Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs (partially found Belgian animated film; 1965)

The Smurfs as they looked in the 1960s series.

Status: Partially Found

In 1958, Peyo (Pierre Culliford) created the popular The Smurfs (originally, "Les Schtroumpfs") where they first appeared on a Belgium comic Johan and Peewit (known as "Johan et Pirlouit" in Walloon and French) story "La Flûte à six trous" ("The Flute with Six Holes" in English). A few years later, The Smurfs made their animation debut in a TV series called Les Schtroumpfs ^[1] which aired from 1961-1965 throughout Western Europe (such as The Netherlands, West Germany ^[2], Austria, and Belgium). The first animated adaptation of The Smurfs started production in 1959.

Information

In 1965, a 90-minute black-and-white animated film was made called Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs (The Adventures of the Smurfs). It was the first animated production to feature The Smurfs.^[3] The film itself used five episodes from the 1961 series Les Schtroumpfs.

The character design is based on the early art style of the first Smurfs comic stories, featuring slightly more angular bodies and the eyes often turning into small dots. The animation is also very limited, even by 1960s cartoon standards. The 1960s series used cutout animation for animating the characters.

In 1965, a vinyl record for the series was released in Belgium called "V'la Les Schtroumpfs" ("Here The Smurfs"). Side A contained the show's theme song "La Les Schtroumpfs (La Marche Des Schtroumpfs)" ("The Smurfs (The March Of The Smurfs") in English) ^[4], while Side B contained the series' background music "Schtroumpf Laïtou (La Valse Des Schtroumpfs)" ("The Waltz of The Smurfs" in English) ^[5]. To date, the record was the only thing related to the 1961 series that gained a physical release making the record extremely rare in both France and Belgium.

Parts of the film/TV series can be seen on display at the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels, Belgium (birthplace of series creator Pierre Culliford "Peyo") at a permanent Smurfs exhibit that was added to the museum to commemorate the franchise's 50th Anniversary in 2008.

On October 31, 2022, it was revealed that IMPS and LAFIG Belgium made a deal with OTTera to launch a FAST channel known as "Smurfs TV" featuring the 1960 series ^[6] as well as the 1981 TV series (except for the US due to licensing issues concerning Warner Bros. currently holding the rights on hosting the 1981 TV series in the region). Another article further explained that it will be featured on connected TVs including Xiaomi, Plex, Huawei, VIDAA, TCL etc. ^[7]

Findings

On October 23, 2023, IMPS and Peyo Productions announced that seven episodes from the 1961 series would get uploaded exclusively to the official French Smurfs Youtube channel fully restored complete with a trailer ^[8]. Each episode would get uploaded on Sundays on a weekly basis. The first episode to get uploaded was "The Smurfnapper" ^[9] followed by "The Flying Smurf" on November 3, 2023. ^[10]

The Segments

Smurfnapped

A Smurf gets captured by Gargamel.

The Fake Smurf

Gargamel gets turned into a Smurf as he seeks revenge after The Smurfs foil his plan to use one of them to turn base metals into gold.

The Flute Smurf

Jokey creates a magic flute for himself as he uses it to play tricks and cause trouble with other Smurfs in the village.

The Smurfs and the Magic Egg

The Smurfs discover a magic egg.

The Black Smurfs

A contagious disease terrorizes the village.

The Smurfs and the Dragon

The Smurfs befriend a domesticated dragon.

The Flying Smurf

One of the Smurfs attempts to fly like a bird.

Gallery

Footage

Remaster of "The Black Smurfs" Episode

Official remaster of the episode "The Smurfnapper".

The 1960s adaptation of "The Flying Smurf"

Remaster of "The Egg and The Smurfs"

Remaster of "The Smurfs and the Dragon"

Images

Behind-the-scenes photo showing animation cells for The Smurfs.
Screenshot of "The Smurfs and the Dragon".
Screenshot of "The Fake Smurf".
Another photo of "The Smurfs and the Dragon".
Screenshot from "The Smurfs and the Magic Egg".
Another Screenshot from "The Smurfs and the Magic Egg".
Screenshot of the episode "Smurfnapped" showing Gargamel and Azrael.
Brainy witnessing Gargamel capturing another Smurf from "Smurfnapped".
During The Smurfs 60th Anniversary, the Official French Youtube channel briefly showed a clip of the 1960s series. The footage itself is of better quality compared to other videos of the series.
Screenshot from "The Black Smurfs".
Front cover of "Le Vals et La Marche Des Schtroumpfs" featuring a Smurf singing the 1960s' show's theme song.
Back cover of the 1965 record for the series featuring a Smurf, Papa Smurf, and a Black Smurf. The back discusses the franchise's origins and the development of the series.