The Smurfs
The Smurfs is an American-Belgian animated fantasy comedy TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera and SEPP International for NBC's Saturday morning children's programming. It ran from 1981-1989, airing 259 episodes (split into 417 segments), and an additional seven specials within that time, making it Hanna-Barbera's longest consecutive running series, without any title changes (succeeding HB's The Flintstones, which ran from 1960-1966 in prime-time). It is based on the works of Belgian comics artist Peyo, first appearing in 1958.
The Smurfs is about the lives of a race of the same name; tiny, blue humanoids, wearing Phrygian caps, who live in a village of mushroom-shaped houses. Their names are based on adjectives that emphasis their personalities, such as "Jokey" Smurf, who pulls pranks. Their leader and mentor is the wizened Papa Smurf, who unlike the others, dresses in red, instead of white. One of the main gimmicks of the show is that their kind is almost entirely made up of males, with Smurfette, being the exception (although a couple of others were added towards the series run). Their primary antagonist is the human, Gargamel, who knows of the Smurfs' hidden existence and wants to melt them into gold.
The narrator refers to the show as The Smurfs, while the card refers to it as Smurfs. When the show went into syndication in 1986, it was renamed Smurfs' Adventures.
Production
Episodes
Music
Cast
- Don Messick as Papa Smurf, Azreal
- Lucille Bliss as Smurfette
- June Foray as Jokey Smurf
- Danny Goldman as Brainy Smurf
- Frank Welker as Hefty Smurf
- Paul Winchell as Gargamel
