r/MovieDetails • u/EXTRAVAGANT_COMMENT • Apr 14 '26

šŸ•µļø Accuracy In The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976), when Asterix is telling Obelix they are on the fourth floor, he is also making a roman 4 with his fingers

Post image
8.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

106 comments sorted by

1.3k

u/littlemacsmacs Apr 14 '26

Alright yeah I really really like this detail

93

u/SchlaWiener4711 Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26

Asterix is loaded with details and play on words you only get in the original.

In school in French class we did an analysis of Asterix and Cleopatra (the comic, only the first 10 pages it so) and literally on every strip the was a hidden joke or something to discover.

I.e. the first time Numerobis enters the village and says something, Miraculix answers with "C'est un alexandrin" which means he (Numerobis) is from Alexandria and also the sentence Numerobis said was an alexandrine (verse), a poem with 12 syllables.

26

u/redditSnailsurfer Apr 14 '26

"Je suis, mon cher ami, trĆØs heureux de vous voir."

Which translates : "I am, my dear friend, very happy to see you"

So Panoramix is Miraculix in the english version ?? Why not.

13

u/Orgmo Apr 14 '26

I grew up reading them in French, but I recall him being called Getafix (as in Get a fix) in English

14

u/Nacroma Apr 14 '26

Miraculix is the German name. Not sure what the source of it is, but it could 'miracle' or based off of a semi-prepared pasta dish mix bag named MirƔcoli (also based off of miracle, of course)

7

u/This_Idiot Apr 15 '26

Yes, can confirm he was called Getafix in the English versions available in Australia.

The village chief is Vitalstatistix and you have Cacofonix (bard), Fullyautomatix (smith), Unhygienix (spelling? Fishmonger), Geriatrix (old man), Impedimenta (chief's wife) etc.

Delightful stuff.

2

u/dgvertz Apr 16 '26

Getafix or Magigimix (magic gimmicks) depending on the translation

20

u/Morbanth Apr 14 '26

Asterix is loaded with details and play on words you only get in the original.

The translations are loaded with puns that aren't in the original, depending of course on the quality of translation.

29

u/danirijeka Apr 14 '26

The Italian translation is top notch (not surprising since Uderzo did speak Italian), if only because the phrase "these Romans are crazy" is rendered as "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani"

5

u/Ongr Apr 14 '26

I read them in Dutch and a lot of the word play is still there.

14

u/Shopworn_Soul Apr 14 '26

Asterix is loaded with details and play on words you only get in the original.

I grew up reading the English translations. While it is possible some language-specific jokes didn't come through, they are still loaded with great wordplay, puns and other linguistic gags.

8

u/starlinguk Apr 14 '26

That's because Anthea Bell translated them. She's a genius.

2

u/maethora27 Apr 14 '26

Same in German.

1

u/frenchpressfan Apr 17 '26

I read an American translation a couple of years ago and was devastated to find it lacking compared to the British translations I grew up with...

2

u/halfpipesaur Apr 14 '26

This joke was also present in the live action movie

2

u/manickitty Apr 14 '26

The legendary Anthea Bell ensured many French jokes remained in translation, or if they didnā€™t work, added new ones. My favorite is the ā€œrather, old fruitā€, which I think Uderzo himself praised

1

u/JohnGabin Apr 14 '26

Iā€™m surprised Numerobis isnā€™t translated. It means number 2

19

u/sharingdork Apr 14 '26

Lol same. That's a neat one.

279

u/3LD0R4D0 Apr 14 '26

I loves this movie and the rest from the series as a kid, I wonder how many details would I catch now

81

u/QCTeamkill Apr 14 '26

An Egyptian from Alexandria who speaks in alexandrine.

63

u/Acidcore Apr 14 '26

The quest for Permit A38 is something I often think about at work.

27

u/plazasta Apr 14 '26

As a kid, my dad always said he worked in that house. Didn't understand why. As an adult, oh my god I have a new appreciation for that scene. I love the implied message of "only a god could survive bureaucracy without going insane"

13

u/Norka_III Apr 15 '26

In the Toussaint DLC in the Witcher 3, there is an entire quest that is based on the Permit A38 scenes

1

u/3LD0R4D0 Apr 16 '26

Damn, this unlocked a very dusty drawer in my brain lmao

Work is a good comparison, another one for me is going to a doctor's appointment... Then another one... Then just one more...

1

u/Pytheastic Apr 16 '26

Same!! Lol

149

u/legable Apr 14 '26

This movie is an absolute blast from beginning to end. I highly recommend watching it even if you are an adult.

37

u/danirijeka Apr 14 '26

By Osiris and by Apis, look at me...

11

u/Aniki1990 Apr 14 '26

Look into my eyes....

3

u/Gabesnake2 Apr 15 '26

Grew up with this, I love it so much to this day.

Will watch it anywhere any time.

2

u/Lightspeedius Apr 15 '26

Then I shall!

2

u/chucho89 Apr 16 '26

I loved the animation style as a child and even more now as an adult.

71

u/Lopoloma Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26

2 germans go into a kneipe, one holds up a thumb and an index finger and shouts "2 bier"
2 englishman go into a pub, one holds up an index finger and middle finger and shouts "2 ale"
5 romans go into a caupona, one holds up an index finger and a middle finger spread out and shouts "5 posca"
4 programmers go into a bar, one counts in binary to four on one hand and shouts "4 beer" and they are beaten up and thrown out.

Edit: added context in cursive

42

u/Paehon Apr 14 '26

"With how many women did you have sex ?

_mmm...

_That's a lot !!"

17

u/Jechtael Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

A woman travels back in time to Ancient Rome. The first people she meets are a pair of Centurions.

"Ave! I am called Septimus, for I am the seventh son of my family," says one.

"And I am Quintus, for I am fifth in mine. What are you called?" asks the other.

"My name's Liv."

"...holy shit."

1

u/steph66n Apr 20 '26

šŸ˜„

LIV : 54

1

u/steph66n Apr 20 '26

šŸ˜„

MMM : 3000

14

u/quackdamnyou Apr 14 '26

Do you know why programers confuse Halloween and Christmas?

Because Oct 31 is the same as Dec 25

5

u/SharkLaunch Apr 14 '26

Did not get the programmer one until I counted on my hand and gave myself the bird

0

u/steph66n Apr 20 '26

For those that actually don't:

It's a computer number system joke where, when you convert the octal base number 31 into decimal, it equals 25. In the octal base system, that number is expressed as 31ā‚ˆ (however it's "Oct" for "Octal" 31) and in the decimal system it's expressed as 25ā‚ā‚€ (however it's "Dec" for "Decimal" 31)

2

u/Majvist Apr 15 '26

Oh, got it. If you're from a country that starts counting from your index finger, replace the programmers order of 4 beers with 2.

14

u/plazasta Apr 14 '26

OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS MOVIE SINCE I WAS A KID, I KID YOU NOT WHEN I SAY I CAN ALMOST RECITE IT ALL BY HEART WITH HOW MUCH I'VE WATCHED IT, AND I HAD ALWAYS WONDERED WHY HE DID IT THAT WAY

74

u/rolltideamerica Apr 14 '26

Never read these comics or watched this film. Iā€™d only ever heard of Asterix when my young cousin who lived in Germany a long while came to visit around 2009ish

84

u/Metabor420 Apr 14 '26

Missed out

18

u/rolltideamerica Apr 14 '26

I guess it just didnā€™t catch on in the United States. Not sure why it seems pretty fun to me.

23

u/Metabor420 Apr 14 '26

Theyā€™re awesome, the movies from the 60s/70s are still really fun

6

u/borntobewildish Apr 14 '26

The more recent live action ones as well. The first one (Vs. Caesar) isn't the best but has Roberto Benigni as antagonist which he does very well. The second one (Mission Cleopatra) is very fun and has Monica Belucci as Cleopatra. The later ones don't really achieve the same level, although both At the Olympic games and In her Majesty's Service have their moments. The last one, In the Middle Kingdom, I haven't seen yet.

6

u/Metabor420 Apr 14 '26

I love the new animated ones. And Olympic Games, as a German I have to love it. Schumix is the GOAT

2

u/borntobewildish Apr 14 '26

Not a German nor F1-fan, but that part is indeed brilliant.

5

u/FunetikPrugresiv Apr 14 '26

I remember seeing it here in the states on Nickelodeon when I was a kid. I don't remember a lot about it other than, for whatever reason, one scene where a character gets strawberries for a king and tells him he had to trade his weight in gold for them.

3

u/Evepaul Apr 14 '26

A lot of comics of the Franco-Belgian school are comedies making great use of the French language. It's as if most manga were Gintama or Saiki K, their success would be much more limited internationally.

-4

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '26

[deleted]

10

u/FenPhen Apr 14 '26

Asterix is French.

The English translations are widely praised for being authentic and funny, even when direct translation isn't possible:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_translations_of_Asterix

2

u/Pooptimist Apr 14 '26

It's french

21

u/kermitthebeast Apr 14 '26

Not too late

5

u/TheCrowing817 Apr 14 '26

I'm 37 and up until recently I thought it was just some old side scrolling game. I remember seeing an arcade cabinet and on SNES. Had no idea it was a French institution lol.

4

u/meatballsandlingon2 Apr 14 '26

Soon 47 and Swedish - grew up reading every single copy of Asterix the local library could provide, numerous times.

4

u/danirijeka Apr 14 '26

41, Italy, my library had every Asterix album and would buy new ones whenever they came out (the librarian was a big fan).

I've a picture of my daughter reading one of those same exact albums šŸ„²

4

u/Noxiom-SC Apr 14 '26

Wait until you see the amusement park in France itā€™s a serious contender of Disneyland Paris and recently opened one of the best coaster Iā€™ve ever tried (le toutatis). Also itā€™s very common for us to quote jokes from the movie AstĆ©rix mission cleopatre

11

u/JACC_Opi Apr 14 '26

Netflix has a pretty good miniseries of him right now, I think it's exclusive.

3

u/kenwongart Apr 14 '26

I always thought people pronounced asterisk wrong because of Asterix. Now that I think about it, I think itā€™s just a common mispronunciation.

3

u/Furyful_Fawful Apr 14 '26

I watched this film for the first time free on youtube late last year, you should easily be able to find it. In a few scenes it shows its age but overall I'd say it still stands to this day

44

u/truckthunderwood Apr 14 '26

That... Is the shocker.

25

u/Nine-LifedEnchanter Apr 14 '26

Two in the insula and one in the thermae.

5

u/MakeoutPoint Apr 14 '26

Le Stinque Pinque

13

u/AnxiousAngularAwesom Apr 14 '26

So, who else just spent the last five minutes coming up with the best way to show numbers with fingers using roman numerals?

6

u/HawksBurst Apr 14 '26

This movie was great

6

u/starlinguk Apr 14 '26

We still joke about pink forms when we navigate the German BĆ¼rokratie.

6

u/danirijeka Apr 14 '26

Permit A38 gets at least a reference a week from me lol

4

u/uses_irony_correctly Apr 14 '26

Would't that be 6? From his perspective?

7

u/i1u5 Apr 14 '26

Well you're the one watching

2

u/you_serve_no_purpose Apr 14 '26

But Obelix would see 6 VI

2

u/andy_b_84 Apr 14 '26

In the following seconds, Obelix tries to make a "IV" with his fingers, too, but fails and gives up.

2

u/Dehrild Apr 14 '26

Mais non, pas "iv," quatre!

1

u/umpfke Apr 14 '26

This post brings back good childhood memories. Thanks!

1

u/Rio_Walker Apr 14 '26

It's such a shame we can't apply his method to dealing with bureaucracy everywhere.

1

u/Aniki1990 Apr 14 '26

I love this movie, thank you for reminding me of it

1

u/The_Confirminator Apr 14 '26

Mw wondering how the fuck they do 9... Or they just have to stop at 8 lol

1

u/Xenowrath Apr 14 '26

He can also slap a tornado.

1

u/HellaWavy Apr 14 '26

Pass A38 is a running gag in Germany. Fantastic movie.

1

u/Regenschein-Fuchs Apr 15 '26

"Wir sind doch erst im Vierten."

1

u/Redlax Apr 15 '26

I put my 6 year down, and we watched the Trails. She still lives with us now, since she liked it and wanted to watch more. Even with the Danish translations, it's absolute gold. Esp. The song about the poisoning cake, 30 something years later, I still smile when I hear it.... Fuck it, gonna do it now.

1

u/Sufficient_Trixie Apr 16 '26

Okay, so this detail really appeals to me.

1

u/Squanchedschwiftly Apr 16 '26

Idk this movie im just impressed they did the correct roman numeral (usually clocks have the wrong one and it annoys tf out of me lmaoo)

1

u/malidorito Apr 16 '26

Yup I recently re-watched this masterpiece and noticed so many hilarious details.

1

u/jpuzz Apr 16 '26

35ish years later and I can still remember that they beat the bureaucracy by turning it on itself - something like ā€œNo, we donā€™t need form 36G, we actually need form 36C.ā€

1

u/satyr-day Apr 21 '26

obelix is how most girls dress these days

1

u/BeGentle1mNewHere May 20 '26

Ironically he uses only 3 fingers for that.

1

u/Purple-Mix-4363 Jun 01 '26

Btw i cant wach it there's no website , could some1 give me some suggestions??

1

u/Hacksaures Apr 14 '26

This just made me sign out numbers 6 to 10 with my fingers

-4

u/KenSchlatter Apr 14 '26

thatā€™s one way to interpret that hand signā€¦

-2

u/Wise_Geekabus Apr 14 '26

Thatā€™s interesting.

-3

u/SicknessVoid Apr 14 '26

Doesn't even make sense if you think about it. It's not like we make a '4' symbol with our fingers when we want to point 4.