eBay rules! I finally got myself a copy of The Twelve Tasks of Asterix.

What? You've never heard of Asterix? Pfft. Asterix The Gaul is a French cartoon about the adventures of a village of Gauls set in the time period of the Roman conquest. The cartoon is huge in Europe. Asterix is kind of like the French Mickey Mouse. He's even got his own Disneyland style theme park, Parc Asterix.

In the late 70s, Buena Vista acquired the American distribution rights for Asterix. In 1981 (I think?), I sprained my ankle playing soccer and spent a couple of weeks home from school with my foot propped up on the couch. I got to see three different Asterix movies on HBO. I absolutely fell in love with The Twelve Tasks of Asterix.

Sometime in the early 90s I found a video store that had a VHS copy. I must've rented it half a dozen times. But I've never seen it since. I've seen copies on eBay, but I've always been hesitant. See, this movie's never had a DVD release. So how can I know what I'm really getting when I order one of those mysterious DVDs?

I finally took the plunge and bought one.

It arrived yesterday. The plastic case is the flimsiest case I've ever seen. It's so thin I swear it would actually flex if I breathed at it. The paper insert in the display pocket is extremely low quality, like it was printed at home from a bad jpeg. The disk itself is a homemade printable DVD. I was a little worried.

I shouldn't have been. The movie is perfect. Both video and audio quality are on par with the 1976 original. Sweet!

I'm in heaven. If anyone needs me, I'll be watching Asterix. Again.