The Smurfs (animation)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Tropes used in The Smurfs (animation) include:
  • All Just a Dream: Lazy, Brainy, and Greedy enter a paradise world behind a waterfall in "Paradise Smurfed", where its master eventually tries to imprison them for his own purposes. Brainy and Greedy escape, but Lazy doesn't. Fortunately, Lazy finds out that it was all just a dream.
    • Or Was It a Dream?: Dreamy Smurf in "The Smurf Who Would Be King" dreams that he has been taken to the land of the Pookies, who have been waiting for his return to deliver them from the tyrannical Norf Nags. The end of the episode, however, may suggest otherwise, as Dreamy trips over a crystal similar to the ones seen in his dream.
  • All Webbed Up: Papa Smurf in "The Magnifying Mixture" got spun into a cocoon when he accidentally spilled the enlarging formula onto a small spider.
  • Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The cartoon show uses a different theme song from the American version for foreign markets during the introduction sequence.
  • And There Was Much Rejoicing: In the episode "For the Love of Gargamel", Gargamel and Azrael get turned to stone by the very potion the evil wizard intended to use on the Smurfs. The Smurfs take advantage of Gargamel's demise by having a celebration. Of course, Papa Smurf, realizing that they would be no better than Gargamel for leaving him and his cat in such a frozen state, does not join in the celebration, but rather has the Smurfs gather ingredients for a potion to unfreeze Gargamel and Azrael. Of course, Gargamel still rants and raves about getting even with the Smurfs after he and his cat are de-petrified.
    • In the Season 2 intro, the Smurfs do a merry circle dance around a staked-down Gargamel and Azrael.
  • Aside Glance: Papa Smurf at the end of "The Fountain of Smurf" and "Papa's Day Off". Also Grouchus Smurfus in "The Monumental Grouch".
  • Asshole Victim: Jokey Smurf accidentally became this in the episode "The Kaplowey Scroll" when he made Grouchy angry enough to say the word "kaplowey" which made Jokey disappear. Fortunately, Papa Smurf reversed that.
  • Ate the Spoon: In the episode "The Fake Smurf", the formula Hogatha creates for changing herself into a Smurf causes the spoon she mixes it with to dissolve.
  • Attack Of The 50 Inch Whatever: Hefty goes through this in "The Magnifying Mixture".
  • Bandage Mummy: Brainy after getting sunburn in "Mummy Dearest".
  • Beard of Evil: Gargamel attempted to grow his own through the use of a magic potion in the episode "Symbols of Wisdom", desiring to be like the evil wizards with beards that he admired. The only problem, though, was that his beard grew so long that it ended up reaching to the Smurf Village.
    • Gargamel did sport a fake Beard of Evil when he was masquerading as the dream date wizard Harlequin in order to get his hands on Hogatha's "magic whistle", which was really her bird call. However, during a kiss, the fake beard attached itself to Hogatha's face, revealing her dream date to be Gargamel, yet Hogatha doesn't notice it until after Gargamel is gone when she looks at herself in the mirror and says, "I have charm, I have beauty, I have a beard... A BEARD?!?"
  • Becoming the Mask: Smurfette which caused her Heel Face Turn.
  • Berserk Button: In "Bigmouth's Friend", the destruction of Clockwork Smurf becomes this for Bigmouth.
  • Big No: The druid leader in "The Smurfs' Time Capsule".

"No. No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

  • Blessed with Suck: In one episode, Smurfette is given a Midas touch power that enables her to turn whatever she touches into candy, but as in the case of King Midas turning his daughter into gold, Smurfette ends up turning Brainy into a Smurf sculpture of candy.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Grandpa Smurf does this in "Lost Smurf" when he plants one of Jokey's "surprises" near the door of the prison inside Castle Captor for him and Nanny Smurf to escape.
  • Cloning Blues: A very literal example. Gargamel in one episode creates six copies of Brainy Smurf for his gold-making formula, which amounts to six times his usual annoyance level.
    • When Vanity visits a house full of mirrors that makes all his reflections come to life while Vanity himself vanishes.
  • Composite Character: Chef Smurf and Greedy Smurf from the comic books are mixed into the cartoon version of Greedy Smurf.
  • Continuity Nod: In the cartoon special "My Smurfy Valentine", Chlorhydris the evil witch spoke of Azrael having "royal blood in his veins" -- which interestingly turns out to be true in Season 9's "Mummy Dearest" when the Smurfs meet his distant ancestor, the cat pharoah Azra.
    • Three episodes in the series -- "The Smurfbox Derby", "Handy's Window-Vision", and "Skyscraper Smurfs" -- were continuity nods to visions Dreamy had of the future in "Gargamel's Miss-Fortune".
  • Costumer: During the Time Travel episodes, the Smurf's outfits would change to match the locations they arrived in (i.e. kilts when in Scotland).
  • Cute Mute: Laconia, a friendly elf (where in her case, elf means a Smurf-sized human looking cutie). Utterly voiceless, she communicates by hand signs only, a skill often focal to every episode she gets in.
  • Cut Short: The time-traveling episodes of the final season ended with no resolution of whether the time-traveling Smurfs ever made it home.
  • Darker and Edgier: Oddly enough, the animated series' Christmas Special. 'The stranger', unsettling in his own right, was implied to be serving something very, very bad, and behaved evilly enough to frighten Gargamel into breaking their (quite worthwhile) bargain to co-operate and all.
  • Deal with the Devil: In "Harmony Steals the Show", Harmony signs a contract that allows him to use Ghostwriter's original symphony as his own in exchange for being his eternal performer at his spectral nightclub. Papa Smurf and the other Smurfs help Harmony break the contract by revealing before the judge and jury that Ghostwriter's "original symphony" was actually musical pieces stolen from other musicians.
    • In "Smurfette's Dancing Shoes", Smurfette receives a pair of shoes that enables her to dance gracefully, but the imp who gave her the shoes says now she must marry him. Papa Smurf gets her out of that situation by the end of the episode by making the magic shoes appear on the imp and having him dance uncontrollably.
  • Death by Newbery Medal: Squeaky.
  • Droste Effect: In "Now You Smurf ‘Em, Now You Don‘t", There's a scene where Vanity brings Greedy a painting of himself bringing a painting of himself in the exact pose he stands in when presenting it.
  • Endless Daytime: In "Queen Smurfette", Father Time fails to bring the close of the day on Smurfette's birthday, resulting in the day never ending until Papa Smurf brings it to Father Time's attention.
  • Evil Tastes Good: In the cartoon, Gargamel usually wanted to eat the Smurfs, and went on and on about it. [1] Then, after repeated humiliations, he's plain and simply motivated by vengeance.
  • Explosive Breeder: The fuzzles in "Fuzzle Trouble".
  • Fantastic Drug/G-Rated Drug: A 1986 episode "Lure of the Orb" features several Smurfs becoming dependent on the drugging effects of a magic orb, presented to them by a beautiful princess (actually, an ugly witch in disguise). Only when the Smurfs follow her to her castle does she reveal her true self, after which she enslaves them.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: In Season 9, the Smurfs get stuck traveling through time, stopping at different time periods as they attempt to get back home. The series ended before they could.
  • Flower From the Mountaintop: This was the plot of a TV episode; subverted at the end when the Abominable Snowman reveals that there are actually hundreds of the flowers growing up there.
  • Fountain of Youth: The Smurfs encountered a literal fountain of youth twice in the cartoon series.
  • Gender Bender: The cartoon version of "The Fake Smurf" has Hogatha switching genders when she becomes a Smurf.
  • Gender Equals Breed: Hinted at in a painting that Painter Smurf had created of Papa Smurf and his prospective bride Flowerbell the woodnymph in the episode "Papa's Wedding Day", with their offspring being male Smurfs. Of course, given how the painting depicted the couple, it was done to dissuade Papa Smurf from marrying Flowerbell, as the other Smurfs knew the whole thing was a setup.
  • Get Back to the Future: How the time-traveling season started with the episodes "The Smurfs That Time Forgot", "Lost In Ages", and "Cave Smurfs".
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: In the Supersmurf TV episode, Bigmouth the ogre had just stolen the Smurf's entire warehouse of food and the Smurfs were trying (obviously) to get it back. Smurfette tries to use her "feminine wiles" to charm him into giving the food back. The opening dialogue was:

Bigmouth: (to the Smurfette standing in his open hand) What you want, Smurf?
Smurfette: (vamping) Oh, you silly ogre, I'm not a SMURF, I'm a SmurfETTE. (pause, hands on hips) Wanna see?
Bigmouth: (long pause, vehement headshake) ...No.

    • Let alone the fact that Smurfette origin story was that she was made by Gargamel in an attempt to seduce the Smurfs.
    • And Flowerbell invoking Mae West's "come up and see me sometime" line at the end of "Papa's Wedding Day".
    • And of course, there's Papa Smurf's amorous interest in Smurfette.
  • Getting the Boot: On the TV series, Brainy gets tossed out of the village at least Once an Episode. This was done as a "safer" alternative to what happened in the original comics, where he was hit on the head with a mallet, although it would take more violence to toss him far enough to land on the outskirts of the village.
  • Glass-Shattering Sound: Harmony's playing the triangle at a pitch that makes Brainy's glasses crack in "Smurphony in 'C'", and Denisa's scream that makes the vials in Gargamel's hovel shatter in "Denisa's Greedy Doll".
  • Good Angel, Bad Angel: Appears in a few episodes in the form of Angel Smurf and Devil Smurf whenever a Smurf is tempted with a moral dilemma.
    • Hey, It's That Voice!: According to the Smurfs Wiki, Angel Smurf was voiced by William Christopher, known at the time as "Father Mulcahy" on "M*A*S*H."
  • Grandpa, What Massive Smurfiness You Have!: Implied by Flowerbell in "Papa's Wedding Day" when she's trying to win Papa Smurf's heart.
  • Granny Classic: Mother Nature and Nanny Smurf.
  • Green Aesop: "The Incredible Shrinking Wizard", which deals with Gargamel polluting the Smurf river and the effect that it has on both the wizard and the river's inhabitants.
  • Group Hug: Grouchy at the end of "A Hug For Grouchy" gets hug-mugged and doesn't like it.
  • Hammerspace Beard: Grandpa Smurf.
  • Hates Being Touched: Grouchy in the cartoon show episode "A Hug for Grouchy" hates hugs and tries to avoid hugs from those who don't respect his feelings.
  • Heel Face Turn: Flowerbell the woodnymph, does a Heel Face Turn in the episode "Papa's Wedding Day", where she tricks Papa Smurf into marrying her so that he could be captured by Lord Balthazar in exchange for her freedom. Realizing what she had done, she aligns herself with the Smurfs so that she could help rescue Papa Smurf.
  • Hell Gate: Oddly enough, one seems to appear in the Christmas special, in the form of the stranger's traveling spell when he moves to try to steal away the two children.
  • I Ate What?: In "Hogatha's Heart Throb", Gargamel disguised as Hogatha's dream date is offered a refreshment that he enjoys until the witch reveals that he was drinking "snail mead".
  • I Believe That You Believe It: There was one TV episode about a daydreaming smurf meeting an alien, and while Papa Smurf did not just believe him, he said that at least he thought that it was possible. This got its reward in the end of the episode, when he also would see the alien's spaceship leaving (with the rest of the smurfs still believing the other smurf to be crazy).
  • If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You: This line comes from Brainy.
  • I Just Want to Be Badass: Tuffy Smurf is always wanting to be like Hefty Smurf, and tries to prove himself to be like him constantly by doing some daring things that usually put the other Smurfs in danger.
  • Interspecies Romance: Handy Smurf has one with Marina the mermaid in a few episodes, plus Papa Smurf had one with Flowerbell the woodnymph before he realizes that it was a setup.
  • Invisible to Normals: Smurfette's Pegasus friend Blue Eyes is only visible to Smurfette, which makes other people including her fellow Smurfs think that her friend is imaginary.
  • Jackass Genie: Genie Meanie, who makes the lives of the Smurfs miserable, and then dangerous when Gargamel takes control of him. Fortunately, Papa Smurf finds the special words to put him under his control, forces him to undo the harm he's done, and finally orders him to stay in his container until he decides not to be mean anymore.
  • Jury of the Damned: "Harmony Steals the Show".
  • Leprechaun: Michael was the Smurf Forest's resident leprechaun. Also Greedy briefly became one in a Season 9 episode.
  • Literal Ass-Kicking: An animated episode involved a spot that appeared on someone's face and (apparently magically) made them unhappy. It could only be removed by kicking them in the butt, but this transferred it to the kicker. Cue an episode of the Smurfs unusually full of ass-kicking. Handy even devised a machine to do the kicking, only to find the machine's operator was considered the kicker. It turned out that kissing the spotted person made the spot vanish without a transfer.
  • Living Shadow: Jokey's shadow comes to life when he accidentally sprinkles Mother Nature's magic powder for bringing trees to life onto it.
  • Living Statue: The statue of Grouchy Smurf that comes to life in the Season 9 episode "The Monumental Grouch".
  • Loud of War: The episode "Romeo and Smurfette" had a duel between two groups of serenading Smurfs led by Hefty and Handy who are trying to out-woo each other for Smurfette's affections, ultimately resulting in a brawl that Papa Smurf had to stop.
  • Magic Mirror: Of various types, depending on who owns it or created it.
  • Mama Bear: In the episode "Smurfette Unmade", this trope is what breaks Gargamel's spell that forcibly reverted Smurfette to her original evil black haired form. This happens when she captures the Smurfs and Gargamel is about to kill Baby Smurf first for his gold-making spell; Smurfette's conscience angrily flares up in defiance to this evil and suddenly she is transformed back into her blond form, furiously throwing around explosive vials of unstable magic potion until she sends the villains flying out of the house before she rescues the Smurfs.
  • Man Hug: An entire day is devoted to hugging among the male Smurfs in "A Hug for Grouchy". The title character, though, hates hugging and doesn't like being hug-mugged.
  • Meat-O-Vision: The smurf-colored glasses that Handy created in the eponymous episode, which enabled Smurfs to see anyone as handsome and harmless, allows Bigmouth to see Gargamel and Azrael as a pair of walking delectables, which caused Bigmouth to chase Gargamel and Azrael into the forest while the Smurfs make their escape.
  • Media Watchdogs: Glass objects were absent, as the breaking of such was actually not allowed on cartoons at the time, although this was less noticeable in the show's quasi-medieval setting.
  • Men Don't Cry: The very manly Hefty Smurf chides his fellow Smurf Weepy for being a sissy for crying in one episode, but at the end of it even he is found crying.
  • Messenger of Doom: Grandpa Smurf in the four-part episode "Smurfquest" returns to the village after a 500-year quest around the world to warn the other Smurfs of the impending danger of the Long Life Force Stone losing its power.
  • Messianic Archetype/Rightful King Returns: Dreamy Smurf in a dream is treated by the Pookies as this when his Second Coming portends that they will be able to defeat the tyrannical Norf Nags.
  • Mirror-Cracking Ugly: Hogatha's mirror cracks when she inspects herself and sees that she has dry skin in "The Golden Smurf Award".
  • Moral Guardians: In addition to the "obvious" Communism metaphor (see What Do You Mean It's Not Political? below), there was a lot of complaints about how the Smurfs encouraged witchcraft and satanism back in the day.
  • Mother Nature: A matronly Mother Nature is a Recurring Character.
  • Mummy: The Moon-Eyed Mummy in "Mummy Dearest".
  • My Smurfness, What Have I Done?: Grouchy's reaction to making Jokey disappear by using the word "kaplowey" on him in anger, followed by a very sad "I hate... myself".
  • Never Mess with Granny: Nanny Smurf is one tough elderly Smurfette.
  • Never Say "Die": Surprisingly enough, averted. The words "die" and "dead" are used in several episodes; the most notable one being the episode "Squeaky".
  • Never Trust a Hair Tonic: Gargamel and Brainy learned this lesson the hard way in "Symbols of Wisdom".
  • Nobody Poops: Discussed in one episode where Brainy tries to get out of joining some other Smurfs in searching for a rare flower on a snowy mountaintop by making a bunch of excuses, one of them being that he has to go to the bathroom.
  • Old Man Marrying a Child: Averted in "Romeo and Smurfette" when Papa Smurf along with the other Smurfs start having those thoughts about marrying Smurfette, but she even turns her peers down by stating that she's still too young and that she loves all her fellow Smurfs equally.
  • Our Giants Are Bigger: The Smurfs dealt with a few giants in their episodes, including one brought to life by Gargamel by using smurfberries, which proved to work against Gargamel because his giant now loved smurfberries.
  • Party Scheduling Gambit: On the animated series, Brainy Smurf throws a "smarty party", but excludes the Smurflings for being too young, so they decide to throw their own party. Eventually, everyone goes to the Smurflings' party after being expelled from Brainy's party for breaking any of the myriad rules he set up.
  • Phantom Zone Picture: Painter Smurf starts painting these in one episode, which ends up trapping Papa Smurf into a painting.
  • Phony Psychic: Gargamel and the Smurfs run into a pair of them in "Gargamel's Miss-Fortune".
  • Poorly-Disguised Pilot: The Johan & Peewit cartoons.
  • Popcultural Osmosis: The animated Saturday morning show used nothing but clips of classical music for mood and theme setting.
  • A Protagonist Shall Lead Them: Dreamy Smurf dreams of being taken to the land of the Pookies where his Second Coming portends a deliverance from the tyrannical Norf Nags.
  • Public Domain Soundtrack
  • Rapid Aging: Took place in the four-part "Smurfquest" episode when the Long Life Force Stone, which allowed the Smurfs to live long lives through decreased aging, was losing its power, though the Smurflings didn't grow taller as they aged, and Baby Smurf only shows slight wrinkles.
  • Red Sky, Take Warning: In the episode "Lost Smurf", the trope takes a twist as a shifting multicolored sky portends a danger that only Grandpa Smurf knew about — a mysterious haunted castle that has taken Nanny Smurf away when she went after him.
  • Refugee From TV Land: An episode of the TV series has the in-universe fictional character Don Smurfo (a Smurf Zorro expy) enter into the real universe of the Smurfs.
  • The Renaissance Age of Animation
  • Rent-A-Zilla: Carpzilla in "Papa's Big Snooze".
  • Rump Roast: The cave child Grog is given toasted tooties near the end of "Lost In Ages".
  • Samus Is a Girl: At the climax of "The Smurfette" (an adaptation of the story where Smurfette first appeared), Smurfette disguises herself as "The Lone Smurf" and even disguised her voice, though she still has visible eyelashes.
  • Scooby-Dooby Doors: Used in the episode "Lost Smurf" when Papa Smurf, Hefty, Brainy, Wild, and Sassette get chased through a series of doors in a long hallway inside Castle Captor.
    • Also in the episode "Smurfing for Ghosts" when Peewit, Brainy, and Clumsy are being chased by ghosts in Quarrel Castle.
  • Scotireland: Miner Smurf is spoken of as having either an Irish or a Scottish accent.
  • The Scottish Trope: "The Kaplowey Scroll" proved that the word "kaplowey" was dangerous when Grouchy used it on Jokey after being the butt of one of his pranks, and after that every Smurf feared to say anything ever again.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Greedy was like this in one episode when he decided to go on strike from being the village cook and leave the village to offer his service for someone who really cares about his craft. Poet and Painter were also like this in another episode, and so was Smurfette and the Smurflings when hardly any of the Smurfs were paying attention to them.
  • Second Coming: Dreamy Smurf dreams that he has been taken to the land of the Pookies, who have been waiting for his return to deliver them from the tyrannical Norf Nags. The end of the episode, however, may suggest that it was otherwise, as Dreamy trips over a crystal similar to the ones seen in his dream.
  • Show Within a Show: Their plays based on Robin Hood and The Three Musketeers were examples of this.
  • Skip of Innocence: Smurfette often does this when she joyfully has a walk in the forest, in various albums of the series.
  • Snake Oil Salesman: The Smurfs dealt with one of these in "The Miracle Smurfer".
  • Sticky Situation: In an animated episode, Gargamel tries to trap The Smurfs in a sticky glue trap, only to end up trapping Hogatha who is none too pleased about it. She demands to be freed from the trap, but Gargamel tells her to get herself out. Hogatha does, but she uses her magic to put Gargamel into his own sticky trap.
    • In another episode, Gargamel casts a spell that causes the Smurfs to get stuck to each other, which Papa Smurf uses to his advantage by having the stuck Smurfs stick on Gargamel, forcing him to come up with a counter-spell that frees him and all the other Smurfs.
  • Stop Helping Me!: Farmer's attitude towards Gourdy the genie, who came in in the later seasons to help Farmer Smurf whether he wanted it or not.
  • Swallowed Whole: The title characters on a sailing ship were swallowed up by a whale in "Smurfs at Sea". They escape by tearing apart their boat and turning part of it into an escape raft while the rest was converted into a hydraulic lift to keep the whale's mouth open long enough for them to escape through it.
  • Syndication Title: Smurfs' Adventures.
  • Taken for Granite: The Smurfs in one episode were a victim to a spell that petrified them and half their forest, and would have stayed that way had Peewit not been able to convince two feuding sorcerers to stop fighting with each other and recite the incantation together that reverses the condition.
    • Gargamel himself was a victim of a potion that turned him and his cat Azrael into stone. Papa Smurf restored him to normal.
  • Temporary Blindness: In one episode, Poet Smurf is struck mute, and learns sign language from a friendly elf named Laconia.
    • Also, in the episode "Dark Ness Monster" Brainy Smurf is rendered practically blind after losing his glasses. He has to rely on Clumsy Smurf's guidance for the episode, which results in the two becoming best friends.
  • Theme Tune Cameo: The Smurfs are prone to la-la-ing their own theme song.
    • That is, of course, unless they're using the Alternative Foreign Theme Song in the foreign market showings.
    • It also has a comic book appearance in the story Bathing Smurfs.
  • Unexplained Accent: They flourish among the Smurfs; several of them have very distinct accent that they really have no reason for having developed. For example, Clumsy speaks in a distinct Southern dwarl, Painter speaks in a French accent, Miner's is a Scotirish, and Farmer's is from Maine.
  • The Unintelligible: Both Clockwork Smurf and Wild Smurf were this in the cartoon show, whereas their comic book counterparts either could speak Smurf language from the start or eventually learned how to do so.
  • The Vamp: Flowerbell the woodnymph in "Papa's Wedding Day" on the cartoon show. Also the cartoon version of the Smurfette before her Heel Face Turn.
  • Vapor Wear: Averted at least in one episode where Clumsy in a play draws his sword and his pants fall down. For the most part, though, it's only implied that the male Smurfs don't wear any underpants.
  • Villain Song: Gargamel has a few of them, one being an adaptation of "Mean, Sour, Nasty, And Cruel" from Yogi's First Christmas that appears in "The Blue Plague".
  • Voodoo Doll: A variant of this trope appears in the episode "Denisa's Greedy Doll" when Gargamel puts Greedy's apron on Denisa's doll and casts a spell on it so that whatever happens to the doll wearing the apron also affects Greedy. The Smurfs turn the tables by having the doll wear fabric from Gargamel's robe.
  • Weapons That Suck: Brainy and Clumsy in the cartoon show episode "Smurfing for Ghosts" use a Ghostbusters-type backpack weapon that acts like a vacuum cleaner for sucking up ghosts. Gargamel in "The Trojan Smurf" also had a weapon that acted like a vacuum cleaner for sucking up Smurfs.
  • We Want Our Jerk Back: In "Essence of Brainy", Brainy once loses his Know-Nothing Know-It-All essence and the other Smurfs must find a way to bring back his usual annoying self.
  • What the Fu Are You Doing?: "Karate Clumsy" is built entirely around this trope.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Hefty attempts on hitting Smurfette in the cartoon adaptation of "The Smurfette" after she fesses up she's taking orders from Gargamel.
  • Zap Zap Kiss: Selwyn and Tallulah, the bickering sorcerer couple who fight with each other as much as they love each other.
  1. ↑ In the comics, he initially needs a smurf as an ingredient for a potion that would turn lead into gold.
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