The designer Albert Uderzo, famous for having invented the characters of Asterix and Obelix with René Goscinny, died Tuesday at the age of 92. The designer died of a heart attack, in his sleep, unrelated to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, we learned from his entourage. In 2014, he returned to the microphone of Europe 1 on the success of Asterix and Obelix, the best-selling and most translated European comic strip in the world, with today 380 million albums translated into 111 languages and dialects . And he took the opportunity to compare the character of the "irreducible Gauls" with the French today ...
For Asterix, "we were inspired by French people today"
"I have the impression that the French are becoming more and more like our characters. The Gauls, we only saw them through Vercingétorix and what we had learned in the textbooks of the time was that is to say, not much. Since our idea was not to make real Gauls, we were inspired by French people today. We can find the same ways of seeing things, of getting green between them, and congratulate themselves afterwards! ", he said at the microphone of Thomas Sotto, host of Europe 1 at the time.
And if a 2014 politician had to be one of his characters, "François Hollande would be Asterix", reflected Albert Uderzo. "A boy who does not attach much importance to what is said about him and continues on his way. He's a very 'Asterixian' character if I dare say so."
The designer had stopped drawing at the time for five years, his hand no longer allowing him, and said he had come out of retirement to please his grandson. "I started drawing, with a bit of trouble, and I managed to make Asterix and Obelix. I took the helping hand," he smiled, while recalling that he had not plan to repack for a new album. Since 2013, Didier Conrad is the official designer of the Astérix series.
"It was the best compliment anyone could give me"
Albert Uderzo also returned to the criticisms that may have been addressed to him. "The last album, yet sold 2.5 million copies, had appalling reviews! I don't mind, but when we release 2.5 million albums, we should have a little respect".
"Now considering my age, it doesn't bother me at all," he added, "but that's what I've noticed since the death of my friend René [Goscinny, editor's note]. I had a lot of trouble to come out of the ground. " At the time, he said he may have been hurt by the criticism. "It's typically French. It made me suffer, but now it doesn't bother me anymore."
With irony, he assured, moreover, that the best criticism which had been made to him, was in reality a pike from a journalist. "It was for the first album I released after him, Le Grand fossé . A critic wrote: 'It is certainly an album that René Goscinny wrote before dying'. It was the best compliment they could do to me. "