing the magic potion, the Romans plan to kidnap him and throw him over the edge of the world (the world, of course being flat). The Romans carry out their plan but are pursued by Asterix and Obelix. However when the edge of the world comes Asterix and Obelix don't find death – they find America and must search for Getafix before their village runs low on potion and is overrun.

In terms of story, this film takes one of the weak Asterix books and deviates from it – big mistake! The Asterix books are generally so good that to try and improve or change them for film is a bad move. The story is OK for kids though – even faithful it's pretty simple – however what it loses is the wit of the books. There are a few good lines early on, but most of this is slapstick that doesn't please anyone but young kids.

The animation is great compared to other Asterix films – this uses some nice visual tricks, the best being the opening shot of the globe that turns out to be flat and only Europe! The voices are also pretty good – Craig Charles is a pretty good Asterix once you get used to his scouse accent. Howard Lewis is not a great Obelix – but at least he isn't playing him like a fool. However Christopher Biggins is poor and the support characters are weak. Surprisingly for a mid-90's film, this is full of racist stereotypes – from rubber lipped blacks, to `ging-gang-gooley' speaking Indians.

The poor characterization also infects the main characters – for example the relationship between Asterix and Obelix is usually affectionate but here they bicker all the time and don't come across as friends.

Overall this film gets the animation just right and the voices are pretty good. It's just a real shame that the film then gets the characters, the story and the comedy very wrong. Still, it's good enough for kids.