Was it just me or were we all excited to see Hefty Smurf given a major role in the latest Smurf movie – The Lost Village? There is so much to like about Hefty Smurf, that I was little surprised that it has taken to the third Smurf movie for this character to be given more focus.
In The Smurfs movie released in 2011, Hefty Smurf was only given a small role and in this film we were introduced to a brand new character called Gutsy. In The Smurfs 2 movie Hefty appears in the film but once again appears to play second fiddle to Gutsy. It is unclear in both films why they decided to create and use Gutsy, where they already had the character Hefty at their disposal. Perhaps they felt Hefty was a little boring.
Hefty Smurf is one of the few smurfs that appeared both in the comics and the cartoon series. I always thought that a character that displays strength and bravery and a willingness to help other smurfs were all good traits to promote to young children.
The other thing that defines Hefty from the other smurfs is his red heart shaped tattoo on his right arm. Hefty is the only smurf that sports a tattoo. Typically smurfs are characterised by their personality and clothing or piece of equipment.
I also recall when I was growing up that Gymnast, Schleich ref# 20020 was often referred to as Hefty. However BP Australia used to call this as Keep Fit on their promotional material. It wasn’t until 1994 that Schleich produced a Hefty figurine. Hefty was made right up until 2000 by Schleich. Again a little strange considering Hefty was a well known smurf by fans.
The Lost Village movie may not be to everyone’s liking but it was nice to see the return of some of the original smurf characters such as Vanity and of course Hefty.
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B