Other Studios: I: Idéfix and Company: Les 12 Travaux D'Asterix

• Idéfix and Co., Dargaud Films, Productions René Goscinny, Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films

• Characters:

   Astérix, Obélix, Belgian, Panoramix, Abraracourcix, Caesar, Hermès the Persian, Cylindric the German, Egyptian Sorceress, Beast, Gladiators.

• Originally Released in 1976.

• Originally Released Theatrically.

• Running Time:

   82 minutes.

• Color

• France / United Kingdom

Irritated by the resistance of a town in Gaul facing Roman legions, Caesar offers its inhabitants liberty if they overcome 12 difficult tests of his choosing. If they fail, they must submit and become the slaves of Rome. Astérix and Obélix are delegated to meet the challenge.

They leave for Rome, well-provided with magic potion. Astérix triumphs over a flying man who's pitted against him in a footrace, then competes against an Olympic robot which bangs its head against a tree and collapses.

Tossing the javelin, Obélix surpasses Hermès the Persian despite his opponent's impressive muscles. By trickery, he beats Cylindric the German at the end of an judo match. More fearsome is the test of feminine enticement, which finally overcomes Astérix and Obélix, as an Egyptian sorceress fights off hypnosis.

The following test, a monstrous meal, is a simple formality for Obélix. A beast whose eyes are deep enough to terrify causes Obélix only minor difficulties... digesting it. A mechanical madhouse brings little resistance; only a grain of sand causes its mechanism to malfunction, enabling our heroes to escape.

The two Gauls divide some starving crocodiles into three parts. It is necessary for them next to guess, at the summit of a glacial moutain, which pile of laundry has been washed by an Olympian, making it whiter than the other. It's back to sleep in the middle of a plain haunted by the ghosts of Roman legionnaires.

The ultimate test: this time, the whole town is pitted- so that all its inhabitants face death- against fearsome gladiators. Instead, the gladiators succumb while the arena fills with laughter, making Caesar's very throne shake with ridicule. The two brave warriors of Gaul have won the right to live in peace in their town, where they return.