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Film1968

Asterix and Cleopatra

Directed by René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo

  • family
  • animation
  • adventure
  • comedy

The story

Popular animated hero Asterix and his faithful sidekick Obelix travel to ancient Egypt to help Cleopatra build a new summer home. Cleopatra and Julius Caesar have made a bet, with Caesar wagering the project cannot be completed in a few weeks time. With the help of a magic potion, Asterix comes to the rescue of the Queen of the Nile as Caesar and an angry architect plot against them.

What it’s like

Flat, bright, hand-drawn cel animation with saturated primary colours: sand-yellow desert, cobalt Nile, the bold ochre and white of Roman tents and the gleaming marble of a palace under a hard Egyptian sun. Backgrounds are broad and sunny, the lines are clean and cartoonish, and the frame stays open and legible, so the eye can follow the gags across the screen. Sound is light and playful, with brassy comic cues, bouncing orchestral stingers and the occasional pop of a slapstick sound effect, and the voice work carries most of the humour. The pace is brisk but never frantic, the episodes of building, bickering and bribing unfolding in comfortable, easily followed beats. Emotionally it is warm, sunny and mischievous, a gentle comedy about friendship, pride and a little jealousy rather than danger. Violence is cartoonish, limited to fistfights and punch-ups that leave dust clouds and wobbly stars, with no gore, no sexual content and nothing frightening. It suits a lazy afternoon with children, a comfort rewatch, or a light family film for anyone who wants bright, old-fashioned animated silliness with a mildly ironic streak.

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