The Smurfs: Encyclopedia II - The Smurfs - History

The Smurfs - History

The Smurfs - Johan & Pirlouit

Peyo wrote a Franco-Belgian comics serial in Le Journal de Spirou called "Johan & Pirlouit" (translated to English as Johan and Peewit). The setting lies in the Middle Ages in Europe. Johan serves as a brave young page to the king, and Peewit (pronounced Pee-Wee) functions as his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. Johan rides off to defend the meek on his trusty horse, while Peewit gallops sporadically behind on his goat, named Biquette. The pair feel driven by their duty to their king, and by the courage to defend the powerless.

On October 23, 1958, Peyo introduced a new set of characters to the "Johan & Pirlouit" story. This alone caused no great excitement, as the brave duo constantly encountered strange new people and places. This time, they had the mission of recovering a Magic Flute, which required some sorcery by the wizard Homnibus. And in this manner, they met a schtroumpf.

The Smurfs - Schtroumpf/Smurf Origins

"Schtroumpf" is an invented word. According to an interview with Peyo, the word came to him as he asked a friend for salt during lunch and, struggling to find the word that eluded him, finally managed to say "passe-moi le schtroumpf" ("pass me the smurf"). It would later be translated into nearly 30 languages and, in some of those languages, "schtroumpf" became "smurf" (see The Smurfs in other languages). "Smurf" was first used in Dutch, as the comics were simultaneously published in French (in Spirou magazine) and Dutch (in Robbedoes, the Dutch translation of the magazine). In any case, the tiny blue people proved a sudden hit, commercially speaking, and quickly moved into their own comic series which became a tremendous success.

According to several interviews with Peyo, his own preference went to his "Johan & Pirlouit" series, and he sometimes expressed exasperation with the overbearing success of the smurfs.

The Smurfs - Comic Series

The comic series is currently made out of 23 issues, and they are considered classics in Europe, especially in the French-speaking communities. Album titles follows, including the year of first original French publishing. After album 16, and Peyo's death, the albums have been published without his supervision:

• 1: Les Schtroumpfs noirs (The Dark Smurfs) - 1963
• 2: Le Schtroumpfissime (King Smurf) - 1965
• 3: La Schtroumpfette (Smurfette) - 1967
• 4: L'oeuf et les Schtroumpfs (The Smurfs and the Magical Egg) - 1967
• 5: Les Schtroumpfs et le Cracoucass (The Smurfs and the Cracawcass) - 1969
• 6: Le Cosmoschtroumpf (Astro Smurf) - 1970
• 7: L'apprenti Schtroumpf (The Apprentice Smurf) - 1971
• 8: Histoires de Schtroumpfs (Smurf Stories) (the only album not being one adventure, but an anthology of comical one-page stories) - 1972
• 9: Schtroumpf vert et vert Schtroumpf (Smurf Versus Smurf) - 1973
• 10: La soupe aux Schtroumpfs (Smurf Soup) - 1976
• 11: Les Schtroumpfs olympiques (Smurfic Games) - 1983
• 12: Le bébé Schtroumpf (Baby Smurf) - 1984
• 13: Les p'tits Schtroumpfs (The Smurflings) - 1988
• 14: L'aéroschtroumpf (The Aviator Smurf) - 1990
• 15: L'étrange réveil du schtroumpf paresseux (The Strange Awakening of Sleepy Smurf) - 1991
• 16: Le Schtroumpf financier (Finance Smurf) - 1992
• 17: Le Schtroumpfeur de bijoux (The Jewel Smurfer) - 1994
• 18: Docteur Schtroumpf (Doctor Smurf) - 1996
• 19: Le Schtroumpf sauvage (The Wild Smurf) - 1998
• 20: La menace schtroumpfs (The Smurf Menace) - 2000
• 21: On ne schtroumpfe pas le progrès (You don't smurf progress) - 2002
• 22: Le schtroumpf reporter (Reporter Smurf) - 2003
• 23: Jeux de Schtroumpfs (Smurf Games) - 2005

The Smurfs - Animated Series

In 1965, a black-and-white 90-minute animated film was made about the smurfs, Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs. It received little attention, and not much is known about it.

However, in 1976, La Flûte à six schtroumpfs (an adaptation of the original "Johan and Peewit" story) was released. Michel Legrand provided the musical score to the film.

In the late 1970s, smurf merchandise, distributed exclusively by a California company, Wallace Berrie and Co., made its way to America and became a huge success. NBC television executive Fred Silverman's daughter had a smurf doll of her own, and Silverman thought that a series based on the smurfs might make a good addition to his Saturday-morning lineup.

The smurfs secured their place in North American pop culture in 1980, when the Saturday-morning cartoon, The Smurfs, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, finally debuted on NBC. The show became a major success for NBC, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. The Smurfs was nominated multiple times for Emmy awards although, contrary to popular belief, they never actually won. Parts of Modeste Mussorgsky's 1874 classical musical composition, Pictures at an Exhibition (Gnomus, Tuileries, Gargamel's theme variation about 1.5 minutes in, and a scene segway part about 10 minutes in), are used in the cartoon¹. The series currently airs in reruns on Boomerang, and 26 selected episodes are aired in DiC Entertainment's syndicated programming blocks.

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¹source

• Don Messick: Papa Smurf, Azrael, Dreamy Smurf, Sleepy Smurf
• Paul Winchell: Gargamel, Baby Smurf, Nosey Smurf
• Lucille Bliss: Smurfette
• Barry Gordon and Danny Goldman: Brainy Smurf
• Frank Welker: Clockwork Smurf, Hefty Smurf, Peewit, Poet Smurf, Puppy
• William Callaway: Clumsy Smurf, Painter Smurf
• Alan Young: Miner Smurf, Farmer Smurf, Scaredy Smurf
• Hamilton Camp: Greedy Smurf, Harmony Smurf
• Michael Bell: Grouchy Smurf, Handy Smurf, Lazy Smurf, Johan
• June Foray: Jokey Smurf, Mother Nature
• Linda Gary: Dame Barbara

In 1983, an English version of La Flûte à six schtroumpfs was produced, and titled The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. A few more long smurf movies were made, most notably The Baby Smurf.

The Smurfs - Smurf Figurines

For a while advertisers used smurfs to promote Renault, National Benzole, and BP garages and—in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand at least—the figurines were given away when petrol (gasoline) was purchased.

A scare story that claimed smurf figurines used leaded paint circulated in Britain in the 1970s, leading Jonathan King to release a single, Lick a Smurp for Christmas (All Fall Down) under the name of Father Abraphart and the Smurps. This was a parody of the smurf song by Father Abraham and the Smurfs, a worldwide hit single. The lead paint scare was brought about by a group of people in the marketing department of National Benzole who decided to outsource some smurf figurines to be made in Hong Kong instead of Europe, just 4 or 5 different lines. It was later discovered that these had been produced without adhering to the necessary quality standards so they were deemed possibly unsafe. Paint dots were then introduced on the feet of PVC figurines so that they could identify the ones with paint dots as having passed quality control tests and they were also given different colors according to the different countries they were produced in.

Many people do not realise that the smurf figurines given away with the petrol promotions actually still continue in production today. The popularity of the smurfs in countries such as Belgium and Germany has never waned, and smurf collecting has become a growing hobby worldwide, with 400 different figures produced so far. New smurf figures continue to appear: in fact, only in two years since 1969 (1991 and 1998) have no new smurfs entered the market. Schleich's new release of 2005 smurfs sees a return to the "classic" smurf characters, with new figurines of Papa, Smurfette, Grouchy, Brainy, Vanity, Jokey, Harmony, and Baby Smurf.

Neither Convict Smurf nor Spy Smurf ever appeared in the animated television series, although both Spy Smurfs and convicted smurfs played a minor role in the original second issue of the comic "Le Schtroumpfissime" ("King Smurf"). In this story, Papa Smurf leaves the village and a clever smurf (Brainy in the cartoon) manages to gain power by winning an election through exaggerated election promises, and later turns into a dictator-type king. Jokey Smurf is arrested for having a bomb explode in the megalomaniacal dictator smurf's face and is thrown in jail with the Sing-Sing-type striped outfit. Later, the Spy Smurfs manage to liberate the political prisoner, while Brainy Smurf gets captured in the process. A running gag through the comic is that no-one is interested in liberating Brainy Smurf.

The Smurfs - Smurfs on Ice

For several years, the smurfs were the children's act in the Ice Capades travelling ice show; for many years after they were retired from that function, the smurf suits from the show were issued to Ice Capades Chalets, the show's subsidiary chain of ice rinks, lasting until the show was sold to a group of investors led by Dorothy Hamill, and the Chalets were sold to Recreation World. The Smurfette suit in particular had a somewhat different hairstyle from what was portrayed in the Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

The Smurfs - Later Years

The Smurfs television show enjoyed continued success until 1990, when, after a decade of success, NBC cancelled it due to decreasing ratings.

The death of Peyo in his hometown of Brussels in late December, 1992 did not stop the smurfs comics, as a studio of specialist cartoonists was already in place and continued to write and draw more of the adventures.

With the commercial success of the smurf empire came the merchandising empire of smurf miniatures, models, games, and toys. Entire collecting clubs devote themselves to collecting PVC toys.

Paramount Pictures has announced it plans to begin a trilogy of 3D computer animated smurfs films, the first to be released in 2008 through its Nickelodeon Films banner. The project had been in various stages of development since 2003. The first smurf movie is planned to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the smurfs.

The sSmurfs have appeared in video games made for most major game consoles (including Nintendo's NES, Super NES, and Game Boy systems; Atari, Colecovision, Sega's Game Gear, Master System, and Mega Drive systems; and the original Sony Playstation) and for the PC.

In 2005, an advertisement featuring the smurfs was aired in Belgium in which the smurf village is annihilated by warplanes [1]. Designed as a UNICEF advertisement, and with the approval of the family of the smurfs' late creator Peyo the 25-second episode was shown on the national evening news after the 9pm timeslot to avoid children seeing it. The scene starts with happy peaceful smurfs and butterflies, who are then bombed by warplanes, ending with a lone Baby Smurf surrounded by prone (presumably dead) smurfs. The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children." It was the keystone in a fund-raising campaign by UNICEF's Belgian arm to raise £70,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo--both former Belgian colonies. The episode was controversial and upset some children, parents, and concerned citizens. However, UNICEF spokesman Philippe Henon had stated that 70% of all feedback was positive.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki