Smurfs...50 years old?

[Truth Seeker]

As you see it on the Sci FI News page, the smurfs are coming to the big screen. But are my eyes lying to me...Smurfs are actually 50 years old?????

Is this right?

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

The Smurfs were big in Europe long before the cartoon in the US.... I lived in France for a while as a kid, and remember seeing Smurf books in the mid-70's. Though I was more of a "Tintin" and "Asterix" kind of kid.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

...Smurfs are actually 50 years...

Ya know, Gargamel really needs to move on and accept he's not gonna get them. I mean, 50 years of work on it and what he's got to show for all of his efforts to get them. Zeppo. Any other mages work 50 years on a single project and they're lichs or have made artifacts or created a new race or something. Gargamel? Still hanging around his crappy house in da' swamp ranting and raving about little blue people. His class reunion with Rastlin, Khelben, Mordenkanen must have been uncomfortable.

 

[Viking Bastard]

The Smurfs comics were a social commentary on French society in the fifties/sixties.

In the cartoons they were... smurfs.

 

[Particle_Man]

Huh. I wonder what accent "Painter Smurf" was supposed to have back when he was a commentary on french society in the 50's (assuming he existed). Because the cartoons I saw gave him the cheeziest french accent ever. "Sacre Bleu-Green! My Mazterpeez!"

I did like how the cat was named after the angel of death "Azrael".

I got too addicted to this cartoon as a kid. Broke my heart when I realized they were a marketing gimmick (around when the smurflings, grampa and grandma smurf, came on the scene).

 

[Viking Bastard]

The comics and cartoons didn't share all the same characters or adventures.

And perhaps 'satire' is a better word than 'commentary'.

That said, I've never been a particular fan of Peyo's work, although I've read a handful,
but I, like most kids in the western world, watched and liked the cartoon a great deal.
The Icelandic VHS releases of the Smurfs are a bit of a cult hit, although less because
of the Smurfs and more because of the dubbing where the same popular comedian
dubbed every single character on the show. And did so amazingly. He also had a hand
in the translation and filled the dialouge with all kinds of funny innuendo and weird
Icelandic in-jokes.

It's hilarious and much better than the regular cartoon.

 

[Aexalon]

A minor correction

You know what French fries and the Smurfs (Schtroumpfs) have in common? That everybody considers them French, while they're actually Belgian.

And so is chocolate, while I'm at it! (well, good chocolate anyway, e.g. Côte d'Or, Callebaut, etc. ).

Then again, we're already happy when you non-europeans don't start with "Belgium, isn't that the capital of Brussels?" ...

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

I did like how the cat was named after the angel of death "Azrael".

Me too!

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Huh. I wonder what accent "Painter Smurf" was supposed to have back when he was a commentary on french society in the 50's (assuming he existed). Because the cartoons I saw gave him the cheeziest french accent ever. "Sacre Bleu-Green! My Mazterpeez!"

I did like how the cat was named after the angel of death "Azrael".

I got too addicted to this cartoon as a kid. Broke my heart when I realized they were a marketing gimmick (around when the smurflings, grampa and grandma smurf, came on the scene).

I pretty much stopped watching them when they started adding all the Smurflings to the Village. Before that, I was hooked EVERY Saturday morning!

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Then again, we're already happy when you non-europeans don't start with "Belgium, isn't that the capital of Brussels?" ...

It's NOT?!?! ::gasp::