Some of you may be ashamed, but I’m going to go on record — I’m not. I’m a Smurfs fan. I had a collection of the figurines and everything. Back when cartoons were our babysitter on Saturday mornings, one of the things I’d look forward to most was — *clears throat for the “la, la, la’s”* — when that Hanna-Barbera logo would appear on the TV screen and the camera would zoom in on Smurf Village. It was magical. You could hear a pin drop in the house … and mom could handle her business uninterrupted. I wasn’t alone, because they even sparked an urban dance craze, but I digress.
Now that I have you — in smurf lingo — “smurfing” about the past, imagine that magic in 3-D. Granted, it may not impact you now as much as it would’ve back then, but your kids are gonna be mesmerized when they’re exposed to Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters), Smurfette (Katy Perry), Brainy (Fred Armisen), Grouchy (George Lopez) and Clumsy (Anton Yelchin) in the eye-catching format. Columbia Pictures, along with producer Jordan Kerner and director Raja Gosnell, have it made possible.
Columbia has resurrected the “three-apples-high” blue characters that took, not only the U.S., but the world by storm all those years ago. They’re appearing in a feature film with just the right mix of fantasy and reality, giving both children and adults something to sink their teeth into.
The Smurfs join with Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays (as expecting husband and wife team, Patrick and Grace Winslow battle with family life and career demands) and Sofia Vergara (as Patrick’s neurotic boss, Odil), to take moviegoers on a smurf-venture with the tiny blue paragons of virtue finding themselves out of Smurf Village and facing the perils of New York City.
“After Barney Stinson, I’ve looked for a role that was different in some way during my off time, so the Smurfs seemed like great way to represent that young father to be, guy in a marriage with work conflict, I was really interested in the practical sense of things,” said Harris about signing on to the film.
Mays, chimed in: “I was forced to watch the Smurfs when I was a child, my mom was a big, big fan, so I would pretend not to like them, but I secretly loved them … they were definitely in the house.”
And where there are Smurfs, their nemesis, the evil wizard Gargamel and his feline protegé, Azreal, are sure to be lurking nearby. Comedian and actor Hank Azaria, most widely known for his work on the Simpsons as Moe and other characters, takes on the role of Gargamel and moves the movie along with zany physical comedy and a painstakingly developed menacing voice:
“I’m very vocally driven … the Smurfs are like a serious worldwide thing, sacred. Corporate execs and reps from foreign countries would come over to the house and say, ‘Let’s see what you’ve got now,’ ” he said about finding the right voice. “I had to do the evil laugh so much, my stomach muscles cramped.”
The Smurfs and all the blue virtue and goodness they bring to the big screen make for an enjoyable family watch.
“I think we live in a time when films either elevate of denigrate, and it’s really important that people feel good about each other … people should be a little more gentle and have concern about each other,” said Jordan Kerner, the film’s producer.
“The Smurfs” will hit theaters tomorrow, July 29.
