The Smurfs is a Belgiancomic book series created by Peyo in 1958. It became well-known worldwide with the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series in the 1980s. With the popularity of the Smurfs came a wide range of toys and spin-off products and use of the Smurfs in merchandising. In 2020, ViacomCBS (later renamed Paramount Global in 2022) partnered with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS (the worldwide licensors for The Smurfs) to manage licensing rights to the Smurfs in several territories, as part of a deal that will also see the company's Nickelodeon channel air the IMPS-produced animated Smurfs series.[1]
Dupuis, editor of the Smurf comics, first produced smurf figurines in 1959. The first one was a series of three figurines, 5 centimetres (about 2 inches) tall, of Papa Smurf, Normal and Angry, followed in the next decade by some larger figurines. Those were only for sale in French- and Dutch-speaking countries. In 1965, Schleich, a German company, made the first truly mass-produced PVC Smurf collectible figurines (the first three being Normal Smurf, Gold Smurf and Convict Smurf (complete with black-and-white striped prisoner's outfit). In 1966, Spy Smurf, Angry Smurf, and Drummer Smurf appeared. In 1969, five more smurfs followed: Moon Smurf, Winter Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Guitar Smurf, and Papa Smurf. In the 1970s, smurfs were also produced by rival German company Bully. The first of these figurines were made as a promotion for Kellogg's, but were afterwards sold separately.[2]
A scare story that claimed Smurf figurines used leaded paint circulated in Britain in the 1970s, leading Jonathan King to release a single, "Lick a Smurp for Christmas (All Fall Down)" under the name of Father Abraphart and the Smurps. This was a parody of "The Smurf Song" by Father Abraham and the Smurfs, a worldwide hit single. The lead paint scare was brought about by a group of people in the marketing department of National Benzole who decided to outsource some smurf figurines to be made in Hong Kong instead of Europe, just four or five different lines. It was later discovered that these had been produced without adhering to the necessary quality standards so they were deemed possibly unsafe. Paint dots were then introduced on the feet of PVC figurines so that they could identify the ones with paint dots as having passed quality control tests and they were also given different colours according to the different countries they were produced in. An article in The Times dated 4 October 1978 said that tests by the Department of Health showed there was no significant risk, so National Benzole then resumed sales of smurf figures from garage forecourts within the UK.[citation needed]
Many people do not realise that the Smurf figurines given away with the petrol promotions actually still continue in production today. The popularity of the smurfs in countries such as Belgium and Germany has never waned, and Smurf collecting has become a growing hobby worldwide, with 400 different figures produced so far. New Smurf figures continue to appear: in fact, only in two years since 1969 (1991 and 1998) have no new smurfs entered the market. Schleich currently produces 8 new figurines a year. Over 300 million of them have been sold so far.[3]
A Smurf Christmas ornament was released by Hallmark Cards as part of their 2012 Keepsake Collection featuring a Smurf holding a Toadstool umbrella.
Over the decades, many singles and albums of Smurf music have been released in different countries and languages, sometimes very successfully, with millions of copies sold. The best known is the single The Smurf Song and its accompanying album, created by Dutch musician Pierre Kartner who sings under the alias Father Abraham, which reached the #1 position in 16 countries. Worldwide, more than 10 million CDs with Smurf music have been sold between 2005 and 2007 alone.[3]
Smurfs on ice
For several years, the Smurfs were the children's act in the Ice Capades travelling ice show; for many years after they were retired from that function, the smurf suits from the show were issued to Ice Capades Chalets, the show's subsidiary chain of ice rinks, lasting until the show was sold to a group of investors led by Dorothy Hamill, and the Chalets were sold to Recreation World. The Smurfette suit in particular had a somewhat different hairstyle from what was portrayed in the Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
California's Great America Opening in 1987, Smurf Woods featured a pint-sized steel coaster, "The Blue Streak" (now called "Woodstock's Express"), as well as a Smurf village with mushroom houses. Smurf Woods was closed in the early 1990s and replaced with Nickelodeon Central. One Smurf house survived and can be seen in the Picnic Grove area.
Carowinds In 1984, Carowinds added Smurf Island, which was a children’s play area located on the 1.3-acre (5,300m2) island surrounded by the Carolina Sternwheeler. Access to Smurf Island was gained in one of two ways – across the Carolina Sternwheeler and a ramp built on the island side of the boat, or on diesel-powered “Smurf Boats” launched from the area beside Harmony Hall. Children could enjoy two ball crawls and a climbing area complete with ropes, cargo nets, wood platforms, a rope tunnel and a 60-foot (18m) tubular slide. Smurf characters roamed the island and led guests to the hidden Smurf village with four Smurf houses that children could enter. Smurf Island was eventually closed, and later demolished to make space for the "Borg Assimilator", a Star Trek themed flying roller coaster, opened in 2004. In 2008, the park renamed several attractions including "Borg Assimilator". It was renamed to "Nighthawk" and the Star Trek theming was removed.[5][6][7]
Canada's Wonderland At Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Smurf Forest opened in 1984. It featured "Smurf Village", a walk-through attraction which portrayed life in the titular setting, as well as Gargamel's house. The Gargamel section frightened children so much that the park had to eventually open the emergency exit for families who wished to bypass it. Smurf Village was originally "Yogi's Forest" when the park opened in 1981. It also had an out-door theater in which live children's shows were held, and "Lazy's Snail Trail," a ride in which you sat in buggies being pulled by snails with a Smurf on the back of each buggy. Typical midway and carnival games were also featured attractions, but modified to fit the Smurf theme. Smurf Forest closed in 1993.
Hanna–Barbera Land Hanna-Barbera Land located in Spring, Texas, which opened in 1984 and 1985, had a Smurf district.
In Europe, various parks have been adapting the theme of the Smurfs since 1989:
Walygator Parc For almost thirteen years, from 1989 to 2002, the Smurfs were the mascots of a theme park located in France. First designed within the extant halls of Sacilor's Laminoir by the Leisure division HHCP Architects in Maitland, Florida, the theme park was named "The New World of the Smurfs", or "Le Nouveau Monde des Schtroumpfs". After a decision was made to abandon the mill, the park was re-designed by Grady Larkins and eventually opened up on May 9, 1989. It was first called "Big Bang Smurf", then "Walibi Schtroumpf". In 1998, the park is taken over by Premier Parks. It become "Walibi Lorraine" in 2003 and doesn't renew the license for the Smurfs. The Smurfs characters are removed from the park. In 2004 Six Flags (Premier Parks' successor) divests itself of its European operations. Its name is "Walygator Park" since April 6, 2007.[8][9]
Comics Station Since 2017, the Comics Station indoor park in the Belgian city of Antwerp has a Smurf section. The interactive dark ride from Alterface Projects named "Het Magische Bos" (The Magic Wood) is the main of the six rides and animations Smurf.[10][11]
Bobbejaanland and Minitalia Leolandia Park In 2014 and 2015, the Belgian park named Bobbejaanland has the Schtroumpf license. They are entitled to a permanent location in the park. In 2017, it is the turn of Minitalia Leolandia Park to also benefit from this license.
In Asia, adaptations on the theme of the Smurfs are more recent:
Motiongate Dubai At Motiongate Dubai, Smurfs Village is located in the park which opened on December 16, 2016. This section features five attractions, including "Smurf Village Express", a Gerstlauer Junior Coaster, and the "Smurfs Studio Tours" with 10 MysticMover vehicles from the Dutch manufacturer ETF Ride Systems.[12]
Movie Animation Park Studios At Movie Animation Park Studios in Malaysia since 2017, Blast Off Zone hosts four attractions and animations Smurf.[13][14]
Dream Island Scheduled for 2019, Dream Island in Moscow will offer Smurfs Village, a recreation of the village Smurf.[15]
UNICEF
In 2005, an advertisement featuring The Smurfs was aired in Belgium in which the smurf village is annihilated by warbombs . Designed as a UNICEF advertisement, and with the approval of the family of the Smurfs' late creator Peyo, the 25-second episode was shown on the national evening news after the 9pm timeslot to avoid children seeing it. The scene starts with happy peaceful Smurfs and butterflies, who are then bombed by warplanes, ending with a lone Baby Smurf surrounded by dead Smurfs. The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war destroy the world of childhood." It was the keystone in a fund-raising campaign by UNICEF's Belgian arm to raise money for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—both former Belgian colonies.
The Smurfs celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2008, and UNICEF is again involved. Hundreds of white plastic Smurfs, just 20cm (7.9in) high, will be scattered in selected European cities for children to decorate. The plastic Smurfs will be laid down overnight - waiting at the bus stop, playing around the fountain, at the schoolyard – and kids will be able to pick them up in the morning. For those who miss the secret Smurf drop, others will be for sale from UNICEF, where the proceeds will help the children's fund.
The 2008 Smurf invasion will be accompanied by a traveling ‘Smurf Anniversary Exhibition’, telling the story of the Smurfs, with more than 50 “Smurfy games” for the younger fans, a Smurf Zeppelin and bigger, 1.2-metre-high (3.9ft) Smurf statues that will be decorated by celebrity stars[3]
Food
Smurfberry Crunch breakfast cereal was created in 1983 by Post, later renamed to Smurf Magic Berries in 1988. A limited-time Smurfs breakfast cereal was created in 2011 to coincide with the release of the 2011 Smurfs movie.
Smurf ice-creams were available in Australia in 1979.[16][17] They consisted of two halves, each with its own stick, which could be easily separated. One half was a smurf blue (Smurfberry), water-based ice block, and the other half was white vanilla ice-cream.[16]
↑ "Carowinds timeline". Carowinds. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
1 2 Peters Smurfee Ice Creams, Licensed Australian Ice-Creams, Smack bang in the middle of the golden age of Aussie Ice Creams came the double barreled inventively titled Smurfee, courtesy of Peters / Pauls. This is the store display / advertising card from the 18c treat from 1979.
↑ Peters Smurfee Ice Cream Wrappers, A few years ago I posted the Milk Bar store display for “Smurfee” Smurf ice creams, now here are three wrappers from that same 1979 release.
18. According to Guinness world records the largest collection of smurf memorabilia can be found in Ripon Wisconsin and is owned by Gerda Scheuers. Gerda has officially 6320 unique smurf items.
Blue Imps Smurfs Collection - formerly known as Smurf Valley, this is a collectors' resource; features photos of many collectible smurf items and details the history of how the smurf story began
Kings Island is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expand Coney Island, a popular resort destination along the banks of the Ohio River that was prone to frequent flooding. After more than $300 million in capital investments, the park features over 100 attractions including fourteen roller coasters and a 33-acre (13 ha) water park.
Pierre Culliford was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic book series The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit, the latter in which the Smurfs first appeared.
Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amusements-owned Viacom assumed control of the company as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1994.
Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, 20 miles (30 km) north of Richmond and 75 miles (120 km) south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the 280-acre (1.1 km2) park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre (81,000 m2) water park. Its name is derived from the name of its sister park, Kings Island, and the nickname for the state of Virginia, "Old Dominion."
Carowinds is a 407-acre (165 ha) amusement park located adjacent to Interstate 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. However, it has an official Charlotte address, and its business offices are located on the Charlotte side of the park. The park opened on March 31, 1973, at a cost of $70 million. It is the result of a four-year planning period spearheaded by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, Carowinds also features a 27-acre (11 ha) water park, Carolina Harbor, which is included with park admission. The park has a Halloween event called SCarowinds and a winter event called WinterFest.
Johan and Peewit is a Belgian comics series created by Peyo. Since its initial appearance in 1947 it has been published in 13 albums that appeared before the death of Peyo in 1992. Thereafter, a team of comic book creators from Studio Peyo continued to publish the stories.
Hanna-Barbera Land was a theme park based on the cartoons of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. It was located in the Spring, Texas, United States, north of Houston, and operated for the 1984 and 1985 seasons. After the park's closure following the 1985 season, the rides were sold and the land was reused as a water park, which is now operating as Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown.
Woodstock Express is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island and designed by John C. Allen. It is located in the children's rides area of the park known as Planet Snoopy. The coaster has undergone four different name changes as the children's area in which it resides has been renamed and rethemed multiple times since the park opened. It has also been painted a number of different color schemes since its debut.
Since the 1990s, Nickelodeon, a worldwide children's television network and franchise, owned by Paramount Global, has had an involvement in the creation and theming of amusement parks rides.
The Smurfs and the Magic Flute is a 1976 Belgian animated film starring the Smurfs, directed by their creator, Peyo. Although the film premiered in 1976 in Belgium, it was not released in the United Kingdom until 1979, and in the United States until 1983, in the wake of the characters' newfound popularity.
Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion is a Scooby-Doo-themed interactive dark ride series created by Sally Corporation based on Hanna-Barbera's long-running animated television series. The ride transports guests in a vehicle equipped with light guns that are used to shoot at various targets to collect points throughout the ride. At its peak, the ride model was located at seven amusement parks around the world including Canada's Wonderland, the location of the first installation that debuted in 2000. Initially known under a variety of names, the ride's Scooby-Doo theme has been replaced by Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at several locations and removed from others. The last remaining installation is La Aventura de Scooby-Doo at Parque Warner Madrid in Madrid, Spain.
The Smurfs is a Belgian comic series, created by cartoonist Peyo. The titular creatures were introduced as supporting characters in an already established series, Johan and Peewit in 1958, and starred in their own series from 1959. Thirty-nine Smurf comic albums have been created, 16 of them by Peyo. Originally, the Smurf stories appeared in Spirou magazine with reprints in many different magazines, but after Peyo left the publisher Dupuis, many comics were first published in dedicated Smurf magazines, which existed in French, Dutch and German. A number of short stories and one page gags have been collected in comic books next to the regular series of 39. By 2008, Smurf comics have been translated into 25 languages, and some 25 million albums have been sold.
Phantom Theater was a dark ride located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Morgan Manufacturing, the ride opened to the public on April 11, 1992. Its design incorporated a continuously-moving chain of vehicles similar to Disney's Omnimover ride system. The attraction was furnished with sets and characters created by R&R Creative Amusement Designs, Inc., and it was themed as a haunted, abandoned theater.
Through its history, Hanna-Barbera has operated theme park attractions, mostly as a section in Kings Island, Carowinds, California's Great America, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, and, recently, Six Flags Great America.
There have been several children's areas at Canada's Wonderland since opening in 1981.
Walygator Grand-Est is an amusement park located in Maizières-les-Metz, Lorraine, France. Since its opening in 1989, the park has had a succession of different names: Big Bang Schtroumpf (Smurf), Walibi Schtroumpf, Walibi Lorraine and now Walygator Parc.
Flying Ace Aerial Chase is an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, and at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Vekoma, the Suspended Family Coaster model debuted at Kings Island in 2001 and was followed by another identical installation at Carowinds in 2003. Both rides originally opened as Rugrats Runaway Reptar, themed to the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats and its two-part episode "Runaway Reptar". Following Cedar Fair's acquisition of both parks in 2006, the roller coasters were eventually renamed Flying Ace Aerial Chase for the 2010 season, themed after the 1960s comic strip series Snoopy vs. the Red Baron by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. The Carowinds installation was renamed again to Kiddy Hawk for the 2018 season.
The Smurfs is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo in 1958, wherein they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than 100 Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasise their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow Smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.
Woodstock Express is a steel kiddie roller coaster located at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. The coaster has slight drops and turns, and uses a lap bar for guests' safety. It was designed by Intamin and originally opened in 1984 as Scooby's Ghoster Coaster at Hanna-Barbera Land in Spring, Texas. The coaster moved to California's Great America, reopening in 1987 as Blue Streak. The coaster had a Smurfs theme when it opened within "Smurf Woods," a land featuring a Smurf village with mushroom houses. Smurf Woods was closed in the early 1990s.
Motiongate Dubai is a Hollywood-inspired theme park located in Dubai Parks and Resorts, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, showcasing themed areas and attractions based on DreamWorks Animation, Columbia Pictures, Lionsgate, and The Smurfs and was opened on December 16, 2016.
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