簡介
the SmurfsHistory
"Johan & Pirlouit"
Peyo wrote a Franco-Belgian comics serial in Le Journal de Spirou called "Johan & Pirlouit" (translated to English as Johan and peewit). The setting lies in the Middle Ages in Europe. Johan serves as a brave young page to the king, and Peewit (pronounced Pee-Wee) functions as his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick.
On October 23, 1958, Peyo introduced a new set of characters to the "Johan & Pirlouit" story. This alone caused no great excitement, as the brave duo constantly encountered strange new people and places. This time, they had the mission of recovering a Magic Flute, which required some sorcery by the wizard Homnibus. And in this manner, they met a schtroumpf. The figures soon proved to be a huge success and the first independentSmurf stories appeared in Spirou in 1959, together with the first merchandising.
Schtroumpf/Smurf origins
"Schtroumpf" is an invented word. According to an interview with Peyo, the word came to him as he asked a friend for salt during lunch and, struggling to find the word that eluded him, finally managed to say "passe-moi le schtroumpf" ("pass me the smurf"). It would later be translated into nearly 30 languages and, in some of those languages, "schtroumpf" became "smurf" (see The Smurfs in other languages). "Smurf" was first used in Dutch, as the comics were simultaneously published inFrench(in Spirou magazine) and Dutch (in Robbedoes, the Dutch translation of the magazine). In any case, the tiny blue people proved a sudden hit, commercially speaking, and quickly moved into their own comic series which became a tremendous success.
The word 'Schtroumpf' sounds like the German word 'Strumpf' which means sock. So it is possible the name is related to the sock-like hat they wear. Apart from this superficial similarity there is no evidence for this or of Peyo even knowing the word Strumpf.
According to several interviews with Peyo, his own preference went to his "Johan & Pirlouit" series, and he sometimes expressed exasperation with the overbearing success of the Smurfs.
Animated series
In 1965, a black-and-white 90-minute animated film was made about the smurfs, Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs. It received little attention, and not much is known about it.
However, in 1976, La Flûte à six schtroumpfs (an adaptation of the original "Johan and Peewit" story) was released. Michel Legrand provided the musical score to the film.
Hanna-Barbera series
In the late 1970s, smurf merchandise, distributed exclusively by a California company, Wallace Berrie and Co., made its way to America and became a huge success. NBC television executive Fred Silverman's daughter had a smurf doll of her own, and Silverman thought that a series based on the smurfs might make a good addition to his Saturday-morning lineup.
The smurfs secured their place in North American pop culture in 1980, when the Saturday-morning cartoon, The Smurfs, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, finally debuted on NBC from 1981 to 1990. The show became a major success for NBC, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. The Smurfs was nominated multiple times for Daytime Emmy awards, and won Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series in 1982-1983. Parts of Modeste Mussorgsky's 1874 classical musical composition, Pictures at an Exhibition (Gnomus, Tuileries, Gargamel's theme variation about 1.5 minutes in, and a scene segue part about 10 minutes in), are used in the cartoon 【1】. The series currently airs in reruns on Boomerang, and 26 selected episodes are aired in DiC Entertainment's syndicated programming blocks. The series is still being shown regularly on many channles throughout the world.
Voices
* Don Messick: Papa Smurf, Azrael, Dreamy, Sleepy
* Paul Winchell: Gargamel, Baby Smurf, Nosey
* Lucille Bliss: Smurfette
* Barry Gordon and Danny Goldman:Brainy
* Frank Welker: Clockwork Smurf, Hefty, Peewit, Poet, Puppy
* William Callaway: Clumsy, Painter
* Alan Young: Miner, Farmer, Scaredy
* Hamilton Camp: Greedy, Harmony
* Michael Bell: Grouchy, Handy, Lazy, Johan
* June Foray: jokey, Mother Nature
* Linda Gary:Dame Barbara
Movies
In 1983, an English version of La Flûte à six schtroumpfs was produced, and titled The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. A few more long smurf movies were made, most notably The Baby Smurf.
