Deep in an imaginary forest, a tribe of blue-skinned creatures in soft white skullies frolics in a community of mushroom-shaped cottages. No, this is not your brain on drugs. It’s the Smurfs—the adorable elfin folk who infiltrated American pop culture in the ’80s with their kid-friendly notions of a society based on equality, fairness, and respect, especially for Mother Nature.

Created by Belgian cartoonist Pierre “Peyo” Culliford, who died in 1992, the Smurfs were first loosed on the world in 1958 as comic-book characters. At a time of both growing prosperity and Cold War tensions, Europeans embraced Peyo’s Smurfy vision of a utopian socialist village. Inevitably, the wheels of merchandising were set in motion. Smurf albums were recorded, and The Smurfs and the Magic Flute movie (with music by Michel Legrand) was released in Europe in 1975, eight years before its U.S. debut. In 1981, the Smurfs Saturday-morning TV series was launched Stateside on NBC. The number one–rated show (which, at its peak, drew more viewers than Dallas) ran for nine seasons and spawned a generation of toys, an Atari game, and even a theme park in France.

The Smurfs also earned appreciation in unexpected quarters. In 1982, New York City graffiti legend SEEN, recognizing that the characters’ bright primary colors and supple shapes lent themselves perfectly to his work, spray-painted Jokey Smurf delivering his trademark gift bomb on the No. 6 train. That same year, D.C. funk artist Tyrone Brunson released “The Smurf,” which hit number 14 on Billboard's R&B singles chart, spawning oodles of Smurf-related dance records. Meanwhile, a break-era dance of the same name became a staple at house parties and clubs across the nation. Both new to the American public, hip hop and the Smurfs got along splendidly.