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The Smurfs
(Les Schtroumpfs in French) are a fictional group of small sky blue
creatures who live somewhere in the forests of Europe. The Belgian
cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world, but English-speakers
perhaps know them best through the animated television series from
Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Smurfs.
Dupuis, editor of the Smurf comics, first produced smurf figurines from
1959 on. The first one was a series of three 5 cm tall figurines (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.[5]
Neither Convict Smurf nor Spy Smurf ever appeared in the animated
television series as separate entities, although both spy smurfs and
convicted 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 the comic is that no-one
is interested in liberating Brainy Smurf.
For a while advertisers used Smurfs to promote Renault, National Benzole,
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's release of 2005 Smurfs sees a
return to the "classic" smurf characters, with new figurines of Papa,
Smurfette, Grouchy, Brainy, Vanity, Jokey, Harmony, and Baby Smurf,
while the 2006 series consists of Halloween and horror characters. |
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