The Smurfs (merchandising)

"The Smurfs" is a Belgian comic 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.

Figurines

Dupuis, editor of the Smurf comics, first produced smurf figurines in 1959. The first one was a series of three figurines, 5 centimeters tall (Papa, 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. [Dayez, Hugues, "Op. cit.", p. 110-111]

Neither Convict Smurf nor Spy Smurf ever appeared in the animated television series as separate entities, although both Spy Smurfs and Convict Smurfs played a minor role in the original second issue of the comic, "Le Schtroumpfissime" ("King Smurf"). In this story, Papa Smurf leaves the village and a clever Smurf (Brainy in the cartoon) manages to gain power by winning an election through exaggerated election promises, and later turns into a dictator-type king. Jokey Smurf is arrested for having a bomb explode in the megalomaniacal dictator Smurf's face and is thrown in jail with the Sing-Sing-type striped outfit. Later, the Spy Smurfs manage to liberate the political prisoner, while Brainy Smurf gets captured in the process. A running gag through is that no-one is interested in liberating Brainy Smurf (who thinks they are).

For a while advertisers used Smurfs to promote Renault, National Benzol, and BP garages and—in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand at least—the figurines were given away when petrol (gasoline) was purchased.

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 colors 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.

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.

Music recordings

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 CD's with Smurf music have been sold between 2005 and 2007 alone.

murfs 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.

murfs in theme parks

Around 1984, the Smurfs began appearing in North American theme parks owned by Kings Entertainment Corporation. Each park featured a Smurfy attraction and Smurf walk-around figures. (This collection of parks was formerly owned by the Taft Corporation, were sold to Paramount in the early 1990s and now owned by the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.)

Kings IslandAt Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio, The Smurfs' Enchanted Voyage opened in 1984.It was similar to Disney's "It's A Small World." People would ride in a boat around the world of the Smurfs celebrating the seasons of Winter, Fall, Summer, and Spring. It was removed during the 1991 season.

Kings DominionThe earlier Land of the Dooz Mine Train attraction became Smurf Mountain. It was eventually closed to make room for the popular Volcano: The Blast Coaster in 1998.

Great AmericaOpening in 1987, Smurf Woods featured a pint-sized steel coaster, The Blue Streak (now called Rugrats Runaway Reptar), 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.

CarowindsIn 1984, Carowinds added Smurf Island, which was a children’s play area located on the 1.3-acre 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 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. The Borg has been running since the beginning of the 2004 season.

Canada's WonderlandAt Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Smurf Village opened in 1984. It was a walk-through attraction that had previously been Yogi's Forest since the park opened in 1981. Smurf Village closed in the early 1990s and became an arcade, before being converted into a Candy Store during the 1998 Kidzville make-over.

UNICEF

In 2005, an advertisement featuring The Smurfs was aired in Belgium in which the smurf village is annihilated by warplanes [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/08/wsmurf08.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/08/ixhome.html] . 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 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, 1.20m Smurf statues that will be decorated by celebrity artistscite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1703303,00.html |title=The Smurfs Are Off to Conquer the World - Again|accessdate=2008-01-15 |author=Leo Cendrowicz |date=2008-01-15 |publisher=Time]

Other information

* Smurfberry Crunch breakfast cereal was created in 1983 by Post, later renamed to Smurf Magic Berries in 1988

Notes

External links

* [http://www.smurf.com The Smurfs official site]
* [http://www.happysmurfday.com Happy Smurfday: Official Smurfs 50th Anniversary site]
* [http://www.blueimps.com/ 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