The Smurfs (2016 TV series)

The Smurfs is an American-French traditionally-animated fantasy comedy-adventure television series based on the created by. Every episode contains two 7-minute The Smurfs segments (or one 22 minute segment) along with a 7-minute Johan and Peewit segment. The series is produced by and  in association with Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Television, airing on Cartoon Network, Boomerang and WB Kids (starting in 2019) in the United States and on  in France since April 8, 2016.

After two seasons, the show was put on a three-year hiatus. In 2020, a third season was announced and Sony Pictures Animation stated that it would be the final season produced for the show. The full 26-episode third season was split into three halves for broadcast, 8 episodes for (2021 in France, 2024 in the US), another 8 episodes for (2022 in France, 2025 in the US), and the last 10 episodes for (2023 in France, 2026 in the US).

The Smurfs
The Smurfs are little blue creatures that live in mushroom houses in a forest inhabited mainly by their own kind. The Smurfs average daily routine is avodving Gargamel, an evil wizard who wants to kidnap our little blue friends and absorb all of their blue essence to become the most powerful wizard in the world.

Johan and Peewit
The adventures of a tall, black-haired, brave knight and a short, blond-haired, gluttonous court jester in the Middle Ages.

Gargamel appears as the main antagonist to Johan and Peewit, while remaining his role in The Smurfs.

Pilot

 * 1) Battle Between Good and Evil - April 7, 2005 (France), May 11, 2005 (Canada)

Season 1

 * 1) The Smurfs Save Christmas (special) - December 21, 2015 (France), December 7, 2018 (US)
 * 2) Smurfberry Hunt/Johan and Peewit in: The Magic Dragon/Clumsy-napped - April 8, 2016 (France), April 14, 2019 (US)
 * 3) Too Many Smurfettes!/Johan and Peewit in: Curse of the Warlock/Azrael's Day Off - April 15, 2016 (France), April 21, 2019 (US)
 * 4) Lazy's Birthday Party/Johan and Peewit in: Whatever Happened to the King?/Attack of the Giant Grouchy Smurf - April 22, 2016 (France), April 28, 2019 (US)
 * 5) Papa Smurf Clone/Johan and Peewit in: Royal Ceremony/Smurfette's Big Day - April 29, 2016 (France), May 5, 2019 (US)
 * 6) Too Slow!/Johan and Peewit in: The Trial of Hero Training/The Devil Smurf - May 6, 2016 (France), May 12, 2019 (US)
 * 7) The Annual Smurfy Parade/Johan and Peewit in: Dueling Music Makers/Gargamel's Plan to Blue Essence - May 13, 2016 (France), May 19, 2019 (US)
 * 8) Smurfberries Coming to Life!/Johan and Peewit in: Attack of the Unruly Talking Raccoons/Mind Over Baker - May 20, 2016 (France), May 26, 2019 (US)
 * 9) Going Fishing/Johan and Peewit in: The Return of Maltrochu/Grouchy's Change of Heart - May 27, 2016 (France), June 2, 2019 (US)
 * 10) Smurfy Cheer!/Johan and Peewit in: Nightmare Fair/Smurf Detectives - June 3, 2016 (France), June 9, 2019 (US)
 * 11) The Magical Problem/Johan and Peewit in: The Rumor Raven/The Magical Blue Crystal - June 10, 2016 (France), June 16, 2019 (US)
 * 12) Grouchy Boils Over/Johan and Peewit in: Evil Dopplegangers/Night of the Blue Moon - June 17, 2016 (France), June 23, 2019 (US)
 * 13) Gargamel's Ultimate Revenge - June 24, 2016 (France), June 30, 2019 (US)

Season 2

 * 1) Valentine's Day in Smurf Village - February 14, 2017 (France), February 14, 2020 (US)
 * 2) Gargamel and the Magic Flute/Johan and Peewit in: The Origins of Peewit/The Smurfy Cook-Off - March 6, 2017 (France), March 4, 2020 (US)
 * 3) Garlic Rush/Johan and Peewit in: Castle Anthology/Marooned Smurfs - March 13, 2017 (France), March 11, 2020 (US)
 * 4) Smurfette The Great/Johan and Peewit in: A Horsecart Named Dame Barbara/Smurfy Endeavors - March 20, 2017 (France), March 18, 2020 (US)
 * 5) A Midsmurf Night's Fantasy/Johan and Peewit in: Goat-Napped/The Financial Smurf - March 27, 2017 (France), March 25, 2020 (US)
 * 6) Dark, Bewitched, and Gargameled/Johan and Peewit in: Treasure of the Lost Sovenirs/Here Comes Hogatha - April 3, 2017 (France), April 1, 2020 (US)
 * 7) Where Ravens Dare/Johan and Peewit in: The King's Secret/West Side Smurfs - April 10, 2017 (France), April 8, 2020 (US)
 * 8) Battle for the Village/Johan and Peewit in: Peewit the Dragonslayer/Where No Smurf Has Gone Before - April 17, 2017 (France), April 15, 2020 (US)
 * 9) Oh, What A Grouch/Johan and Peewit in: Savina, Come Back To Me/A Day with the Smurflings - April 24, 2017 (France), April 22, 2020 (US)
 * 10) The Smurfs Can Wait/Johan and Peewit in: Royal Appreciation Day/Scaredy's Nightmare - May 1, 2017 (France), April 29, 2020 (US)

Season 3
After a three-year hiatus, the series returned with a season of 8 episodes.
 * 1) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 2) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 3) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 4) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 5) Johan and Peewit in: Sword of Righteousness (half-hour special) - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 6) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 7) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 8) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)

Season 4
This season contains 8 more episodes leftover from the previous season.
 * 1) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 2) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 3) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 4) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 5) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 6) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 7) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 8) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)

Season 5
This season contains the last 10 episodes of season three.
 * 1) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 2) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 3) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 4) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 5) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 6) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 7) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 8) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 9) TBA/TBA/TBA - TBD (France), TBD (US)
 * 10) An Epic Final Battle Against Gargamel - TBD (France), TBD (US)

The Smurfs

 * Jeff Bergman as Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf
 * Billy West as Brainy Smurf and Clumsy Smurf
 * Joe Manganiello as Hefty Smurf
 * Frank Welker as Poet Smurf, Wild Smurf and Azrael
 * Maurice LaMarche as Greedy Smurf, Sweepy Smurf and Wooly Smurf
 * Jake Johnson as Grouchy Smurf
 * as Gutsy Smurf
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Hackus Smurf
 * Tom Kenny as Handy Smurf, Scaredy Smurf, Miner Smurf and Weepy Smurf
 * Rob Paulsen as Jokey Smurf, Lazy Smurf, Marco Smurf and Vanity Smurf
 * Bill Farmer as Chef Smurf, Sloppy Smurf and Architect Smurf
 * as Crazy Smurf
 * Wally Wingert as Painter Smurf and Baker Smurf
 * Jess Harnell as Harmony Smurf and Farmer Smurf
 * Charlie Adler as Natural Smurf
 * Jeff Bennett as Snappy Smurfling and Slouchy Smurfling
 * Demi Lovato as Smurfette
 * Grey Griffin as Vexy Smurf
 * Kath Soucie as Sassette
 * Nancy Cartwright as Baby Smurf
 * Russi Taylor as Nanny Smurf
 * Tress MacNeille as Hogatha
 * Tom Kane as Narrator Smurf

Johan and Peewit

 * Zachary Levi as Sir Johan
 * Jack McBrayer as Peewit
 * as The King
 * Mandy Moore as Princess Savina
 * Billy West as Homnibus
 * Hank Azaria as Gargamel
 * Frank Welker as Azrael
 * Tress MacNeille as Dame Barbara
 * Jeff Bennett as the Narrator
 * Jim Cummings as the Sword of Righteousness
 * Maurice LaMarche as the Baron of Maltrochu

Development
Sony had revisioned The Smurfs as a reboot to the 80s animated television series, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera, as early as 2004. And in 2005, Adelaide Productions and Paramount Television Animation developed and produced a pilot for the The Smurfs reboot together. Like the pilot for Kirby of the Stars, this pilot had no spoken dialogue and was made as a silent 4-minute long short with music and sound effects. The pilot was animated at Rough Draft Korea, and had more fluid animation, similar to Peyo's original drawing style, than Adelaide's other projects. Darguad Media and Xilam watched the pilot and greenlit the series for a first season in 2006. As production of the series began, Paramount had left to work on their other shows. Production of the series took eight years to complete, with the delayed show renewed for a second season in 2008. Both seasons were worked on simultaneously and the episodes were storyboarded and re-storyboarded for months.

In 2011, The Smurfs movie came out and they decided to add more characters, such as Gutsy, Crazy and Narrator Smurf. When the producers had decided to add segments featuring Peyo's other well-known work, Johan and Peewit like the 80s animated adaptation, Gargamel was added as their arch-enemy, while remaining his role in The Smurfs. Most Johan and Peewit segments recycled plots and created new ones in the same manner of the Earthworm Jim cartoon series (one of them being a half-hour special in Season 3) and Dave the Barbarian, due to Doug Langdale entering the series' production while retaining its storyline from the original comics. Around 2013, when The Smurfs 2 came out, Vexy and Hackus were added to the main cast as well.

The show continued development, until it finally reached its style of shading for the characters and beautiful background painting style of Disney cartoons from the 90s. The writing quality resulted in a mix between the original comics and the CG/traditional 2D animated specials produced by Sony Pictures Animation mostly.

Still under construction...

Writing
Still under construction...

Voices
Still under construction...

Animation
Still under construction...

Music
Still under construction...

Trivia

 * The series retains the comic book series art style, while the animation remains consistent and competent like Disney's animated shows of the 80s and the 90s.
 * Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS Entertainment), Wang Film Productions and Rough Draft Studios were the only three main studios to work on the series.
 * Other companies, such as Toon City Animation and Digital EMation, have worked on the series as well.
 * Most of the reboot characters previously appeared in the comics and in the animated television incarnation produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, as well as the two films produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
 * This is one of the few programs on WB Kids to be rated TV-G in some of the episodes.
 * With the release of Smurfs: The Lost Village, elements of the film were also incorporated into the series.
 * All of the characters from the original comics have their original characterizations in the 4-minute long pilot.
 * The art closely resembles Peyo's artwork as in the original comics. But with the notable exception of Gargamel and Azrael, Sir Johan and Peewit do not appear.
 * When Brainy Smurf is speaking his mind, you can hear the male voice of a 40s or 50s advertisement from radio recordings being sped up to sound like he is talking very fast. There was no planned lip-sync for the characters in the pilot episode.
 * When Gargamel laughs evilly, you can hear an archival recording from Paul Winchell's role as the character.
 * Rough Draft Korea (the overseas studio that animated the pilot) returned to work on the series.
 * Part of the voice cast reprise their roles from the television series and the films. Most of the other voices are provided by new actors and actresses.
 * One of Peewit's lines from the 80s version, "Later, always later!" is incorporated into the series.
 * Some The Smurfs segments are based off the comics from the late 90s to the early 2000s. These episodes have stayed a little more truer to the comics, with some major exceptions.
 * Brainy is lot more knowledgeable than his infamous unforgiving, know-it-all persona in the 80s television adaptation. He would become more tolerable in the later episodes of the first season (starting with the second episode), finally ditching Peyo's original characterization of Brainy altogether and more likely resembling the Hollywood Nerd personality used in the live-action/CGI duology and Smurfs: The Lost Village. His bragging about being Papa Smurf's second-in-command, being all about himself and earning their respect or proving how smart he is were all but dropped for the show, but still gets bonked in the head with a mallet or being thrown/kicked out of the village sometimes for speaking his mind.
 * Smurfette was more brave and confident than in the original comics and the 1980s animated television adaptation.
 * Grouchy appears to be more verbal and sarcastic, using his persona from The Smurfs live-action/CGI duology and Smurfs: The Lost Village. And actually speaks in full sentences besides saying "I hate..." as opposed to him in the original comics (after The Black Smurfs) and the 80s animated adaptation.
 * Originally, the third season was supposed to have 26 episodes. But France 3 split the season into three halves for one to air each year. Season 3 had 8 episodes. The next half had 8 episodes that were broadcasted another year as Season 4 and the last half had 10 episodes which were broadcasted the following year as Season 5.
 * Clumsy retains his Southern accent from the 80s animated adaptation.
 * The show was intended to pick up where Hanna-Barbera left off, but the old H-B writers were replaced by new writers such as Doug Langdale and Thomas Hart. The writing was instead made up of Disney's writers, and not Hanna-Barbera's. The animation was never as poor as how H-B's animation is, despite it being consistent and competent.
 * The fifth broadcast season would have included the time-travel storyline from the ninth season of the 80s animated adaptation, but this was rejected after Sony saw NBC's low ratings on H-B's final season of their version of The Smurfs.
 * Brainy seems to be more nicer and sympathetic than he was in the original comics before Peyo's death and the cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
 * Though he would sometimes get bonked in the head with a mallet for talking too much like his original comic book counterpart. It was phased out of the show in later episodes towards the end of the first season in favor of the classic recurring gag which Brainy gets kicked out of the village, actually recycling from the 1980s animated adaptation from Hanna-Barbera Productions.