When examined with even the slightest bit of scrutiny, the Smurfs have even less personality and distinction than the California Raisins, though they occupy roughly similar places in the pop-culture universe, as artifacts from the 1980s that launched seemingly millions of now ironically hilarious pieces of merchandising. The Raisins, though, were always supposed to be a marketing tool, whereas the Smurfs were presumably meant to involve children in their fantastic world (later bombed to oblivion). For that reason, they haven’t aged particularly well, which is evidenced quite clearly in this Holiday Special set, which contains not one but two of their Christmas programs.
The Smurfs' Holiday Special follows the Smurfs as they try to prepare the Smurf village for Christmas, while simultaneously trying to protect two children who have gotten lost in the magical forest that they call home. Unfortunately, they are the subject of not only the villainous Gargamel, but another stranger to the forest, a legitimate threat who can manifest fire at will, but is apparently subject to the Smurfs’ goodness song. ‘Tis the Season To Be Smurfy was clearly produced a number of years later, and features a few additional Smurfs, with the most screen-time given to Grandpa Smurf, Sassette, and Wild Wild Smurf, who is unfamiliar with Christmas and is unable to speak anything other than gibberish. This time, they are looking to save Christmas for an old puppet-maker and his sick wife; this task largely falls to the three newest Smurfs, as the rest of them are too wrapped up in the technicalities of the holiday.
Of the two 'Tis the Season is the more appropriate for children, as it is more visually sophisticated and less outright creepy, as the climax of the Holiday special could easily frighten some of the inetended audience. But on the whole, this set may be most successful among those who were children when they first aired, and whose interest in the set is mostly nostalgic. To those unfamiliar with the Smurfs, it is perhaps unlikely that this set will create any converts without benefit of a massive pop-cultural juggernaut to persuade them (that said, the recent set may generate enough interest to make this worthwhile for your children).
SPECIAL FEATURES
A trailer for a new Peanuts film.
"The Smurfs: Holiday Celebration" is on sale November 8, 2011 and is not rated. Animation. Directed by Gerard Baldwin. Written by Gerard Baldwin,. Starring Charles Adler, Don Messick, Jonathan Winters, Lucille Bliss, Paul Winchell, Rene Auberjonois, Danny Goldman, Hamilton Camp.
