In 1981, Albert Uderzo visited Disneyland in Anaheim. Following the example of his longtime idol Walt Disney, Uderzo got the idea of creating a French park that would be themed after the universe of the iconic comic book hero he created with the late René Goscinny, Asterix the Gaul.
Following a few years of planning, market studies and designing, the Parc Asterix was built in Plailly (about 30 kilometers North-East from Paris) and opened in 1989. As of 2018, it was the fifth most visited theme park in France with about 2 million guests.
Parc Asterix provides examples of:
- 3-D Movie: "Attention Menhir!", the park's first 4-D movie. Its story is based on Asterix and the Big Fight, and the CGI character models are those from Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods and The Secret of the Magic Potion.
- Ascended Extra: Iris, the Egyptian hypnotist who only appeared as one of the twelve tasks in the 1976 animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, got a whole ride themed after him, the steel-inverted roller coaster "OzIris". And one of the most spectacular in the park at that.
- Between My Legs: The entrance of the "Tonnerre de Zeus" ("Thunder of Zeus") wooden roller coaster is a colossal statue of the king of the Olympian gods, with guests walking in between his legs.
- Goofy Print Underwear: Guests who look up while walking under the statue of Zeus will discover he's "wearing" underpants with a comical print (as of 2022 they're pink with rubber duckies).
- Halloween Special: Starting in 2005, the park launched the "Druids Festival" every year in late October, which was renamed "Fear on the Parc Asterix" in 2009 and received a more straight-up Halloween theming.
- Impact Silhouette: A ballista display
◊ alludes to such an incident with a Roman legionary (with just the outer layer of a wall, though, not going through). - Mascot: Asterix, of course. The park's most famous representation of him has him sitting on a rock◊.
- Public Bathhouse Scene: The mad house type ride "Le Défi de César" ("Caesar's Challenge") has Julius Caesar recruiting new spies (the guests). The spies go through a Roman bath to rest at some point in it.
- The Theme Park Version: As with the comic books, the areas themed after ancient world settings are nothing but "Theme Park" versions of them, namely Celtic Gaul, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. And a bit of The Viking Age too.
