Venue of debates for budding interpreters of the Asterix universe, the EncyclObelix forum is today considering a thorny problem, which has long since racked the brains of some of the most attentive fans of the most famous of all Gauls: what are those mysterious hidden drawings of Dogmatix doing in the pages of Le Livre d'Astérix le Gaulois (The book of Asterix the Gaul)?A genuine recap of all the fundamentals in the Asterix universe, published in French 1999 to mark the 40th anniversary of our heroes, Le Livre d'Astérix le Gaulois humorously covers the characters and themes used in the Asterix albums. But now some readers are writing to us, intrigued by the presence of miniature drawings of Dogmatix on certain double pages of the book, like this one:
The authors of Le Livre d'Astérix le Gaulois book have been uncovered! They've been amusing themselves by surreptitiously inserting a drawing of Asterix and Obelix's faithful companion onto every double page. The Gauls from Editions Albert René are crazy!
Special surprises cleverly hidden for the most attentive of readers to find, these little drawings are like "Easter eggs" (a common procedure in the cinema in particular) of Le Livre d'Astérix le Gaulois book.
Some are so well hidden that you almost need a magnifying glass to find them. Others, discovered during the course of the publication process, and wrongly judged to be faults, have nearly been obliterated, and thus all the harder to unearth! But impossible is simply not a Gaulish word: those of you who let us know precisely where one or more of these Dogmatixes can be found will see their names added to the honour roll on this page. So get your magnifying glasses out (a classic feature if ever there was one in the Asterix universe!), and send us your answers by email. The person who discovers the most Dogmatixes will have the honour of occupying the leading position in our Gaulish hall of fame!
Once again, Asterix sets records tumbling: some 1,400 shots required special effects, more than the previous two films combined! Not one but three different companies (Duboi, BUF Compagnie and Mikros Image) pooled their talents to create the most ambitious film backdrops (Caesar's palace, Olympia, King Obnoxious's palace) and breathe life into all the sequences of derring-do (the chariot races, a druid whose body is spectacularly stretched to no harm, the effect of the magic potion on a horse, etc.).
One morning just like any other, you wake up full of dreams in your head for the beautiful day just starting: to devour a dozen wild boars, go on a little tour in the forest and, who knows, maybe even enjoy some fisticuffs with a passing Roman patrol. In short, a peaceful life, full of simple pleasures for an indomitable Gaul.
Asterix, Obelix and the Roman Gluteus Maximus are the stars of the moment in the Asterix at the Olympic Games puzzles.