HAPPY 50th SMURFDAY!

BY BELINDA M. PASCHAL

The Smurfs turn 50 this year, which is surprising since not one of them looks a day under 100 – the age, according to legend (and Wikipedia), of all Smurfs except Papa, Baby, Nanny and Grandpa. Though the little blue imps came to Americans’ attention in the ‘80s, they’ve actually been around since 1938, when Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, aka “Peyo,” introduced them in a comic strip.

For those who didn’t come of age or have small children between 1981-1990, Smurfs are a “family” of small blue creatures (said to be three apples tall) living in wooded communal harmony a la Hanna-Barbera. In their homeland, they were known as "Schtroumpfs," which thankfully, the Dutch translated to "Smurfs." Otherwise, America would have sounded like it was in the throes of a collective head cold:

“Look, Mommy! Schtroumpfs!”
“Gesundheit and God bless you, Billy!”

The Smurfs enjoyed the fruits of stardom, winning Emmys and fans as they romped in their idyllic mushroom village, blissfully unaware of the big, bad outside world. But the merriment came to a halt in the early ‘90s, when the creators decided the American market was becoming oversaturated – or over-Smurf-urated, as it were, so they brought the Smurfs back home to Belgium. Now they’re planning a comeback – or as we humans might say, having a mid-life crisis.

With the original series coming out on DVD soon and a 3-D flick in the works for next year, Smurfomania is upon us once again.

How will the Smurfs fare in a world that has changed tremendously since their heyday? Can they hold the attention of today’s kids, who can play sports, drive cars and become guitar heroes with the flick of a wrist? After all, we are living in a material world and flower-pickin’ Smurfette's not exactly a Material Girl. How will they contend with today’s issues when their biggest obstacles have been evading the evil Gargamel and his foul-tempered cat Azrael and suppressing the biological urges that arise from living in a community where the gender ratio is hundreds of males to one female?

Valid questions, yes, but I know what you’re all really wondering: What have the Smurfs been up to in the nearly two decades since disappearing from the U.S. limelight?

Well, I have it on good authority that Vanity, the stylish one who sported a pink flower in his hat and spent much of his time staring into a mirror, stars in the Belgian hit series, “Queer Eye for the Smurf Guy.”

Jokey Smurf is killing ‘em on the comedy club circuit, Handy Smurf runs a house-flipping business, Greedy Smurf is a representative for the Smurfy Craig weight-loss program, while Papa Smurf has retired in luxury, i.e., a four-bedroom, ranch style home in the ‘burbs – a veritable palace by Smurf standards.

And what of Smurfette, she of the flowing blonde hair and fluttering eyelashes, that flirty coquette who loves the attention of anything in white pants? Word has it she’s now going by the stage name “Smurfis Hilton.”