Asterix and Cleopatra (film)

This article is about the 1968 animated film. For the 2002 live-action film, see Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.

Asterix and Cleopatra (French: Astérix et Cléopâtre) is a 1968 Belgian–French animated comedy film; it is the second Asterix adventure to be made into a feature film. Overseen by Asterix creators Goscinny and Uderzo (who had no involvement in the production of the first film, Asterix the Gaul and in their director debuts^[2]), the film is noticeably more well-produced than its predecessor, featuring far more detailed animation and a more polished soundtrack.^[3][4]

Asterix and Cleopatra
Original release poster
Astérix et Cléopâtre
Directed by	René Goscinny Albert Uderzo
Screenplay by	Eddie Lateste Jos Marissen Pierre Tchernia
Based on	Asterix and Cleopatra by René Goscinny Albert Uderzo
Produced by	Raymond Leblanc
Starring	Roger Carel Jacques Morel Micheline Dax Pierre Tornade Lucien Raimbourg
Narrated by	Bernard Lavalette
Cinematography	Georges Lapeyronnie Francois Léonard Jean Midre
Edited by	Jacques Marchel László Molnár
Music by	Gérard Calvi
Production companies	Dargaud Films Belvision
Distributed by	Pathé La Société des Films Sirius Gaumont Distribution
Release dates	19 December 1968 (1968-12-19) (France)[1] 21 December 1968 (1968-12-21) (Belgium) 1 January 1970 (1970-01-01) (United Kingdom)
Running time	72 minutes
Countries	France Belgium
Language	French

Asterix and Cleopatra is practically a musical, featuring three individual song sequences and a more varied score than the earlier film. Elements of satire and surreal humour (such as Cleopatra's singing lion and the engraving of Santa Claus on the pyramid wall) are prominent throughout.^[3][4]

Plot

After a heated argument with Julius Caesar over his lack of faith in the Egyptian people, Queen Cleopatra enters into a bet claiming she can have a magnificent palace constructed for him in Alexandria within three months. She gives this task to her best architect Numerobis, informing him he'll be covered with gold if he succeeds or thrown to the crocodiles if he fails. Daunted and distraught, believing the task to be insurmountable without some sort of magic, Numerobis travels to Gaul to seek help from the famous druid Panoramix.

Panoramix returns to Egypt with Numerobis accompanied by Asterix, and Obelix who insists Idefix join the voyage against objections from Asterix. Numerobis' encounters a pirate ship, which is boarded by Asterix and Obelix, then scuttled after a one-sided fight. In Egypt it becomes clear Numerobis isn't a gifted architect. His scheming rival Amonbofis proposes they collaborate to build Caesar's palace on time and divide the reward. Numerobis refuses and Amonbofis swears vengeance, angered further by the injuries he sustains while negotiating Numerobis' poorly built house which later collapses.

Amonbofis convinces the construction workers they're being exploited by Numerobis and encourages them to strike. Panoramix gives the workers his magic potion which enables the work to continue effortlessly and progress is so rapid the labourers exhaust their supplies of stone. Amonbofis bribes the supplier to dump the subsequent shipment into the Nile, forcing the Gauls to escort a fleet of ships to fetch more. Sightseeing en route, the trio's visit to the Pyramids at Giza is interrupted by Amonbofis' sidekick Krukhut, who poses as a guide and gets them lost inside the Great Pyramid. The Gauls fail to negotiate the maze, but are rescued by Idefix who expertly tracks them. Undeterred, Amonbofis and Krukhut hire the pirates seen earlier to attack the fleet on its return to Alexandria. This second encounter with the pirates alleviates Obelix's boredom, despite their cowardly attempt at retreat.

In a final effort to stop the three Gauls, Amonbofis frames them for attempting to poison Cleopatra with a poisoned cake. Asterix, Obelix and Panoramix are thrown into the dungeon after the Queen's taster becomes ill. Panoramix carries an antidote that enables them to eat the remainder of the cake to convince the queen it was harmless, and cure the taster. The Gauls are pardoned and capture Amonbofis and Krukhut who are sentence to work for Numerobis as labourers.

Cleopatra gloats over the likelihood of winning her bet while Caesar fears losing face and instructs his spy to infiltrate the building site. Learning the Gauls and their magic potion are involved, Caesar orders three mercenaries to kidnap Panoramix and knock over the cauldron. After capturing Panoramix one of the mercenaries drinks the potion, knocks over the cauldron, and overpowers the other two who are caught by Asterix and Obelix. Panoramix is delivered to Caesar and imprisoned, but freed by Asterix and Obelix. In desperation, Caesar places the construction site under siege and bombards the unfinished palace with boulders. Cleopatra intervenes after Asterix advises her of Caesar's actions, forcing Caesar to lift the siege. The palace is completed on schedule, Numerobis is honoured, and the Gauls are escorted home aboard Cleopatra's luxury ship.

Cast

Character	Original Dub	English Dub[5]
Asterix	Roger Carel	Lee Payant[5]
Dogmatix	Roger Carel
Mintjulep	Roger Carel	George Keros
Obelix	Jacques Morel	Hal Brav[5]
Getafix	Lucien Raimbourg	John Primm[5]
Julius Caesar	Jean Parédès	Anthony Stuart[5]
Edifis	Pierre Tornade	George Birt[5]
Vitalstatistix		Yves Brainville[5]
Mercenary #1		Lyle Joyce
Captain Redbeard	Pierre Trabaud	Arch Taylor[5]
Centurion Operachorus		Edward Marcus[5]
Sethisbackup		Alexandre Klimenko
Cleopatra	Micheline Dax	Ginger Hall[5]
Krukhut	Jacques Balutin	Jean Fontaine
Artifis	Bernard Lavalette	Alexandre Klimenko
Narrator		Bruce Johansen
Cleopatra's Lion	Jacques Bodoin
Cacofonix	Jacques Jouanneau	François Valorbe
Commentator	René Goscinny (uncredited)	Michael Brown
Parrot	Gérard Darrieu	Paula D'Alba
Pirate Lookout	Roger Carel	Mezz Mezzrow
Mercenary #2	Rodolphe Marcilly	Colin Drake
Mercenary #3	Claude Dasset	Steve Waring
Taster	Jacques Morel	John Rounds
Dromedary	Eddy Rasimi	Derry Hall
Quarry Supervisor	Pierre Trabaud
Listless Worker	Joël Noël	Bruce Johansen
Crier in Bathroom #1	Pierre Garin	Patrick O'Hara
Crier in Bathroom #2	Alfred Personne	Lyle Joyce
Servant of Caesar	Olivier Hussenot	James Shuman
Guardian	Maurice Chevit

Reception

In the United Kingdom, the film was watched by 600,000 viewers on television in 2004, making it the year's second most-watched European-language film on television.^[6]

See also

• Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra - A live action adaptation starring Gerard Depardieu, Monica Bellucci, and Christian Clavier
• Gabiniani - Germanic and Gaulish soldiers in Ptolemaic Egypt during the reigns of Cleopatra VII and her father Ptolemy XII Auletes