Donnie Darko: First of all, Papa Smurf didn’t create Smurfette. Gargamel did. She was sent in as Gargamel’s evil spy with the intention of destroying the Smurf village. But the overwhelming goodness of the Smurf way of life transformed her. And as for the whole gang-bang scenario, it just couldn’t happen. Smurfs are asexual. They don’t even have… reproductive organs under those little, white pants. It’s just so illogical, you know, about being a Smurf. You know, what’s the point of living… if you don’t have a dick?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the “Smurfs” forever paving their way into popular culture, and into the lives of people who perhaps have never seen an episode of “Smurfs” but may be compelled to after watching “Donnie Darko.” As for yours truly, I pretty much grew up watching “The Smurfs” and beamed with love everyday at the screen to learn of the lives of the blank, soulless, and rather odd cartoon characters. The multi-lingual series that spawned rip-offs such as “The Snorks,” and “The Littl’ Bits” is finally on a two disc DVD, and boy what a purchase.
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.