“Netflix is a Gallic name.” With this play on words, as simple as it is effective, Alain Chabat presented, on Tuesday, June 11, at the Annecy Animation Festival, the first images of his new production: an adaptation in the form of an animated series of Combat des chefs, an Asterix and Obelix adventure by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo published in 1966.
Known after this world premiere (the series will be broadcast in the first half of 2025 on Netflix), Alain Chabat was concerned about exercise.
“We were nervous about presenting things,” he confesses to BFMTV. “We hadn’t shown anything to anyone. The series is not finished at all. We still have eight months of work left. But after five seconds, we saw this attentive and knowledgeable audience, which helped us.”
If you have always peppered your creations with short animation sequences, Cleopatra Mission In Burger test, Alain Chabat takes the step this time. At the age of 65 he signed his first animated series.
Before an audience made up of figures from the sector, such as the designer Marion Montaigne (With Thomas Pesquet’s suit), Alain Chabat, very animated, presented this project on which he has been working for almost four years. During a master class that resembles a comedy show, mixing as usual self-deprecation and mocking jokes, he often let his collaborators, all big names, speak.
“The story has grown”
If Alain Chabat already wrote a script for the designer Liberatore and adapted Asterix and Marsupilami in live action, The battle of the leaders allows him to rediscover his love for drawing: “I’m not good enough to make comics. Thanks to animation, I have my little dream,” says the director who multiplies onomatopoeias in the series to remember the graphic origins of Asterix.
From Cleopatra Mission, Alain Chabat dreamed of immersing himself in the magic potion again. He remained close to Editions Albert René, which published comics by Goscinny and Uderzo. “We never interrupted the dialogue. I always wanted to do another Asterix.” To avoid any repetition (Alain Chabat never continued his numerous successes), he wanted to offer something different:
“We had started with an animated movie project but the story grew and we were stretched. We were wondering where to cut. Netflix also told us that a movie was very good, but something more: a two-part movie, a series, etc. – It was also very good. We thought that a five-episode miniseries could be something interesting.”
“An element of danger”
Alain Chabat wrote with Benoît Oullion, screenwriter of Burger test and late showand Piano, a close collaborator and animator who, in particular, signed the animated sequences of Cleopatra Mission and Marsupilami.
In front Cleopatra Missiona travel album, where Asterix leaves Gaul, The battle of the leaders It takes place almost exclusively within the town of the Gauls. This volume also has the advantage of having “an element of danger” in its plot: after being hit by a menhir, Panoramix goes crazy. The Gauls, now deprived of potions, are at the mercy of the Romans, who commission a Gallo-Roman chief, a Gaul who collaborated with the Latin occupier, to confront Abraracourcix in combat.
“The battle of the leaders I have always liked it,” confesses Alain Chabat. “As they are irreducible and invincible, it is difficult to find a story in which they are weak. “We want to worry about the Gauls, wondering how they will get out of this.”
The “Animated Avengers”
Its objective: to transcribe Albert Uderzo’s style into 3D animation, capable of mixing, in the same frame, hyperrealistic characters and cartoonish characters. “Since I got into animation, I have adapted more to Uderzo’s style. He is a great designer.” Alain Chabat was inspired by comics aesthetics between 1968 and 1972,Asterix at the Olympic Games to Caesar’s laurels.
For this company, Alain Chabat surrounded himself with the “Avengers of animation”, such as the Toulouse studio TAT, whose first short film served as a preview to Cleopatra Mission. Chabat also brought in many French talents who trained in the United States at Dreamworks and Illumination, notably Kristof Serrand.
Current animation supervisor at Netflix, this living memory of animated cinema began with cartoons Asterix since the 1980s. For the purposes of boss battle, delved into his memories to find the ideal way to cheer on the die-hard Gauls. He also found the movement indications left by Uderzo for Caesar’s surprise.
“I like limitations”
In his live-action films, Alain Chabat constantly has new ideas and experiments every day. A creative process impossible to apply in the context of an animation production where each decision is carefully thought out months in advance. While the director often had to hold back, he sometimes managed to convince his interlocutors of his vision.
“They adapted to my disorder,” smiles Alain Chabat, who co-directs the series with Fabrice Joubert, formerly of Illumination and Dreamworks: “I tend to change when I find an idea and many times they told me that it was impossible because I needed “The whole thing was called into question.” the machine and it was difficult to change everything for one small thing.
“But each time they have found solutions so that this industrial framework remains organic,” adds Alain Chabat. “I took steps towards them too, but I know they took many more towards me. It’s fun for everyone to try to find solutions when you don’t have them. I like limitations.”
The return of Gilles Lellouche
For the voices, Alain Chabat assembled an all-star cast. After the middle empire, Gilles Lellouche returns to the role of Obélix. Chabat, who played a memorable Caesar in Cleopatra Mission, this time he plays Asterix. Pure chance: “I did the voice of Asterix while waiting (to find another actor). Then, with Gilles, I found pleasure in doing this voice. We found something that works.”
The voices of Laurent Lafitte (César), Grégoire Ludig (Abraracourcix), Thierry Lhermitte (Panoramix) and Grégory Gadebois (Aplusbégalix) complete the lineup. a decade later On the trail of Marsupilami, Alain Chabat finds Géraldine Nakache and assigns her the role of Bonemine. Alexandre Astier, who has already co-directed two animated adaptations ofAsterixmakes an appearance at Ordralphabétix.
The most unexpected discovery concerns the actor chosen for Maman Caesar, the emperor’s cantankerous mother, a new character: Jérôme Commandeur. “He is the Caesar of a girl,” laughs Alain Chabat. “We will discover that if he wants to conquer Gaul it is to impress his mother.” Jeanne Balibar also voices Apothica, a gothic healer imagined for the series.
New characters
Anaïs Demoustier plays another new character, Metadata, a young woman who will have an important role in the story. She stars alongside Fred Testot, David Marsais and Jean-Pascal Zadi, who play members of the Roman army. Alain Chabat promises many more surprises.
“The new characters came naturally,” he continues. “The characters were transformed but maintaining their dynamics. We did not want to create new characters at any cost. The story guided the creation of these new characters who are very interesting and very fun.”
We find in its name all the art of Goscinny-style wordplay: a centurion is called Fastenfurious (like the famous franchise) and others Potus (a nod to the American president), Anna Barbera (a tribute to Hanna Barbera, producers of tom jerry) or Touiepix (a reference to twin peaks). For his 65th birthday, Asterix couldn’t dream of a better gift.
Source: BFM TV
