- Title: Brussels dresses Manneken Pis as Asterix, opens exhibition
- Date: 31st May 2017
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 31, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAN PUTTING ASTERIX COSTUME ON MANNEKEN PIS PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES OF MANNEKEN PIS VARIOUS OF MANNEKEN PIS WITH ASTERIX COSTUME VARIOUS OF OBELIX FLOAT COMING DOWN STREET OBELIX FLOAT SITTING NEXT TO THE MANNEKEN PIS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH TOURIST, SYLVIE THOREZ, SAYING: "It's funny to see the Manneken Pis dressed up as Asterix, because we don't have, well, we know that it's a comic book, (cartoonist) Uderzo's comic, it's funny, and Belgians like to have fun, it's funny. Now it's a bit small, I thought it was bigger." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRUSSELS-BORN VISITOR, STEPHANE BRUNO, SAYING: "I'm born in Brussels and it's a legend of Brussels, it's a symbol of peace, and you know it gets 1,000 costumes, this guy and his wardrobe, and for National Day in America he wore a special costume of Elvis Presley, and it's something funny. Today it's connected to France, its Asterix, then it's something that will bring... It's just a little boy peeing. It's not, it's not the liberty statue, but for us it's a symbol." VARIOUS OF ASTERIX CHARACTERS CUTOUTS AT EXHIBITION 'ASTERIX IN BELGIUM' FRENCH TITLE ON GIANT COMIC BOOK GIANT BOOK COVER AT THE EXHIBITION A LARGE BOOK PAGE ABOUT JULIUS CAESAR, INCLUDING PICTURES JULIUS CAESAR CHARACTER DRAWING AND LATIN SENTENCE READING "THE BELGIANS ARE THE BRAVEST AMONG THESE THREE PEOPLES" EXHIBITION HALL WITH PEOPLE WALKING AND LOOKING ANIMAL CHARACTERS WITH BACK FACING THE FRONT PORTION OF THE EXHIBITION WITH TELEVISION SCREEN SHOWING VIDEO OF THE AUTHORS OF THE BOOK WILLEM DE GRAEVE, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE BELGIAN COMICS ART MUSEUM, TALKING TO JOURNALIST VARIOUS OF CHILD PLAYING WITH THE BOXES THAT ROTATE TO GET A DIFFERENT PICTURE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BELGIAN COMICS ART MUSEUM DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, WILLEM DE GRAEVE, SAYING: "And of course for us, Belgium, it's a very special book. It's a real tribute to our country, but also to our culture. All typical things of Belgium are represented in this book. The fact that we like good food is there and dishes like Waterzooi from Ghent, you can see, invention of French fries is treated in the book and the creation of lace, very typical in Brussels, and the tourist shops. Our most famous cyclist, sportsman, Eddy Merckx, is represented. So, it's a very funny book. It was also the last for which Goscinny has written the script." ASTERIX ON MURAL (SOUNDBITE) (English) BELGIAN COMICS ART MUSEUM DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, WILLEM DE GRAEVE, SAYING: "This exhibition is meant especially for families and children, so there are a lot of interactive places in the exhibition. For example, there's one big map of Europe and there people, they can guess what character from Asterix, where does it come from, linked to the right nation. There are other games. So in this exhibition we want to show the narrative force of Asterix, the humour, but also of course we want to tell what makes Belgian culture so dominant in this book. So you could say that the comic book, it's like an initiation to Belgian culture, well we extend this." VARIOUS SHOTS OF CHILD AND MOTHER PLAYING 'WHICH GOES WITH WHICH' GAME IN THE EXHIBITION BELGIUM ON THE MAP OF EUROPE IN THE EXHIBITION ITALY ON THE MAP OF EUROPE IN THE EXHIBITION MAP OF EUROPE FOR THE "WHERE DO THEY COME FROM" GAME
- Embargoed: 14th June 2017 17:04
- Keywords: Asterix comic book comics exhibition Manneken Pis
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Art,Books,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J66JX5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Belgium's iconic peeing statue the Manneken Pis was dressed up in a brand new Asterix costume on Wednesday (May 31) to celebrate the French comic book character as an exhibition dedicated to 'Asterix in Belgium' was about to open its doors in Brussels.
Where Belgium has Tintin, France has Asterix the Gaul. To celebrate its neighbouring country's famous character, Brussels dressed its landmark statue as Asterix, while an Obelix float travelled through the city centre to the Manneken Pis, under the camera flashes of tourists visiting the statue.
History has it that Asterix was invented in 15 minutes, dreamt up by two friends Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in a little flat outside Paris. The cunning Asterix and his jovial friend Obelix appeared for the first time in print in the French comic strip magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959.
Goscinny, who wrote the texts, died suddenly in 1977 and 'Asterix in Belgium', which was published in 1979, was the last one he wrote.
An exhibition focusing on the book, which features the battle between the Gauls of the North and Julius Caesar, opens in Brussels on June 1.
A quote from Julius Caesar famous in Belgium features in the book and the exhibition: "the Belgians are the bravest among these three peoples".
The book also features Belgian's love for food and French fries which makes it special for the country, the director of communications of the Belgian Comics Art Museum told Reuters Television.
Seeking to be inclusive for all ages, the exhibition features games and interactive activities, where children and families can guess where each character in the comic book is from by pressing buttons on a large European map.
The temporary exhibition will remain open until September 3. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
