The Smurfs CGI Movie

As much as I loved The Smurfs, that is, when I was about 8 years old, there’s no need for a movie. Or am I just no longer a kid and missing the point? Either way, we’ve got our hands on some very early pre-visualization from the movie (the photo above is not related to the movie). The Smurfs is being turned into a CGI 3D animated movie that’s being developed by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. Oddly, DreamWorks name has never been mentioned in connection with this, so it might be a production that Paramount is putting together on their own.

Sources say that these photos came from some sort of Happy Smurfday Euro Tour. I’m not sure whether that involves marijuana or another sort of hallucinogenic drug, or whether it’s actually something “for the kids”.

The Smurfs, or Les Schtroumpfs as they were originally called in French, first appeared in October 1958 in the Belgian comic magazine Spirou. They were created by the Brussels-born cartoonist Pierre Culliford — better known as Peyo — and were originally mere supporting cast in his medieval Johan and Pirlouit series. Hanna-Barbera later produced a very successful animated TV show featuring the Smurfs that aired from 1981 to 1989 with around 256 episodes.

While there isn’t a cast or even an animation studio attached, The Smurfs movie does have a screenwriter - Herb Ratner. Unfortunately this is his first writing gig ever, which isn’t too promising. As for a director, IMDb shows Colin Brady in the slot. Brady was previously set to direct AstroBoy for Imagi Animation but was later replaced by David Bowers. The most recent updates on this project say that it’s expected to arrive sometime in 2010.

Not only is this a very long way out from arriving, but it’s a project that probably won’t have much interest to me in the end. Like Horton Hears a Who, I’m interested in seeing it, but it’s purely a kids movie and it’s designed to entertain kids, not adults. Sure the Smurfs were a childhood enjoyment, but they probably won’t provide the same level of enjoyment nowadays unless its with some hallucinogens.