The Smurfs, certifiably one of the weirdest global cultural phenomenons ever, turn 50 this year. Created in Belgium by the cartoonist Peyo and immensely popular throughout Europe for decades, the Smurfs, as many of you 80z kidz will remember, hit it huge here in the U.S. in 1981.
The infamous Hanna-Barbera TV show ran on Saturday mornings from 1981-1989, and somehow charmed just about most children with its gently Communist leanings and odd sexual eccentricities (seriously, how do they reproduce?!?). Oh, gnap!
Anyway:
To mark 50 years of Smurfdom, organizers are planning everything from a 3-D animation feature film expected to be released next year to new comic book collections and a remastered release of the popular 1980s television animated series, Peyo’s family said.
Peyo’s widow and two children will help kick off a European birthday tour in Brussels. The Smurfs celebration will continue in Paris and Berlin.
Why was the Hanna-Barbera cartoon infamous?
Vanity Smurf wouls make a SWEET T-shirt. Absolutely smurfy.
Infamous? I’d say because even though pretty much every kid loved Smurfs, they tended to freak everyone else out.