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Context Creator / AlbertUderzo

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uderzo.jpg]]
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3[floatboxright:'''Influences:'''
4+ George Mc Manus, Alain Saint-Ogan, Creator/WaltDisney, Floyd Gottfredson, Creator/JerrySiegelAndJoeShuster ]
5->''"I looked back through history with René and reviewed all the different periods of French history. We needed something original which no-one else had worked on. When we got to the Gauls - Eureka!"''
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7Alberto Aleandro "Albert" Uderzo (April 25, 1927 - March 24, 2020) was a French comic book artist, comic book writer, animation director and entrepreneur.
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9The son of Italian immigrants, he is best known for co-creating perhaps the most popular FrancoBelgianComics character and series of all time (give or take ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''), the little Gaulish warrior ''Franchise/{{Asterix}}'', with writer Creator/ReneGoscinny. He only drew the albums until Goscinny's death in 1977, and assumed both drawing and writing duties from 1977 to 2009.
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11Uderzo also co-directed two animated films based on the series along with Goscinny, the second one through a short lived animation studio they created, Studios Idéfix, which operated from 1974 to 1978. It only managed to produce two films and was shut down after Goscinny's death. He also created a theme park, the Ride/ParcAsterix, in 1989.
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13Uderzo retired from illustrating in the early 2010s due to growing pains in his hands, and [[OutlivedItsCreator passed the torch]] of helming ''Asterix'' to Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad. He passed away on March 24, 2020 from a heart attack, one month short of his 93rd birthday.
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15!!Comics he co-created or contributed to include:
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17* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' with Creator/ReneGoscinny.
18* ''[[ComicBook/OmpaPaTheRedSkin Oumpah-pah]]'', also with Goscinny, the comical adventures of a Native American. It started one year before ''Asterix'', and has not been continued since 1995.
19* ''Belloy'', with Creator/JeanMichelCharlier, about the (often comical) adventures of a medieval Franchise/{{Superman}} {{expy}}.
20* ''Tanguy et Laverdure'', with Charlier again, about the adventures of two French army pilots.
21* {{He also|did}} got to illustrate some pages of ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel Jr.]]'' in 1950.
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23!!Animated films he co-directed:
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25* ''WesternAnimation/AsterixAndCleopatra''
26* ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix''
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28!!Tropes in his works:
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30* AffectionateParody: The man was fond of Creator/WaltDisney and superheroes from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks (Superman above all), it is no coincidence if both a Superman and a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse {{exp|y}}ies show up in ''Asterix and the Falling Sky''.
31* ArtImitatesArt: Recreations of various famous paintings or sculptures are scattered throughout the ''Asterix'' books.
32* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Basing some character designs on famous people (actors, politicians and so on) is a trademark of his in the ''Asterix'' series, from Creator/CharlesLaughton in ''The Golden Sickle'' all the way to Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in ''The Falling Sky''.
33* DependingOnTheWriter: As a writer, Uderzo was markedly different compared to Goscinny.
34** When Goscinny was writing ''Asterix'', he kept the hero himself as a fairly bland StandardizedLeader IdealHero character who was almost never wrong about anything, and gave the CharacterDevelopment to [[TheLancer Obelix]], who was a sweet, profound and adorably [[TheDreaded frightening]] take on a ManChild. When Uderzo took over, Asterix got a lot of CharacterDevelopment and became more complicated and sympathetic, developed weaknesses and was no longer infallible.
35** At the same time Obelix was severely {{flanderized}} into being significantly more stupid and selfish, and usually TheMillstone to boot. This is most noticeable in ''The Magic Carpet'', where Asterix almost fails on multiple occasions because he has to constantly babysit Obelix.
36** On the bright side, Uderzo introduced a lot more memorable female characters than Goscinny managed to do (Bravura, Melodrama, Orinjade, Latraviata...) and fleshed out some of Goscinny's SpearCarrier and SatelliteLoveInterest female characters (like Fulliautomatix's wife and daughter, and Obelix's perennial love interest Panacea) into more well-rounded human beings.
37* GagNose: Many of the characters he drew in ''Asterix'' have a big nose, unless they have to stand out. Uderzo would also frequently give himself a prominent nose in his self-portraits.
38* SceneryPorn: His unique style blended cartoonish character designs and famously detailed realistic landscapes and backgrounds.

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