Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Smurfs still coming to a theatre near you



The Smurfs, those small sky blue creatures who live in Smurf Village somewhere in the woods, are to make a comeback with the characters set for a Hollywood film. They will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a Hollywood movie deal announced on Tuesday by Columbia pictures.

The new film will introduce the funny characters to a new generation of fans.

Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation acquired the film rights to the Belgian-born characters from Lafig Belgium S.A. for a big-screen adaptation based on the “three-apple-high” beings.

Created by Peyo (Peirre Culliford) in “Le Journal de Spirou” titled “Johan and Pirlouit” (translated as “Johan and Peewit), the small creatures with blue skin, white trousers with a hole for their short tails, white hat in the style of a Phrygian cap, first appeared in a Belgian comic strip in 1958. The Smurfs live in houses made from mushrooms, or in houses built of stone that just look like mushrooms. The village is placed somewhere in the middle of a deep forest.

Colombia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation are ready to develop a hybrid live action/animated film, a similar “hybrid” treatment as the successful “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movie from 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.


Read more...




Back in November of 2006 (wow really?) I mentioned a favourite childhood cartoon of mine about little blue creatures known as The Smurfs (which as hard as it is to believe have been around for 50 years!).

More specifically I talked about the fact that the cartoon would be turned into a theatrical movie.

Well as you can see from the above article that idea is still being realized and, although they're getting closer there's still no final word on exactly when The Smurfs will hit the big screen.

I was really excited when I first heard about this, but now I'm not so sure. Not after seeing what was done to Alvin and the Chipmunks.

I think now I'm more of the opinion that some classics should be left alone. Still with all that said I guess introducing The Smurfs to a whole new generation of kids is not such a bad thing.

Especially considering the cartoons that are being offered to kids today, I would much rather go and see The Smurfs any day (no matter what format they're in) .

No comments: