Welcome to the first installment in what I'm calling the Saturday Morning Kablama Slam! On random Saturdays throughout the year, I'll be highlighting some of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons beginning this week with one of that could best be described as...well... smurfy!
The Premise: The Smurfs are a group of little blue people described as “three apples high” who live in a village of mushroom houses hidden in the forest of a medieval fantasy world. Under the leadership of their patriarch, the wise Papa Smurf, the Smurfs get into all sorts of whimsical adventures while avoiding capture from the evil wizard Gargamel.
These famous little guys first appeared in the comic series, Johan and Peewit created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. In the comic, the Smurfs come to the aid of the titular hero and his funny sidekick, but were so popular that they quickly got their own comic… not to mention a TON of merchandise. When the characters finally made their way to the United States, the president of NBC took notice of how much his daughter loved said merchandise and started the ball rolling on a Smurf animated series, produced by cartoon powerhouse Hanna-Barbera Productions!
The Smurfs were officially my first fandom. I’ve loved them as long as I can remember and even still have the Schleich Papa Smurf and Smurfette figurines that I played with as a toddler! When you’ve grown up with something like that, it becomes a thing that you’re just used to and can’t really put your finger on why you love it exactly. Maybe it’s just a comforting sense of familiarity… sort of like a warm security blanket. They’re even a soothing shade of blue!
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