It’s A Smurfstastic Comeback For The Smurfs!

I’ve been a long fan of The Smurfs and I remember following its series in my childhood days. They are sooo cute and I love how they named each other by their personality or characteristics. And when it was finally announced that it will be brought to the big screen and in 3D, I was a bit hesitant because I always felt, when Hollywood start touching these classic figures, it changes drastically that you are not sure anymore if the new look really looks good at all. Some example that I didn’t like the new transformations are Scooby Doo, Garfield, Transformers, Batman, Superman and all that super heroes. I posted here the new look of The Smurfs and the original version for comparison purposes. If you will ask me, I prefer the classic look of the Smurfs.

To celebrate the release of The Smurfs movie, Capcom video games, releases The Smurfs’ Village – an iPhone/iPad, iPod touch exclusive game that is similar to Farmville. It is a  is free to play, but charges real money for additional in-app content. I started playing this game last February and to date, I am now Level 31 and managed to have lots of friends online because of our fascination with the cute blue creatures.

The Smurfs is a group of small blue fictional creatures created and first introduced as a series of comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo  (pen name of Pierre Culliford) on October 23, 1958. It become a bigger hit when it was franchised to television series. Leading the Smurfs Village is Papa Smurf (who is said to be the father of all 100 Smurfs and leader of the community). Other Smurfs are generally named after their personality disposition, for example, Brainy, Greedy, Vanity, Lazy, Clumsy, Hefty, Jokey, Dreamy, Grouchy, or their profession, for example, Poet, Actor, Handy, Harmony, Farmer, Clockwork, Painter, Tailor, Miner, Architect, Reporter, Timber, Barber and Doctor Smurf. Other Smurf characters include Gutsy Smurf, Grandma Smurf, Grandpa Smurf, and Smurfette. Smurfette was created by Gargamel to lure the other smurfs. Papa Smurf then changed her into what we see today.The non-Smurf characters who would appear later would include the evil Gargamel, his cat Azrael (which reminds me of my orange cat), and the page Johan, who went from print to film and TV. Johan appeared on the Smurfs TV series in the 1980s, and on the same show, Peewit became Peewee, Johan’s young friend. Lord Balthazar is Gargamel‘s godfather. Balthazar despises the Smurfs and is actually more cold-hearted than Gargamel, in addition to being a more powerful sorcerer. He lives in a large castle whose moat houses a fearsome dragon called a Moat Monster.  There were originally 99 Smurfs, but this number increased as new Smurf characters appeared, such as Sassette and Nanny. All of the original Smurfs were male; later female additions are Smurfette and Sassette. *

Then came the release of The Smurfs 3D! Although I have my doubts, I still anticipated for its showing. Proof is I even attended the Global Smurfs Day where I won movie posters, two (2) advance screening passes for wearing my favorite Papa Smurf tees! Here’s a synopsis of the movie taken from their official Facebook page:

Audiences everywhere are in for a Smurfy good time as the Smurfs make their first 3D trip to the big screen in Columbia Pictures’/Sony Pictures Animation’s hybrid live-action and animated family comedy, The Smurfs. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours – in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

…. And here’s my thoughts about the movie: I SMURFY loved it! I was laughing most of the time and I shed a tear in some scenes. The story is typical but what matters is the lessons you will learn from this film. I am not keen with  Neil Patrick Harris being part of this movie (Sorry, I don’t really find this guy funny) but either way, it is The Smurfs’ antics that makes this movie smurfstastic! And if Azrael the cat can only talk, Garfield and Puss in Boots will be put to shame! Hahahaha! Although I am still not that happy with The Smurfs new look, I am looking forward for more sequels. And hopefully, some of The Smurfs characters will have bigger role next time. The humor in this film is updated and there are familiar punchlines that will still gives you a good laugh. And may I add that Katy Perry gave justice to Smurfette’s voice. Over all, The Smurfs is one movie the kids and adults will like. And whether you will claim to getting irritated with The Smurfs happy song, it’s catchy tune will still get you hook! La-la-la-la-la! Sing a happy song!

Check this out:  Smurfs – The Smurfs Theme Song! :-D

The Smurfs 3D is now showing in theaters nationwide. It stars Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara and directed by  Raja Gosnell. To know more about The Smurfs movie, visit their official website.

Special thanks to Sony Pictures! :-D
* with some excerpts taken from Wikipedia.