The world-famous Smurfs were actually an accidental invention. The tiny characters featured in supporting roles in another comic strip in 1958, but turned out to be a readers’ favorite. June 25 was the birthday of these cute blue creatures.
Belgian comics’ artist Pierre Culliford (1928-1992), also known as Peyo, was already a passionate cartoonist when he was just a boy. After his father’s death young Peyo went to various schools but he never felt at home there. When he reached puberty he left school to go and find a job. World War II did not make that an easy mission. He had a lot of temporary jobs before he started out as an illustrator in 1946. In that year, he created the cartoon Johan and Pirrewiet, which was inspired by the Middle Ages and would be the origins of the renowned Smurfs. The magic world of Johan and Pirrewiet was full of wizards, witches and dwarfs and Peyo created some blue dwarfs to feature as extras in the cartoon. The readers took a liking to the funny Smurf people and a year later the first Smurfs-cartoon appeared in the comic magazine Robbedoes.
The example of Walt Disney
Peyo drew up his Smurfs keeping the seven dwarfs of the fairy tale of Snow White in mind, attributing each one of them a special character trait. Sneezy, Sleepy and Bashful were the creations of Walt Disney; Peyo was the creator of Papa Smurf, Grouchy Smurf and Brainy Smurf. Peyo’s Smurfs were smaller though, ‘three apples tall’, as the artist would say. It’s the French equivalent of a Dutch expression meaning munchkin. There was also always a moral to Peyo’s stories. In every cartoon, the Smurfs had to deal with malicious wizard Gargamel and his mean cat, who were both symbolic for the evil side of human beings. The Smurfs could only take on their enemies by working together, because individually Smurfs were too tiny and insignificant to fight evil.
Peyo’s accessible style and humor were the reason that children quickly became very fond of the little blue people and their silly language. They replaced verbs and nouns with the word ‘Smurf’, which would often lead to phrases impossible to understand. Not only did Peyo invent the language, he also coined the word Smurf. The French word for the blue dwarfs is Les Schtroumpfs, which was later ‘translated’ to ‘Smurfen’ in Dutch. Kids absolutely loved all of it and soon more Smurf material appeared. From 1961 until 1967 the first animated films were made of pictures and cut-outs of Smurf-figurines.
Where are you all coming from?
Real fame came for the Smurfs in the nineteen eighties. American film studio Hanna-Barbera created the famous cartoon series of the Smurfs, with the collaboration of Peyo. In no time at all the blue dwarfs were immensely popular all over the world, and today they still are some of the most famous cartoon characters ever. For the Dutch, the Smurf song by Father Abraham is inextricably connected to the little blue people and is a classic of our musical history.
Special promotions by supermarkets, which made it possible to collect Smurf figurines, caused an invasion of the stores. Merchandise is not a new concept though: already in 1959 Smurf dolls were sold together with the cartoon magazine Robbedoes. There was such a huge demand for Smurf items that the manufacturer was soon unable to handle it.
The Smurfs chess set
To this day, Smurfs are immensely popular. The television series has seen many reruns and throughout the years various Smurfs movies have been produced. In the summer of 2013 cinemas even showed a 3D computer animated Smurfs movie. Of course the Chessmen Museum owns a Smurfs chess set that is waiting for those who want to play a game of ‘Smurf’.
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