While the series is
celebrating its fiftieth birthday, and facing an
inevitable remake that, the creators insist,
will be like an animated "Lord of the Rings,"
for now here's the original "The Smurfs" series.
Incidentally enough, 2008 marks the fiftieth
birthday of the blue weirdos originally
introduced by Belgian cartoonist Peyo, and "The
Smurfs: Season One" is a treat for fans of the
series, folks who grew up watching the series,
and collectors going for classic Hanna Barbera.
"The Smurfs" is true to form for Barbera who
creates an entire mythos out of the series with
some of the more interesting characters and
villains for a series of this ilk.
Fans of the entire
franchise will love to see that the DVD is
definitely worthy of their hard earned cash as
this new box set is accompanied with fantastic
packaging as well as wonderful picture quality
and crisp sound quality with dialogue and sound
effects that blast through the television.
And of course
there's your typical questions to the series
overall curiosities. For instance, why was smurf
used for every other word in a sentence? Is it
all one meaning when used individually, or does
it stand for something (Ex: "I'm going to smurf
a look at his book"; "Smurf for your lives!")?
And why is Gargamel so obsessed with
cannibalism? Regardless, the mere fact that he
wanted to eat the Smurfs really makes him a much
more menacing villain, and dim-witted
considering he made his own Smurf and couldn't
figure out that if he made more, he'd have that
Smurft meal.
I'm applying
logic to a cartoon, I know. One of the more
charming aspects of the series is the
intentional and obvious deriving from "Snow
White and the Seven Dwarves" as the Smurfs are
workers like the Dwarves, Papa Smurf is like
Doc, they each wear special hats that signify
them, and perhaps most blatantly: they each have
names that mark their key personality aspects.
There's the sexy
damsel and only female Smurfette, the
anti-social Grouchy, the "Is he or isn't he?"
Vanity, the show off Brainy Smurf, the
eventually deadly Clumsy Smurf, and about eighty
other locals with the last name of Smurf, who
are often too cute to hate, unlike the Care
Bears. Though some of the enjoyment was
dependent on this cynics nostalgia for the good
old days of animation, "The Smurfs" is still a
rather entertaining and adorable fantasy series
And curiously
enough, the narratives are often very linear and
interesting, as Barbera and co. use Peyo's
vision to create an unusual land with much more
fascinating questions that I was wondering while
watching. Are there OTHER humans besides
Gargamel? Why not just go to their village and
stomp the yard? If the Smurfs can teleport, why
do they need to fly or run? Don't worry, these
questions didn't dampen my enjoyment. The
animation from this period is simplistic and
crude, but still rather charming, while the
voice work from voice acting titans like Don
Messick and Paul Winchell is just great.
"The Smurfs:
Season One, Volume One" is completely worth it,
and folks who grew up to watch these blue
whatever creature they ares, will do well to
show it to their children to learn what the
Smurf the big deal is about the Smurfs.
Sadly, there are
only two special features. There's the bonus
episode of "The Smurfs Spring Time Special," and
a Smurfs music video... I still haven't bought
their album, yet. Bad jokes courtesy of Felix
Vasquez, no applause please.
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