Uderzo, Albert 1927-

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UDERZO, Albert 1927-

PERSONAL:

Born April 27, 1927, in Fismes, France. Hobbies and other interests: Collecting cars.

ADDRESSES:

Home—France. Agent—c/o Orion Publishing Group, Orion House, 5 Upper St. Martin's Lane, London WC2H 9EA, England.

CAREER:

Author, illustrator, cartoonist, animator, filmmaker, publisher, and studio owner. Early jobs included working as a machine operator for a violin maker, and as a welder; also worked for a French animation studio and as a commercial artist. Cartoonist for French and Belgian newspapers and magazines, 1940-67; World Press, Paris, France, house illustrator, 1950-55; freelance illustrator, beginning 1959, and author, 1977—, of "Asterix" comic-book series. Cofounder, with René Goscinny, of Edifrance (writers' and artists' collective), 1955, and Pilote magazine, 1959. Founder, Studios Idéfix (animation studio), 1974, and publishing company Éditions Albert René 1980. Military service: Served in French military.

MEMBER:

French Ferrari Club (president, 1978).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Prix Alphonse Allaix, for humorous book or novel, 1966; Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, 1985; Grand Prix des Arts Graphiques, 1986; Grand Prix de la Ville d'Angouleme, and Grand Prix du Millenium, both Festival International de la Band Dessine d'Angouleme, both 1999; Preis des Jahrtausends, International Comic Festival, Frankfurt, Germany, 1999; Prix du Millnaire de la Bande Desine, 2001.

WRITINGS:

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Clopinard, Éditions du Chene (Paris, France), 1946.

Flamberge, André Renan (Paris, France), 1946.

Vive la Gaule, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1988.

Les actualities, Éditions Pressibus, 1993.

Homage … Albert Uderzo, Soleil Productions, 1996.

Contributor to newspapers and magazines, including France dimanche, France soir, World Press (Brussels and Paris editions), Junior, O.K., Kid, Bravo, Top, Journal de Tintin, Bonnes Soires, Libre Belgique, Risque-Tout, Pistolin, and Paris-Flirt.

"ASTERIX" SERIES; AND ILLUSTRATOR

Le grand fosse, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1980, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Great Divide, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1981.

L'odyssé d'Astérix, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1981, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Black Gold, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1984.

Le fils d'Astérix, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1983, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and Son, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1983.

Astérix chez Rahazade, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1987, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Magic Carpet, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1988.

Operation Getafix (book of the film Coup de menhir; based on Asterix and the Soothsayer and Asterix and the Big Fight), Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1989, translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1990.

Astérix: La rose et le glaive, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1991, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Secret Weapon, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1991.

La galére d'Obélix, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1996, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1996.

Astérix et la traviata, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 2001, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Actress, Orion (London, England), 2001.

ILLUSTRATOR; WRITTEN BY RENÉ GOSCINNY; "ASTERIX" COMIC SERIES

Astérix le gaulois (also see below), Dargaud (Paris, France), 1961, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix the Gaul, Brockhampton Press, 1969, Morrow (New York, NY), 1979.

La serpe d'or, Darguad, 1962, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Golden Sickle, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1975.

Astérix et les goths, Darguad, 1963, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Goths, Brockhampton Press, 1974.

Astérix gladiateur, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1964, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix the Gladiator, Brockhampton Press, 1969.

Astérix chez Cléopatre, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1965, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and Cleopatra, Brockhampton Press, 1969, Morrow (New York, NY), 1970.

Le tour de gaule d' Astérix, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1965, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Banquet, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1979.

Astérix et les normands, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1966, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Normans, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1978.

Astérix chez les bretons (also see below), Dargaud (Paris, France), 1966, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix in Britain, Brockhampton Press, 1970.

Le Combat des chefs, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1966, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Big Fight, Brockhampton Press, 1971.

Astérix légionnaire, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1967, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix the Legionary, Morrow (New York, NY), 1970.

Astérix aux jeux olympiques, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1968, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix at the Olympic Games, Brockhampton Press, 1972, Dargaud (Greenwich, CT), 1984.

Le bouclier arverne, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1968, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1977.

Astérix et le chaudron, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1969, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Cauldron, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1976.

Astérix en Hispanie, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1969, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix in Spain, Brockhampton Press, 1971.

Astérix chez les helvetes, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1970, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix in Switzerland, Brockhampton Press, 1973.

La zizanie, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1970, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Roman Agent, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1972.

Les maisons des dieux, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1971, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as The Mansions of the Gods, Brockhampton Press, 1971.

Le devin, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1972, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Soothsayer, Brockhampton Press, 1975.

Les lauriers de Cesar, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1972, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Laurel Wreath, Brockhampton Press, 1974.

Astérix en corse, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1973, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix in Corsica, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1979.

Le cadeau de Caesar, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1974, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and Caesar's Gift, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1977.

La grande traversé, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1975, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix and the Great Crossing, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1977, Dargaud (Greenwich, CT), 1984.

Obélix et compagnie, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1976, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Obelix and Co., Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1978.

René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo presentent Les douze travaux d'Astérix (based on the animated film), Dargaud (Paris, France), 1976, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Rene Goscinny and Albert Underzo Present the Twelve Tasks of Asterix, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1978.

Astérix chez les belges (also see below), Dargaud (Paris, France), 1979, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as Asterix in Belgium, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1980.

Three Adventures of Asterix (contains Asterix the Gaul, Asterix in Britain, and Asterix in Belgium), translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1979.

Asterix versus Caesar (based on the animated film Asterix et la surprise du Caesar; adaptation of Asterix the Gladiator and Asterix the Legionary), Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1985, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1986.

Comment Obélix est tombé dans la marmite du druid quand il etait petit, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1989, translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge published as How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When He Was a Little Boy, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1989.

Asterix Conquers America (based on the animated film; adapted from Asterix and the Great Crossing), Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1995.

Asterix and the Class Act, translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, Orion (London, England), 2003.

ILLUSTRATOR; "IDÉFIX" COMIC SERIES; TEXT BY RENÉ GOSCINNY

Idéfix au cirque, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1973.

Dogmatix and the Boar Hunt, translated from the French by Frances Vanner, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1974.

Dogmatix Makes a Friend, translated from the French by Frances Vanner, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1974.

The Well-deserved Tea Party, translated from the French by Frances Vanner, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1974.

Idéfix et le petit lapin, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1974.

Idéfix s'en va-t-en guerre, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1974.

Idéfix et la grande fringale, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1982, translation published as Dogmatix and the Magic Potion, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1983.

Idéfix et le vilain petit aiglon, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1982, translation published as Dogmatix and the Ugly Little Eagle, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1983.

Also author or illustrator of other "Idéfix" books, including Idéfix fait du sport, Idéfix se fait un ami, Un güter bien merité, Idéfix et la petite fille, Une folle poursuite, La chasse au sanglier, L'orage, Idéfix et le bebe, Idéfix et le poisson clown, L'anniversaire d'Idéfix, Idéfix a la neige, Idéfix magicien, and Idéfix et le perroquet.

ILLUSTRATOR; "OUMPAH-PAH" COMIC SERIES; TEXT BY RENÉ GOSCINNY

Oumpah-pah le peau-rouge, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1961.

Oumpah-pah et les pirates, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1962.

Oumpah-pah contre foire malade; Oumpah-pah sur le sentier dela guerre; mission secrete, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1967.

Oumpah-pah (omnibus), Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1995.

ILLUSTRATOR; "TANGUY ET LAVERDUE" SERIES; TEXT BY JEAN-MICHEL CHARLIER

L'école des aigles, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1961.

Pour l'honneur des cocardes, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1962.

Danger dans le ciel, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1963.

L'escadrille des cigognes, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1964.

Mirage sur l'orient, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1965.

Canon blue ne repond plus, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1966.

Cap zero, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1967.

Pirates du ciel, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1967.

Les anges noirs, Dargaud (Paris, France), 1968.

Tanguy et Laverdure (omnibus), Dargaud (Paris, France), 1979.

FILMSCRIPTS

(Author of story, with René Goscinny) Les douze travaux d'Astérix (title means "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix"), Studios Idéfix, 1975.

ILLUSTRATOR

Octave July, Marco Polo, Deligne, 1977.

René Goscinny, Luc Junior, Éditions Lefranq, 1989.

René Goscinny, Benjamin et Benjamin: les naufrages de l'air, Éditions Lefranq, 1991.

Jean-Michel Charlier, Belloy, Éditions Lefranq, 1995.

René Goscinny, Johan Pistolet, Éditions Albert René (Paris, France), 1998.

René Goscinny, Les archives Goscinny T. 1: Le journal Tintin, 1956-61, Vents d'Ouest, 1998.

ADAPTATIONS:

Astérix le gaulois (film; adapted from the book of the same title), Belvision, 1967; Astérix et Cleopatra (film; adapted from the book of the same title), Belvision, 1970; Lucky Luke (film; adapted from the comic series of the same title by Goscinny and de Bevere), Belvision, 1971; Asterix and the Circus of Rome (cut-out book), text by Anthea Bell and James Opie, GeminiScan, 1976; Asterix and the Pirates (cutout book), text by Anthea Bell, illustrated by John Grace and Sam Thompson, GeminiScan, 1978; Asterix and the Twelve Tasks (cut-out book), text by Anthea Bell, illustrated by John Grace and Sam Thompson, GeminiScan, 1978; Alea Jacta Est! The Meeting of the Chieftans (game book), translated by Anthea Bell, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England); Alea Jacta Est! The Idol of the Gauls (game book), translated by Derek Hockridge, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England).

Other animated films include Asterix versus Caesar, 1985; Asterix in Britain, 1986; Coup de menhir (released in English translation as Operation Getafix), Gaumont Productions/Extrafilm Productions (Berlin, Germany), 1989; and Asterix Conquers America, Extrafilm Productions, 1994. The live-action film Asterix and Obelix against Caesar, starring Gerard Depardieu, was released by Renn Productions/Katarina Films/Bavaria Films, 1999. The "Asterix" series has also been adapted for French radio. In addition the "Tanguy and Laverdure" series was adapted as the television series Les chevaliers du ciel which aired on French television c. late 1960s and c. late 1980s.

SIDELIGHTS:

For almost half a century French illustrator Albert Uderzo has been drawing pictures of a diminutive large-nosed Gaulish warrior in a winged helmet whose major goal in life seems to be to demolish Roman legions and dine on wild boar. In a series of stories set around the year 50 BC, Asterix and his large friend Obelix—as well as Obelix's little canine companion Dogmatix—travel the ancient world wreaking havoc on Roman imperial designs and maintaining the independence of their home village. They are sometimes aided and abetted in their adventures by their fellow villagers: Chief Vitalstatistix; Geriatrix, the oldest man in the village; Cacofonix, the local bard; Fulliautomatix, the village blacksmith; Unhygienix, the fishmonger; and Getafix, the druid who brews the magic potion that grants the villagers superhuman strength, allowing them to remain happily independent of the Roman occupation that controls the rest of Gaul. Asterix and his friends do not understand the Romans' motives in wanting to control them and can conclude: "These Romans are crazy!"

Created by Uderzo and his late partner René Goscinny in 1959, Asterix the Gaul quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling Disney's ubiquitous Mickey Mouse in popularity in France. Parc Astérix, a full-sized replica of Asterix's Gaulish village located outside Paris, near the EuroDisney theme park, attracts some two million visitors annually. Asterix has also won the admiration of scholars, who praise the series for its sly commentary on modern life and politics. "While Mickey Mouse has come to serve as a synonym for all that is trivial and worthless," wrote Helen Laville in the New Statesman, "the plucky little Gaul has managed to maintain high academic standards."

Uderzo was born in France in 1927, the son of Italian immigrants whose roots reached back to the tiny community of Oderzo, near Venice. He demonstrated a considerable talent for drawing at an early age, but had to contend with a number of barriers, including color-blindness. At the age of thirteen he went to work as an illustrator for an advertising company. During World War II he escaped the Nazi occupation of Paris by traveling with his brother Bruno to Brittany where they spent a year in exile. "Uderzo loved Brittany, both for its scenery and its people," stated Peter Kessler in The Complete Guide to Asterix. "Many years later, when the time came to choose a location for the Gaulish Village, Goscinny left the decision entirely to Uderzo.… Uderzo had no hesitation in choosing Brittany."

By 1950 Uderzo was working as an illustrator in the Paris office of the Belgian publisher World Press. He had already begun to create comic characters, including the former Napoleonic soldier Clopinard, a little old man with a white beard, a single very black eyebrow, and a wooden leg that also serves as a weapon. Some critics see in Clopinard a precursor to Asterix, in the sense that the old soldier is also an everyman who wins against huge odds. It was at World Press that Uderzo first met Goscinny and the two began working together, Goscinny providing the stories and Uderzo providing the illustrations. One of their first creations together was a strip that featured the adventures of an American Indian named Oumpahpah, who served as a scout for the French during the French and Indian War in the 1750s. Oumpah-pah was depicted as a gentle soul whose upbringing had not prepared him for the conflict in which he was involved. Goscinny and Uderzo gave him a foil in the form of the sophisticated French officer Hubert de la Paté Feuilletée. Critics see in the team of Oumpah-pah and Hubert another precursor to Asterix. "The humour, style and situations in this series," explained Kessler, "were very 'Asterixian,' with bands of undisciplined, rowdy Indians overcoming the ordered ranks of their invaders." The adventures of Clopinard and Oumpahpah were later collected and published as books.

Uderzo and Goscinny left World Press after five years and formed their own company, Edifrance. The team "struggled for three years," Kessler stated, until Radio Luxembourg contacted them about creating a new magazine that would present illustrated stories appealing to all age groups: children, young adults, and adults. The result was Pilote, which contained something for everyone: action and continuity for younger readers and extensive cultural references for the older members of its audience. Pilote was meant to be a magazine that served as a showcase for French nationalism and talent. "It was part of the Pilote philosophy to show that France could create its own popular heroes," Kessler explained. "It didn't need America's hand-me-downs."

Asterix and Obelix emerged as part of Goscinny and Uderzo's search for material that had the potential to be both cultural and funny. The team mined French history for inspiration, drawing not on history itself but on the way it was taught and perceived in French schools. "For the children who like Astérix because it is funny, it is also educational," wrote Jean-Noel Gurgand in Atlas. "The adventures are in reality illustrated first lessons of Latin and history. Caesar is no longer the remote personage of Plutarch, and the way Uderzo maneuvers the legions, the tactics of the Roman army become understandable."

Despite the public enthusiasm for Asterix, Pilote quickly ran into financial troubles. Within a year the magazine was sold to Georges Dargaud, a Parisian publisher, who changed its focus from the broad-appeal, multigenerational audience envisioned by its creators to a narrow, child-oriented one. "Goscinny duly handed over the reins of editorship," explained Kessler, "and watched Pilote's sales plummet drastically in response to Dargaud's traditional, aim-it-at-the-kids approach." Over time, however, album collections of the Asterix strips originally serialized in Pilote began selling in huge numbers. By the time Astérix chez Cléopatre was published in 1965, sales were reaching the hundreds of thousands. Astérix et les normands, published the following year, broke the million-copy figure.

Since the mid-1960s the various albums of Asterix's adventures have regularly sold millions of copies in over a hundred different languages. According to the official Asterix Web site, "Asterix" books have sold 110 million copies in the French-speaking world. More than half of the French people surveyed in a SOFRES poll in 2001 rated Asterix number one among comic-book heroes, and over ninety percent of respondents in a 1999 IED study preferred Asterix over other comic strips. Because Asterix is also seen as a symbol of local resistance against the kind of American cultural imperialism represented by companies like Disney, the "Asterix" albums are often translated into regional dialects, including Afrikaans, Alsatian, Breton, Corsican, Gallo, Occitan, Picard, and Welsh. The translations are used as teaching aids in local schools and colleges, and they help to preserve these dying tongues from extinction. In Asterix and the Class Act Uderzo even presented an allegory about a battle between the Gallic rooster and the imperial Roman eagle. "Certain commentators," wrote the author of the Asterix Web site, "saw this as a possible allusion to current affairs, when another empire sought to force its allies' hand."

Asterix has also been celebrated as a symbol of European union and resistance to pan-globalism. "Across Europe, people may have qualms about the idea of a European federal state," stated Laville. "But rename it 'the Gaulish village,' and they'll be flocking to its wooden fence. Add the obligatory lavish banquet of roast boar under the starry sky, and European integration is assured." At the same time, however, Asterix remains little known and little understood among Americans. "It is hard to explain this lack of success without resorting to crude stereotypes about the American lack of understanding of irony or sarcasm," Laville declared. "These Americans," she concluded, "are crazy."