Asterix and the Gauls take on the might of Mickey Mouse

Press, 11 June 1987, Page 13

Asterix and the Gauls take on the might of Mickey Mouse

PAUL WEBSTER reports from Paris that I ■; with the opening of Enro~Disneyiand I planned for 1991, France is facing a rash of I theme parks aimed at beatiiig the Amen* I cans at their own game. .11

Visitors at the recent opening of France’s first big theme park, Mirapolis, were givenmore thrills than they bargained for when the huge grounds neat* Paris were invaded by' traditional funfair operators who caused $400,000 worth of damage in' pitched battles. The violent, protest was aimed , not only at Mirapolis, ruled by an enormous statue of Rabelais* Gargantua, but at a sudden rush of planned French leisure centres dominated by the future Euro-Disneyland. The Mirapolis protest, which included huge nails in the car parks and false free Invitations for thousands of visitors, is likely to be repeated in many other parts of France as other huge attractions are opened. Some of them will be dedicated to comicbook heroes like Asterix and the Smurfs while others will emphasise French traditions notably agriculture and wine. / The speed with which parks are being established is part of a race to beat the impact of the new Disneyland, a virtual carbon copy of the Californian original, which will be built , in cornfields south of Paris. When that opens in six years time there will be at least 30 competitors in business with new projects outlined nearly every month. The French developments are based on predictions of a boom in the leisure business that will provide thousands of jobs. The United States has about 2000 theme parks, and surveys suggest that France could support about 400. The first few days of Mirapolis — despite the protests — has shown that optimism is reasonably justified. The park, covering more than 250 acres, was set up in the' futuristic new town of Cergy just north of Paris, and much of the $2OO million of initial capital came from Arab banks. But the designers, including technicians of ' the State-owned company, are nearly all French, while the park’s inspiration, is i domestic. • Taking-the risk of renouncing sponsorship by well-known comic-book characters, the park’s theme is based on French fairytales and legends, although one of the key attractions — reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions — may seem out of place. However, the Italian genius died in France and was financed by the French sixteenth century king, Francois I.' ' '■ Not surprisingly, the angry traditional funfair men concentrated on the symbolism of dh Vinci’s inventiveness, wrecking his idea of the future to underline claims that theme parks were being given a better tax deal than Itinerant funfairs. But from now on, protesters will have their work cut out to cover i ■sites that range from Acquacity near Bordeaux, Future park near the Swiss border, Zygofolls at Nice, or Asterixland just north of -i

Paris and a rival to Mirapolis. Asterix is the comic-strip hero who takes on the Romans In France’s best-selling children’s series which sell an average, of 20 million copies each. He could be a suitable symbol for the rush to beat the American Mickey Mouse invasion. His allies Include the Smurfs — a Belgian Invention who will have their home in eastern France near the German border. A depressed steel area has been chosen for Smurfland in the hope that the little blue men can revive a part of the country that has suffered more than any other from wars and economic setbacks. / / German Deutsche marks are expected to flood in from across the border while other frontier leisurelands are being developed to take advantage either af Brttish croas-Channel visitors or Belachieved optimistic' entry forecasts of 10,000 visitbro a day at about $l2 a head, the French themselves already seem hooked on thefr own folklore. Mirapolls’s chauvinistic themes, however, are more than matched by another contender — Geopolis — which is being built in the Burgundy wine country. The theme for the 203hectare park will be a Ulysses Odyssey through Europe’s rural areas — an opportunity to visit a wine village, a huge farm and travel through attractions based ion food production. It is certainly the most original competitor for the Dfcmeyland giant which, when it opens in Marne la Vallee in 1993, will have provided more jobs than thb planned Channel TunneL *’-• Copyright — ObsertMir News Service.