Unicef and the Smurfs

There are some advertisements that are designed to shock you and to make you stop and think….. The collaboration of Unicef and the smurfs did just that back in 2005.

The Unicef advertisement campaign that originally appeared on Belgium television was designed to show that war can happen in the most innocent of places even in the Smurf Village.

This powerful ad was shown after 9pm so not to upset younger viewers and created a lot of reactions around the world. People were wanting to know why would anyone want to bomb the Smurf Village.

The ad begins with the familiar image of the Smurfs dancing and singing their theme song with birds and butterflies. Then, warplanes appear and start dropping bombs, setting the mushroom houses ablaze. Smurfette is killed and smurfs go running for cover. Baby Smurf sits crying in distress. The clip finishes with the written message: “Don’t let war destroy the children’s world” followed by a call for donations.

The ad campaign had permission and full support of Peyo’s family. It also became a major part of Belgium’s Unicef campaign to raise funds and awareness to raise money for the rehabiltation of former child soldiers in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These were both former Belgian colonies.

Unicef and the Smurfs teamed up again in 2008, to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Smurfs with a year long “Happy Smurfday Euro Tour”. The Smurfs visited 15 European countries on the day of their 50th Smurfday and distributed large white Smurf 20cm figurines. The recipients could then decorate and submit them into a competition. The Smurfs were then auctioned off to raise funds towards Unicef.

As part of the campaign Unicef also sold up to 30,000 of these white smurfs to go towards their cause. I feel lucky enough to have one of these white smurfs, which I must confess I never painted or decorated. It simply stands high above the other smurfs on the top shelf of my wall unit, overlooking all my other smurfs below.

Even though the original ad campaign was over ten years ago it still has a strong, powerful impact for those who have not seen the ad before. Congratulations Unicef for your campaign will forever be remembered.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Classic Smurfs vs Original Smurfs

In 2005 Schleich released the Classic Series, a collection of eight different smurfs. These were re-makes of some of the original smurfs most fondly remembered by fans. Whether they be fans of the comics, cartoon series or just by collectors of figurines like me.

This collection had mixed reviews amongst collectors at the time it was released. I guess whenever someone decides to re-make a version of something it will always create debate. The first question most will ask is – “what is a classic smurf?” To help answer this question I have decided to show you both the original smurf and the date it was first produced. I will then let you decide….

#20001 Papa Smurf: first produced in 1969

#20034 Smurfette: first produced in 1971

#20157 Grouchy: first produced in 1984

#20006 Brainy: first produced in 1969

#20017 Mirror: first produced in 1972. *When it was first released it was referred to as Vanity.

#20086 Present: first produced in 1975

#20047 Trumpet: first produced in 1974. *First released in 1977

#20179 Baby White: first produced in 1984

There was some angst and rumbles amongst the passionate collectors of the vintage smurf figurines. Questions like “Who is the one who determines what is a classic smurf” or “Why didn’t they include such such smurf”.

For those new to collecting smurfs, the Classic series allowed new collectors to look up and learn about some of the original smurfs that the Classics were based on. In my opinion this is a good thing as it allows the enjoyment of collecting smurfs to grow.

Some collectors also like to display the original smurfs with the classic smurfs. This is really a lovely way to display a smurf collection as it allows the collector to show the journey of the smurfs through the years to others.

Sadly none of the Classic Smurfs are being produced by Schleich, anymore. The good thing is that they are still easily available for collectors to find. Some of the original smurfs are a little harder to find though not impossible if you know where. Perhaps try here – classic smurfs, original smurfs actually any smurf!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

What is a Swoof?

Do you know what a swoof is? If you grew up reading Peyo’s comics or watching Hanna Barbera cartoons you will already have an idea what a swoof is. Or do you!

In the comic book version the Schlips (original German name of the Swoofs) had orange skin, not green skin as depicted in the cartoon version. The change of skin colour in the cartoon colour was to eliminate any racist connotation. Also in the comic there is no references to Gargamel, Azrael and Smurfette.

The cartoon was adapted from the comic Astronaut Smurf published in 1970. In the comic the smurf who was referred to as Astrosmurf is Dreamy Smurf in the cartoon version, in the comic he was given no name.

In the comic, Papa Swoof had black hair and beard, unlike the white hair and beard he has in this cartoon version. Again there were possible racism concerns.

In the comic, the Astrosmurf had to undergo two more Swoof challenges. One was to fight against a “strong” Swoof and to climb a mountain to get an edelweiss before night fall. Both of these challenges were removed in the cartoon version.

In 1973 Bully produced Jungle Smurf #20069 that resembled a swoof from Peyo’s comic. Jungle Smurf can be found holding a spear, with orange skin and black hair, white paint around its mouth to resemble like an African warrior.

When Schleich announced their new smurfs for 2016, many adult collectors who are familiar with the swoofs were surprised to see the introduction to Jungle – Native #20783.

For me Jungle – Native looks like a cross between Angry Smurf (small mould/Schleich ref# 20007) and Jungle Smurf. If you take the mouth from Angry and the orange skin from Jungle….. Or is it only me who thinks this?

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Hardee’s Smurfs

Hardee’s Smurfs are set of six surfing Smurfs released in 1996 by the fast food restaurant chain Hardee’s. Each of the smurfs is wearing a swimsuit while riding on a coloured surfboard with wheels! It is a little unclear why surfboards would have wheels but we will leave that discussion for another time.

Hardee’s an American fast food restaurant chain that primarily sell hamburgers. Mainly operating in the southern and mid western states of America and also in some other countries.

Back in the boom time of the smurfs in the 1980’s in America, Hardee’s released Smurf drinking glasses which included a full colour image of a smurf painted on clear drinking glass. These can still be easily found today, though mostly in America.

The Hardee’s Smurfs released in 1996 are made of a hard pvc material and were especially made for this promotion and not remarks of existing smurfs. The smurfs have been glued to the surfboard. These include:

Papa Smurf with a yellow sticker on a red surfboard

Smurfette with a yellow sticker on a purple surfboard

Hands up Smurf with a green sticker on an orange surfboard

Swimming Tube Smurf with a yellow surfboard

Sassette with a yellow sticker on a green skateboard

Puppy with pink sticker on a blue surfboard

On the front of each surfboard is a round coloured “Smurf” sticker. As you can see in the pictures, the sticker can be easily be lost over the years.

On each of the Smurf’s surfboard is marked, SMURF (R) Licensed by Applause Licensing. (c) Peyo. There are no actual markings on the figurine.

Promotion Smurfs are great to collect, especially if you have the ability to collect the whole set released by a company or organisation.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

1996 Smurfs celebrated around the world

No matter where you lived in the world in 1996 the smurfs were being celebrated in all sorts of different ways.

The Smurfs Go Pop! album was released by The Smurfs in the UK in 1996. The songs on the album are cover versions of songs with altered lyrics. On the album the song “I’ve got a little puppy” made into the top 10 of the UK charts. The song is parody of an original song called “I wanna be a hippy” by Technohead.

The lyrics were ideally aimed at children and for the song to get on parents nerves as the song is very repetitive.

I’ve got a little puppy, little dog of my own,
(Pooper, pooper scooper)
A friendly little puppy and he lives in my home, yeah.
(Pooper, pooper scooper)

For those of you who have nostalgic memories of this song as child or for those of you who are wanting to know how annoying this song can be – I have a little puppy

In 1996, McDonalds celebrated its 25th anniversary with The Smurfs in Germany and the Netherlands. As part of the promotion McDonalds were giving a smurf figurine with every Happy Meal. Each figurine had the letter M embossed into the back of their head and came in its own special sealed bag. In total ten figurines were released.

The ten figurines were Jokey, Majorette Smurfette, Guitar, Cheerleader, Jester, Baker, Waiter, Cake, Big Mac and McDonalds 25th Anniversary Smurf.

The great thing for collectors outside Germany and The Netherlands is that these smurfs are still easily found and create a great talking point when displayed as a collection. This is probably due to most people recognising the McDonalds Big Mac and symbol.

Schleich also released six new smurfs in 1996. The six were part of The Golden 100 smurfs that were released by Schleich. The six figurines were:

Saxophone (#20436)
Techno (#20437)
Mobile Phone (#20438)
Azrael Frightened (#20439)
Sports Swimmer (#20440)
Sprinter (#20441)

1996 was definetly in many ways a great year for smurf fans, no matter where or how you celebrated the smurfs.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B