The Smurfs

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Cartoon

The Smurfs, 1981

The Plot

A group blue creatures, known as the Smurfs, live in an eco-friendly, self-sustaining village. Every day they work together to live in harmony, but on several occasions, they must spend them time fighting off evil villains.

Starring

Don Messick, Paul Winchell, Lucille Bliss, Danny Goldman, Barry Gordon, and more.

The Review

When I was a young child, I spent many Saturday mornings in front of the television set watching the “Saturday Morning Cartoon” line up. And boy was it a treat. I looked forward to waking up early every Saturday morning and lounging in front of the television where I lost track of time and laughed until I could laugh no more. There was something innocent about cartoons back then. They were fun and carefree and while some skits used storylines to instill real life lessons, the lessons weren’t forced down your throat.

The Smurfs were one of the many cartoons I looked forward to watching so I was excited to see that Hanna-Barbera is bringing them back on DVD.

The little blue creatures live in a small village with Papa Smurf as their leader and though there is a big, wide world just waiting to be explored outside their village the Smurfs are content and happy to spend their time amongst each other. The eco-friendly people of the world will love the Smurfs for their ability to remain self-sustaining. Many of the things they eat, build, and use have been created right in their village—with their own sweat equity.

Like the dwarfs from Snow White, the name of each Smurf defines the character of that Smurf: Papa Smurf is the leader and father figure of the village, Smurfette is the only female Smurf, Handy knows how to fix or construct just about anything, Greedy does whatever it takes to look out for himself, Brainy is smart, Lazy avoids work, Clumsy manages to bump into, fall over, or break many things, and Hefty Smurf is the strongest one in the village.

True to cartoons of that era, the Smurfs must deal with their fair share of villains—Gargamel, the wizard, and his cat, Azreal, are the main villains but two special guests appear throughout season two: Bigmouth, the giant with an unquenchable hunger, and Hogatha, the witch.

What makes The Smurfs unique, for Hanna-Barbera, is the fact that the cartoons don’t seem to follow a basic formula for their storylines—they have unique storylines in nearly every episode giving each Smurf a unique opportunity to shine. And despite the fact that the cartoons are low-grade—in other words they are animated drawings that don’t use a lot of fancy digitalization—the Smurfs are very entertaining and visually appealing.

Your Task

As you watch the Smurfs, pay close attention to how conscientious they are about the world around them, how the respect the land, and only use what is necessary to survive. Pay attention to how they find joy in spending time with each other versus material possessions, then think about your own lifestyle and how you differ. Is there anything you’d change about the way you currently live your life and why? Discuss those changes with your family and come up with a plan to make some changes in your own life.