SCHTROUMPF...?! WHAT?
Why Schtroumpf? Why this strange original name (in the French text)? Simply because in search of a name for the cute little dwarfs he just drew, Peyo (real name: Pierre Culliford), wanted to find a name with derision. Finally it was something approaching the German word for socks: Strumpf. As the word was difficult to read for non-Germans, and due to the rather dumb signification, deterioration gave the famous Schtroumpf!! (Pronounced: Ch-Trough-mm-ppff)

THE SMURF ERA
In fact these strange little blue men were at first a secondary set of characters for another series from Peyo: Johan and Pirlouit. This series was a kind of medieval farce with a cohort of interesting characters. Amongst them: Pirlouit, small page accomplice of Johan, always ready for a good laugh when not temperamental. The Johan and Pirlouit series was rather successful when suddenly in 1958 in one of the stories: La flute à six Trous- little blue dwarfs were everywhere. The Schtroumpf era had began.

THE SMURFS GO TO MOVIES!
They were so well liked by the public that Peyo and his team of artists (among them a young guy named Walthéry that will become one of the major Belgian artists a few years later) had to create in a hurry a special series in the early sixties dedicated only to the Smurfs. It was immediately a hit at the European level: well built scripts, tongue in the cheek criticism of the weaknesses of the human nature, little theater of the human comedy, cute characters, and appealing drawings. Everything was there to make it one of the phenomenal success of comics in Europe. It was so big that a few years later (early seventies), a full feature animated cartoon was realized for the cinema in Belgium: La Flute à Six Schtoumpfs - Schtroumpf in the title was the funny use of the name of the little blue men as replacement word for names, verbs and other words; this is the way the Smurfs were speaking in their original adventures written in French. And believe me Belgian animated cartoons were rare things by lack of funds (not lack of talents, because two studios in Brussels were working on animated cartoons for foreign clients).

3D SMURFS??!!
Advertisement companies in Belgium, Holland and France were quickly aware of the potential of the Smurfs to draw the interest of the public. The end of the sixties and seventies saw the Smurfs everywhere. Until a German company producing latex gadgets started to produce under license small latex figurines of the Schtroumpfs/Smurfs. An instant success going rapidly to a craze in the middle of the seventies. A few models of Smurf figurines were not enough to satisfy the demand, more was the motto. Therefore Schtoumpfs with all sort of attitude and an impressive diversity of accessories were casted for the kids... and the already emerging collectors!

SMURFS GOES ON AMERICAN T.V.!!!
Middle of the seventies, in the middle or the wave of Schtoumpfomania in Europe, American businessmen visiting the continent were amazed by the success of the little blue Schtoumpfs (known as Smurfs in English). They took them to Hollywood which sent them as a cartoon series to TV through the magic of Hanna and Barbera. Peyo followed himself the Americanization of his Schtoumpfs, insuring that their world was kept intact, as well as their behaviors. He kept a very close eye to the scripts and Hollywood did a good job by keeping the drawings in the original ways. It was an immediate success...again! The TV series gave also birth to a second generation of books, directly aimed to younger kids and taking inspiration from the TV series. The figurines hit the American market as well...and American collectors seem now to be amongst the most interested to keep it going. Many sites on the WEB dedicated to the Smurfs will emphasize the Smurf figurines against any other form of Smurf representation.

IT'S A SMURF, SMURF'S WORLD?
The village of the Smurfs was apparently inhabited by male Smurfs only... One of the very controversial addition to this peaceful community was a Smurfette. This to prove that Peyo did not try to create a too Utopian world for his Schtoumpfs. The Smurfette certainly injected some new source for agitation and arguments in Smurfland. This gave at least a feminine touch to the following Smurfs Comics series (issued in Europe first).

(C)1996 E.Borgers