Boy, did that get our juices flowing! I contacted A&A for confirmation, and was told "The company that owns the Smurfs is planning to make a 3D series and/or feature film. They [IMPS] are based in Belgium and have bought Discreet 3ds max and Alias | Wavefront Maya 3D software from A&A Computer systems to make this production. They are now in pre-production and already made a pilot film, but nothing has been released yet, it's still all top secret. The press release last year is the only official announcement A&A was allowed to spread. I'm sorry, that's about all I can share, but I can assure you the 3D Smurfs are gorgeous and you'll be seeing more of them later on..."

Fantastic! Our next opportunity to learn more came when MushroomVillage.com attended the 23rd annual Intl. Licensing & Merchandising Expo held on June 10-12 2003 at the Jacob K. Javits convention center in New York City. What a show! I especially enjoyed the area showcasing cartoon characters and noted a number of 80's icons were present and ready to strike up new licensing and merchandising deals as part of an anticipated 80's comeback - including IMPS and the Smurfs!

IMPS (which is owned by Peyo's daughter Véronique) handles licensing rights to the Smurfs name and likeness on behalf of Studio Peyo. Their area was closed in by wall-sized vinyl banners. Each of the "walls" featured Smurfy artwork - one of which really caught my eye:

The picture is a little dark, but I think you can make it out. "NEW!" is printed at the top, right corner. On it, a normal Smurf steps through a film strip. The Smurf is a computerized, vector graphic model on the left side of the film, and on the other side, he is "fleshed-out," in "3-D!"

After I confronted IMPS, they confirmed that there *is* a new Smurf movie in the works, but they would not tell me anything about the movie - what role the A&A software played, what the movie is about, when it would appear in theatres...it is all top secret!!

The next 12 months revealed very little reliable information - rumors flew of a comeback: new cartoon series, new movie, new video games, theme park attractions, video re-releases of the Hanna Barbera cartoons, even fast food promotions! Most of this information was unverifiable rumor, but we couldn't help hope that it was rooted in fact. Meanwhile, reliable sources did confirm "something" was in the works, but would not provide any details.

Finally the 2004 Licensing show rolled around! I was a little dishearted to see that the 3-D banner had been replaced by banners of the traditional Peyo Line Art Smurfs. The rep I spoke with this time seemed very hesitant to share details with me, and would not conclusively state that a Smurf movie was coming, but she did indicate that there was a U.S. movie in the works, but would not provide a realease date, or even confirm if it had been picked up by any studios. "A movie," she said "takes years to make." However, she did let me know something was happening, but said I'd have to just wait a few weeks to find out!

Member Andrew Somer (Baldwin, New York) also attended the show, and spotted the Smurfs on the cover of the 2004 "Guide to the Licensing World," a pricy publication for the licensing trade that lists the identities and contact information of every owner of character licenses. It makes sense that Smurfs would be featured, they are perhaps the most successful licensed character ever. But that's not why they are on the cover - you have to pay to be put on the cover! Hmmm...why is IMPS paying (big money no doubt) to put the Smurfs in the face of the Licensing Industry now? Andrew has also found out that they have already secured the cover for the 2005 edition as well!

Could this all be part of their plan to make a comeback in the US? IMPS did tell me last year that when ("if," according to the woman I spoke to this year...) the movie comes, it will be accompanied by all sorts of licensed Smurf stuff. "We always do things big" he said.

This seems like a good way to start! Since the show, MushroomVillage.com has become aware of just one new licensed product for the U.S. market; Smurf T-shirts that were spotted being test marketed in Target stores by member Dustin Combs (Dayton Ohio) earlier this Summer. But Smurf fans everywhere remain hopeful the Smurfs will return!