ASTERIX is preparing for a battle against an invader that has conquered much of France. But this time, he is up against Dreamworks and Disney, not Caesar and the Roman legions.

The cunning, stubborn Gaul is the subject of the most expensive feature-length cartoon to be made in Europe, which will be released in 650 French cinemas tomorrow.

Asterix and the Vikings is an ambitious four-year project designed to prove that the French hero is capable of matching the likes of Shrek, Nemo or Bambi.

It comes with the French cartoon industry enjoying signs of a renaissance, with 15 films being released annually, twice as many as a decade ago.

Drawn from the 1965 comic, Asterix and the Normans, it is being billed by the producers at M6, the French television station, as a certain hit at home and a probable success elsewhere.

Created in 1959 by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny, the indomitable Asterix has sold more than 300 million copies of his adventures around the world. But it is more than a decade since the release of a feature-length Asterix cartoon in France, and the hype for the new film has been intense.

It was made by Stefan Fjeldmark, the Danish director, who introduced novelties such as a courier pigeon called Text-Message and a Viking woman called Vikea — after the Swedish furniture chain. “Although Asterix is typically French, he is not limited to his country of origin,” said Mr Fjeldmark.

The film overcame a crucial hurdle when it won the backing of M Uderzo, the guardian of the Asterix estate since M Goscinny’s death in 1977.

With a budget of €22 million (£15 million), Asterix and the Vikings cost almost three times as much to make as the average European cartoon movie.

For the heavily subsidised French industry, the stakes are high. More than eight out of ten people who see a cartoon film in France choose an American one. But French cinema is banking on the rebellious Gaul to improve its market share.

In 1999 the first full-length feature film, Asterix and Obelix, starring Gérard Depardieu and Christian Clavier, was seen by 14 million people, making it one of the most successful French films. M6 does not expect Asterix and the Vikings to do as well, but it does hope to make inroads into the dominant position of Dreamworks and Disney.

FIGHTING MAN

• Asterix was conceived in 1959 when René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo were asked to produce a comic book about French history
• The Gauls’ adventures have sold 320 million copies, and spawned more than a dozen films
• Each of the 110 translations requires a new rendering of the comic strip’s famous puns
• Asterix and the Falling Sky attracted criticism for its less than oblique references to President Bush and US imperialism
• Parc Asterix opened in 1989, just three years before Disneyland Paris was completed nearby
• Asterix’s fight against the Romans is often seen as a parable for the country’s fight against US-influenced globalisation

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