The Smurfs

sTitCh>< SG

In the begining...
On October 23, 1958 the Smurfs made their first appearance in a story of Johan & Peewit in Le Journal de Spirou. Their creator Peyo had worked previously at a number of drawing jobs. But the introduction of the Smurfs into Spirou would change his life.

At first, the Smurfs were just secondary characters. But they soon became stars in their own right. After a few mini-albums, their tales began to appear as full albums. Then the film The Smurfs and the Magic Flute appeared, with music by Michel Legrand (he also sang in the chorus !).

Music provided the next big step also, when the Dutch singer Vader Abraham released the first Smurf single. It was a massive hit in Belgium and Holland, followed by the rest of the world.
Soon, figurines, plushes, toys, (hit) records and above all the TV shows brought them right around the world. In 1981, the celebrated cartoon duo Hanna & Barbera (who created Tom & Jerry and later the Flinstones and Yogi Bear) started work on a TV series for the NBC network in the USA. No fewer than 256 episodes were produced, which are currently showing in roughly 30 countries.

Although their creator Pierre Culliford - better known as Peyo - is no longer with us since Christmas 1992, the Smurfs have never been so popular. Over 10 million copies of Smurf CDs have been sold in the last 3 years alone. The books, activity books, figurines and toys are amongst the most popular in the world. The TV series is regularly re-issued as video collections in dozens of languages, as well as CD-i and in storybook form.

And with the new style and the increasing range of Smurfimedia coming out, the little blue men are sure to have plenty of surprises for fans in the years to come.

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Papa Smurf is the ringleader of the gang, and the only smurf cool enough to wear red. He is extremely wise and always willing to help any fellow smurf who needs it.

Smurfette is the only adult female smurf. She was created by Gargamel as a purple Smurf with dark hair in order to lure the other smurfs, but her innate smurfiness shined through and she became accepted into the smurfy society. She is also intelligent, using her "girliness" to her advantage.

Brainy Smurf is constantly by Papa Smurf's side. He sometimes seems to make more trouble than good. He always seems to be around whenever a problem needed solving and is usually somehow able to use his smarts to escape from Gargamel's many traps.

Vanity Smurf loves to look good, and usually for Smurfette. He always has a pink flower on his hat because it makes him feel good and adds to his natural charm. He is there to help any fellow smurf when needed, but he always makes sure to look his best while doing it.

Jokey Smurf is a particularly generous smurf. He is so generous in fact that he gave packages to all the other smurfs. However, the joke is that the packages often exploded (although a lot of them blow up in his face). The others eventually caught on to his jokes though.

Grouchy Smurf is never in a good mood. If he ever feels even the slightest bit cheerful, he would never admit it. He is quick to find faults with all the other Smurfs, expressing doubt about the Smurfs plans to escape Gargamel and company. He always learns his lesson in the end, however.

Baker Smurf makes the most delicious desserts for the smurfs. He gets mighty upset if anybody steals food or eaats out of turn. He is very picky about his selections, which always makes for a wonderful baker and chef.

Handy Smurf is the village handyman. He has become an expert in building houses out of mushrooms - the only one in the world. He will also build furniture and any other items the Smurfs may need out of the goodness of his heart.

Sassette Smurf is the second girl in Smurf Village. (Yes, there were two!). She is a bit of a tomboy and younger than Smurfette, but I'm sure kept Smurfette company. Girls have to stick together in a village filled with over a hundred other boys.

Harmony Smurf is always playing his horn announcing important Smurf issues. But, he really cannot play his horn very well and has lots of problems trying to get his fellow Smurfs to listen to his performances.

Baby Smurf was brought into Smurf Village by a stork. (No baby-making here). He is really playful and sometimes annoys the other Smurfs who don't understand that he is only a child having fun.

Astro Smurf is the Smurf from space. Does he wear that helmet all over the village? I would guess anytime that he wants to differentiate himself from the rest. I have a feeling he was introduced to the series during the big "space excitement" campaign from the 80s.

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Then, of course, there are the bad guys, and these guys were BAD!

Gargamel just couldn't get enough of the smurfs. He was always out to capture them for one reason or another. Maybe he needed them for a magic spell or food, or maybe he had nothing better to do that day. For whatever reason, every episode he attempted to capture them in different "ingenious" ways, but was (luckily) never successful. He's not the smartest villain of the bunch because other bad guys could easily influence him with threats. Actually, he was too much of a coward to pick on anyone his own size.

Azreal is one of those rare cats who seems to think that mice are blue, or maybe that's what Gargamel wants her to think. Whatever the reason, during every episode she was chasing those lovable Smurfs. She knew that Gargamel didn't really know what he was doing, but begrudgingly went along with his plans. She certainly wasn't fond of the Smurfs though.

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Qoo`~` SG

MY FAV~~~ Mr. Green

the Bear SG

whoa.. i didn't know the irritating smurfs were into psychedelics of Magic Mushrooms? Twisted Evil

now, makes me wonder if their creator was on some hard drugs and heavy psychedelics?