The Smurfs (1981 TV series)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TAnthony (talk | contribs) at 05:41, 2 March 2016 (Update deprecated infobox image syntax, overlinking, and other cleanup using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Smurfs
The Smurfs international title card
Genre
Created byPierre "Peyo" Culliford
Based onThe Smurfs
by Peyo
Developed by
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composer
  • Hoyt Curtin (Season 1–8)
  • Tom Worrall (Season 9)
  • Mireille Delfosse (S1-S6, WW version)
Composers
  • Hoyt Curtin
  • Clark Gassman (Season 9 only)
Country of originUnited States
Belgium
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9
No. of episodes256 (418 segments)[1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Gerard Baldwin (Season 1–3; supervising producer, 4–5)
  • Bob Hathcock (associate producer, Season 3; Season 4–6)
  • Don Jurwich (Season 7)
  • Walt Kubiak (Season 7)
  • Paul Sabella (Season 8–9)
    Iwao Takamoto (creative producer; Seasons 1–5)
  • Charles Grosvenor (associate producer, Season 6)
  • Kay Wright(The Clockwork Smurf)
EditorGil Iverson
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 12, 1981 (1981-09-12) –
December 2, 1989 (1989-12-02)

The Smurfs (also known as simply Smurfs and syndicated as Smurfs' Adventures) is an American-Belgian animated fantasy-comedy television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1981, to December 2, 1989. Made by Hanna-Barbera Productions, it is based on the Belgian comic series by the same name, created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo (who also served as story supervisor of this adaptation) and aired for 256 episodes with a total of 418 stories, excluding three cliffhanger episodes and seven specials.

History

In 1976, Stuart R. Ross, an American media and entertainment entrepreneur who saw the Smurfs while traveling in Belgium, entered into an agreement with Editions Dupuis and Peyo, acquiring North American and other rights to the characters, whose original name was "les Schtroumpfs". Subsequently, Ross launched the Smurfs in the United States in association with a California company, Wallace Berrie and Co., whose figurines, dolls and other Smurf merchandise became a hugely popular success. NBC President Fred Silverman's daughter, Melissa, had a Smurf doll of her own that he had bought for her at a toy shop while they were visiting Aspen, Colorado. Silverman thought that a series based on the Smurfs might make a good addition to his Saturday-morning lineup.[3]

The Smurfs secured their place in American pop culture in 1981, when the Saturday morning cartoon The Smurfs, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with SEPP International S.A. (from 1981 to 1987) and Lafig S.A. (in the years 1988 and 1989), aired on NBC. The series became a major success for the network and one of the most successful and longest running Saturday morning cartoons in television history, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. The characters included Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, the evil Gargamel, his cat Azrael, and Johan and his friend Peewit. The Smurfs was nominated multiple times for Daytime Emmy Awards, and won Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series in 1982–1983.[4]

In 1989, NBC changed the format of the show, removing some of the Smurfs from the forest and omitted the Smurf village and adopted a lost in time format similar to The Time Tunnel, and then ultimately cancelled it due to decreasing ratings. In addition. NBC executives prepared a Today weekend program for Saturdays as well as programmings for teenagers such as Saved by the Bell, which came later on and led to the elimination of Saturday morning animated children's shows. The show continued through December 2, 1989 on the NBC network. The show continued to air on reruns the USA Network until 1993, followed by the Cartoon Network until 2003. Smurfs is still broadcast on Cartoon Network's sister station Boomerang throughout the United States.

Characters

Main article: List of The Smurfs characters

Episodes

Main article: List of The Smurfs episodes

Voices

Production

Outsourced production work was done by Wang Film Productions/Cuckoo's Nest Studios and, only for the Season 7, by Toei Animation.

Use of classical music

The Smurfs was noted for its frequent use of classical music as background music or themes for particular events. Notable works found in the Smurfs include:[5][6]

Syndication

The show was formerly distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (now CBS Television Distribution). It is now distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution, as Time Warner is the current owner of all Hanna-Barbera properties, having inherited them in their 1996 merger with Turner Broadcasting. Some episodes are available through the online video service In2TV.

Home Media releases

Region 1

Warner Home Video released the complete first season on DVD in two volume sets in 2008.[8][9] Despite high sales of both sets,[10] no further seasons have yet been released. Warner Home Video later released a series of three single disc releases of The Smurfs in 2009, each containing 5 episodes from the second season.[11][12][13] A two-disc DVD was set to be released in 2011 to tie into the theatrical film with 10 episodes culled from the entire run of the series,[14] but included episodes from the second season instead. Another DVD with both Smurfs Christmas specials was released later that year.[15] Currently, it is unknown when Warner Archive will release the rest of the complete seasons (under the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collecion banner).

DVD Name Ep # Release date Notes
Season One, Volume One 19 February 26, 2008 Re-released on July 24, 2012 as part of Cartoon Network's 20th anniversary.
Season One, Volume Two 20 October 7, 2008
True Blue Friends 5 March 3, 2009
Smurfy Tales 5 August 18, 2009
World of Wonders 5 November 17, 2009
A Magical Smurf Adventure 10 July 19, 2011
Holiday Celebration 2 specials October 11, 2011
The Best of Seasons 1 & 2 16 March 12, 2013 Repackage contain the first discs from the Season One, Volume One, Season One, Volume Two and A Magical Smurf Adventure sets
Smurfs to the Rescue! 6 July 16, 2013
Smurftastic Journey 4 October 15, 2013 All episodes are on the Season One sets
A Magical Smurf Adventure 2 [16] 6 November 8, 2013 All episodes are on the Season One sets

Region 2

Fabulous Films and Arrow Films have released the first five seasons on DVD in the UK.[17][18][19][20][21] The company has also released the film The Smurfs and the Magic Flute on Blu-ray and DVD, as well as several compilation DVDs, containing themed specials from the show.

DVD Name Ep # Release date
Complete 1st Season 27 July 5, 2010
Complete 2nd Season 24 September 6, 2010
Complete 3rd Season 31 July 1, 2013
Complete 4th Season 28 July 1, 2013
Complete 5th Season 25 July 1, 2013
The Complete Seasons 1-5 135 December 1, 2014
The Smurfs – Four Smurf Tastic Episodes 4 July 30, 2011
The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (Blu-ray + DVD) 0 October 11, 2011
The Smurfs: Tis the Season to Be Smurfy 4 November 5, 2011
The Smurfs: My Smurfy Valentine 4 January 8, 2012
The Smurfs Springtime Special 6 March 17, 2012
The Smurfs: The Smurfic Games 7 June 4, 2012
The Smurfs Halloween Special 6 October 1, 2012
The Smurfs: Love Smurfette 6 July 1, 2013
The Smurfs: Papa Smurf Rocks! 6 July 1, 2013
The Smurfs: World Cup Carnival 5 June 23, 2014

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the release of the full Series in 9 Season Sets on DVD in Germany, with German sound only, beginning in August 2011.[22]

DVD Name Ep # Release date
Die komplette erste Staffel 27 August 4, 2011
Die komplette zweite Staffel 24 August 4, 2011
Die komplette dritte Staffel 31 October 14, 2011
Die komplette vierte Staffel 28 October 14, 2011
Die komplette fünfte Staffel 25 August 16, 2012
Die komplette sechste Staffel 38 August 16, 2012
Die komplette siebte Staffel 39 July 25, 2013
Die komplette achte Staffel 16 (including 16 additional episodes of Johan and Peewit) July 25, 2013
Die komplette neunte Staffel 26 July 25, 2013
Collector's Edition (Amazon.de exclusive) 272 July 4, 2013

Region 4

Magna Home Entertainment has released various best-of volume collections on DVD.

  • The Smurfs and the Magic Flute has been released, but a new 'Original Collector's Edition'[23] with new packaging released on 2 September 2011.
  • The Smurfs – Time Travellers (3 Disc Set)[24] was released on 5 November 2008.
  • The Smurfs – Smurfette Collection (3 Disc Set)[25] was released on 1 September 2009.
  • The Smurfs – Papa Smurf Collection (3 Disc Set)[26] was released on 4 November 2009.
  • The Smurfs – Favourites Collection (6 Disc Box Set)[27] was released on 29 June 2010.
  • The Smurfs – Just Smurfy 1 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)[28] was released on 3 November 2010.
  • The Smurfs – Just Smurfy 2 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)[29] was released on 3 November 2010.
  • The Smurfs – Just Smurfy 3 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)[30] was released on 1 December 2010.
  • The Smurfs – Just Smurfy 4 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)[31] was released on 2 March 2011.
  • The Smurfs – Complete Season 1 (3 Disc Digipak)[32] and The Smurfs – Complete Season 2 (3 Disc Digipak)[33] were released on 24 August 2011.
  • The Smurfs – Complete Season 3 (4 Disc Digipak)[34] and The Smurfs – Complete Season 4 (4 Disc Digipak)[35] were released on 5 October 2011.
  • The Smurfs – Complete Season 5 (3 Disc Digipak)[36] was released on 1 December 2011.
  • The Smurfs – Complete Season 6 (5 Disc Digipak)[37] was released on 4 January 2012.
  • The Smurfs – Complete Season 7 (5 Disc Digipak),[38] The Smurfs – Complete Season 8 (2 Disc Digipak)[39] were released on 1 August 2013.
  • The Smurfs – Complete Season 9 (3 Disc Digipak)[40] was released on 14 August 2013.
  • The Smurfs – Ultimate Collection 1: Limited Edition – Seasons 1–5 (18 Disc Box Set)[41] released on 24 August 2011.
  • The Smurfs – Ultimate Collection 2: Limited Edition – Seasons 6–9 (16 Disc Box Set)[42] released on 2 November 2011.

Popular culture

  • The animated versions of Papa Smurf and Brainy Smurf were featured in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. Hefty Smurf also makes a brief cameo in the beginning of the movie with the other Smurfs, his only line being, "Who Smurfed the bell?". Smurfette is shown on the promotional poster and VHS cover artwork, but was not seen in the special. Harmony Smurf made a small cameo as the Smurfs comic book was flipping through pages.
  • Gargamel and Azrael made guest appearances on Family Guy in 2009.
  • The Smurfs were often parodied in Robot Chicken where Danny Goldman reprises his role of Brainy Smurf while Dan Milano voiced Papa Smurf and Seth Green voiced Gargamel.
  • In the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Guitar Control", a tank can be seen destroying a Smurf house.

Notes

  1. ^ "Top 100 animated series". IGN. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  2. ^ Nash, Eric P. (December 2, 2002). "Charles Dupuis, 84, Publisher Who Introduced the Smurfs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  3. ^ Barbera, Joseph (1994). My Life in 'Toons': From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century. Atlanta: Turner Publishing. pp. 184–187. ISBN 1-57036-042-1.
  4. ^ Cendrowicz, Leo (2008-01-15). "The Smurfs Are Off to Conquer the World – Again". Time. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  5. ^ "Orchestral lunacy: George Daugherty bugs out". Montreal Mirror. 10 July 1997. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions!". Astro's Treasure Chest. 20 January 2003. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Topic: an orchestrated piece in the smurfs, oh and HI!". Smurf BBS. Bluebuddies.com. 19 August 2004. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  8. ^ Lambert, David (26 October 2007). "The Smurfs – OFFICIAL Announcement At Long, Smurfy Last! Full Press Release Is Due Next Week". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  9. ^ Lambert, David (15 July 2008). "The Smurfs – 2nd DVD Release Announced: Date, Cost, Package Art & Extras! Smurfing your way early this October!". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  10. ^ Lambert, David (9 January 2009). "The Smurfs – Official Studio Press Release for The Smurfs – Volume 1: True Blue Friends – Single-disc release smurfs it's way home in a matter of weeks". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  11. ^ Lambert, David (3 February 2009). "The Smurfs – Cartoon-Related Release Date Change #1: Smurfing the DVD Schedule Back a Couple of Weeks – New early-March release date for the True Blue Friends DVD". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  12. ^ Lambert, David (30 April 2009). "The Smurfs – Vol. 2: Smurfy Tales: Date, Cost, Episodes, Extras, Box Art – New single-disc release scheduled for mid-August". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  13. ^ Lambert, David (2 September 2009). "The Smurfs – Volume 3: Worlds of Wonder DVD Announced: Date, Contents, Package ***UPDATE: EXTRAS*** – 5 more cartoons Smurf their way into your collection this November". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  14. ^ Lambert, David (15 July 2001). "The Smurfs – 'A Magical Smurf Adventure': Formal Press Release Before Tuesday's Street Date – 10-episode collection meant to tie in with the new theatrical film". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  15. ^ Lambert, David (29 September 2011). "The Smurfs – Formal Press Release from Warner for their 'Holiday Celebration' DVD – 2 specials on 1 disc, available this coming Tuesday, October 4th". TVshowsonDVD.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  16. ^ Lambert, David (July 11, 2013). "The Smurfs – Announcement for Warner's 'A Magical Smurf Adventure 2' DVD". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  17. ^ "The Smurfs: Complete 1st Season [DVD]". Fabulous Films. 5 July 2010.
  18. ^ "The Smurfs: Complete 2nd Series [DVD]". Fabulous Films. 6 Sep 2010.
  19. ^ "The Smurfs: Complete 3rd Series [DVD]". Fabulous Films. Retrieved 16 Mar 2013.
  20. ^ "The Smurfs: Complete 4th Series [DVD]". Fabulous Films. Retrieved 16 Mar 2013.
  21. ^ "The Smurfs: Complete 5th Series [DVD]". Fabulous Films. Retrieved 16 Mar 2013.
  22. ^ "Filme & TV " "die schlümpfe"". Amazon.de. Retrieved 11 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Smurfs and the Magic Flute, The – Original Collector's Edition". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  24. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Time Travellers (3 Disc Set)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  25. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Smurfette Collection (3 Disc Set)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  26. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Papa Smurf Collection (3 Disc Set)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  27. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Favourites Collection (6 Disc Box Set)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  28. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Just Smurfy 1 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  29. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Just Smurfy 2 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  30. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Just Smurfy 3 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  31. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Just Smurfy 4 (Box Set) (BONUS Figurine)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  32. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 1 (3 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  33. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 1 (3 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  34. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 3 (4 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  35. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 4 (4 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  36. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 5 (3 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  37. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 6 (5 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  38. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 7 (5 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  39. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 8 (2 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  40. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Complete Season 9 (3 Disc Digipak)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  41. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Ultimate Collection 1: Limited Edition – Seasons 1–5 (18 Disc Box Set)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ "Smurfs, The (1981) – Ultimate Collection 2: Limited Edition – Seasons 6–9 (16 Disc Box Set)". EzyDVD Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Smurfs_(1981_TV_series)&oldid=707858629"