mgrisham-19436 Reviews

The Smurfs: The Lost City of Yore (1982) Season 2, Episode 14

Interesting concept, but dumbed down by a ham-handed moral

[2/10 · 2 May 2022]

This episode is one of the earliest examples of a random events plot and it is done poorly. Half of the plot is wasted on Nosey Smurf, who is a one dimensional obsessive busybody who has no respect for other's privacies and is all melodramatic when the Smurfs reprimand him. Also, he sounds far too recognizable to Frank Nelson (who does his voice). The Great Swamp Witches are no better themselves and keep talking about the Lost City of Yore to find a magic scepter, except they never achieve that goal. Gargamel and Azrael appear in the middle of the episode to visit the Witches, but they are distracted by the other Smurfs searching for Nosey, Brainy and Clumsy. Even after the three Smurfs get captured, Nosey keeps getting reprimanded for getting his nose into trouble and for almost killing Papa Smurf. Speaking of death, the wizard was reduced to dust in a kids cartoon. At the end of the episode, Gargamel and Azrael are attacked by the Witches with bubbles for some reason. Smurfette blames Nosey for his snoopish behavior once again. Brainy closes the episode by lecturing about curiosity, until the Smurfs throw him out of sight. This ending was rushed because of poor attempts at comedy.

I don't have a problem with the concept, it's the terrible execution. The Smurfs never forgive Nosey at the end, Papa Smurf should've explained the lesson better, the witches and Nosey don't have much personality, and the moral is heavy-handed. The writers tried too hard to convey a moral in this episode, but it ended up as relentlessly preachy and annoying. Speaking of which, all of them are uncredited for Season 2. The previous season, they were credited for each episode. At times, it feels like an 11 minute episode extended to 22 minutes. The plot doesn't start until four minutes into the episode, where the Witches are sick and tired of working. To sum it up, this is what I consider the worst Smurfs episode of all time. Therefore, I give it an unsmurfy 2 out of 10.

The Smurfs (2021– )

More accurate to the comics, but nowhere near as iconic as the Hanna-Barbera series

[6/10 · 27 April 2022]

This new version of The Smurfs is slightly better than the 1980s cartoon series, but only in animation quality. Chef and Greedy are separate characters once again, along with Clumsy and Dimwitty. Baby Smurf makes a surprise return to the series, which is true since the little rugrat has not been seen since the 1980s. Brainy Smurf is no longer as self centered and arrogant as you'd expect, and his ego has been downplayed (reverting to a bookworm Smurf). While Hanna-Barbera was instrumental in extreme character build-up and taking artistic liberties in their version, this series is more accurate to the original comics. For some reason, characters such as The Smurflings, Grandpa Smurf, Nanny Smurf and Smoogle are absent. The Smurfy Grove inhabitants, on the other hand, make a fine addition to the series for a younger generation. Johan and Peewit don't appear in this series, which is quite sad because they were the ones involved in the Smurfs introduction from the "Magic Flute" story.

The only downside is the use of gross-out jokes, which never happened in the 1980s series. The biggest offender is "Who Nose?", where Hefty squirts booger substance at the other Smurfs in the end. Another downside is the show focusing more on the Smurfs, Gargamel and Bigmouth, which can get pretty boring to watch.

The animation is great, the pacing is faster, the story concepts are good stuff, but the character portrayals and voice acting is pretty mixed. Aside from that, the people in Belgium did a good job keeping the spirit of the original comics alive and The Smurfs were able to regain their original mischievous personalities they had once lost. It is not a continuation of the 1980s series, but an offshoot of the original comics. Overall, I give this new series a smurfy 6 out of 10.