Asterix and The Great Crossing - Cultural References

Cultural References

• Asterix and Obelix discover a turkey and decide to eat it. Asterix says it tastes great, but Obelix notes that it might be better to stuff it with another type of food. This is a reference to Thanksgiving, when American families traditionally eat stuffed Thanksgiving turkey.

• On page 21 Asterix calls the country "a New World", a reference to the nickname 16th century discoverers gave America. He also claims that in this place everything is possible. Asterix is actually talking about possible dangers, but the authors wrote this quote as a reference to the American Dream.

• When Obelix punches one of the attacking Native Americans K.O. the warrior first sees American-style emblematic eagles; the second time he sees stars in the formation of the Stars and Stripes; the third time, he sees stars shaped like the United States Air Force roundel.

• On page 29 Obelix claims that this way he will certainly not be eating cold dog meat. This is a reference to hot dogs.

• Asterix' idea for getting the attention of the nearby Viking ship by holding up a torch references the Statue of Liberty (which was a gift from France). Obelix is first sceptical, but when Asterix reminds him that if they don't try this plan he will have to marry the Native American Chief's daughter, Obelix gets frightened and states: "I value my liberty", as another reference to the Statue of Liberty.

• The idea that Vikings reached America centuries before Columbus is one that was seriously considered at the time and is now seen as fact. However, the Vikings landed in America around 1000 C.E., roughly a thousand years after the time period where Asterix is set.

• When the Vikings set foot on American ground Herende the lessen paraphrases Neil Armstrong's famous quote: "It's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind", defending the quote on the grounds that it "just came to ".

• In the original French version, on page 32, Obelix claims he learned a thing or two while he was at the prairie and uses the word "yep!". This is a reference to westerns, and incidentally to Franco-Belgian comics series Lucky Luke, also written by René Goscinny at the time, set in the American Old West, and whose titular character frequently used the expression.

• On page 36 the Vikings give Asterix and Obelix beads, just like 15th-17th century European settlers gave beads to the native tribes in America.

• The nationality of the Vikings in this story is Danish, while the Vikings in the earlier Asterix and the Normans were depicted as Norsemen, a more general term. Several references make this clear:
  • This is made clear by several references to William Shakespeare's play about the Danish prince Hamlet. Odiuscomparissen at one point says: "Something is rotten in the state of ..." while holding a skull in his hand. In the play, the character Marcellus claims "something is rotten in the state of Denmark", and Hamlet delivers a monologue on death while holding the exhumed skull of his childhood playmate, the court jester Yorick. Towards the end of the comic Herendethelessen is seen wondering if he is a discoverer or not? He concludes by quoting Hamlet: "To be or not to be, that's the question."
  • When the Viking's village is in sight, Herendethelessen tells his crewmembers to get ready to be covered with honors only for them to be greeted by an angry booming voice. Steptøånssen remarks that it is their fearsome chief Odiuscomparissen, to which Herendethelessen tells him that it certainly is not a mermaid — a reference to the statue The Little Mermaid in the port of Danish capital Copenhagen.
  • Herendethelessen's dog, Huntingseåssen, is a Great Dane.
  • Pseudo-Danish spelling (English replacing all the O's by Ø's and all the A's by Å's) is used for the Vikings' speech.
• A Viking in the voyage is named Håråldwilssen, and shares Harold Wilson's physical features.