It’s one of animation’s great mysteries: how have the Smurfs survived all these years? Especially when you consider there only appears to be one female to every thousand male births in every community?
Originally created by European artist Peyo for a series of comics, the Smurfs remain the world’s most successful Franco-Belgian property by a country mile (Tintin can’t come close to their record, Marsupilami fizzled out in the 90s, and — depressingly — barely anyone knows who Valerian and Laureline are). The Smurfs’ star began rising globally in the late 70s, but they didn’t truly take off until Hanna-Barbera started making their Saturday Morning cartoon in 1981. Instantly, an entire decade’s worth of shows had to be about a race of fuzzy creatures with a one-name title: The Snorks, The Wuzzles, The Biskitts, The Frarples, The Gooplenerps, The Doinkleneeropooples….
But the Smurfs’ influence began waning as the 1980s reached their end, and by 1990 they were packed into storage, awaiting the time they might once again repopulate the Earth. They sort-of came back for a couple of live-action movies, but those were terrible and we don’t talk about them.
But lately, the Smurfs seem to be getting more exposure than they have in a long time, despite being nowhere near the cultural force they were 40 years ago. An animated movie was released a couple years ago and they once again have their own TV series airing on Nickelodeon. Today, more was announced.
The new TV show has been renewed for a second season of 26 episodes, and on top of that, another animated movie is in production. This one will be a musical and Pam Brady (South Park) has been assigned to write the script.
“Nickelodeon is the home to some of the world’s most popular family franchises, and we’re honored to add ‘The Smurfs’ to that roster,” said Ramsey Naito, President of Animation for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation. “We’re excited to tell a story that stays true to its origins, but with a Smurf-tastic musical twist that excites new audiences and builds on the Smurfs franchise and universe of wonderful characters and stories.”
You can thank this new deal with Nick and Paramount for the Smurfs’ sudden resurrection; they seem to treat them with a lot more respect than Sony, the previous owner (and the one responsible for the live-action junk). The Smurfs musical movie should be in theaters in 2024.
