The Smurfs (2016 animated film)

The Smurfs is a 2016 American computer-animated jukebox musical fantasy comedy-drama film, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Jim Henson Company, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 55th Disney animated feature film, based on the comic book series by Belgium cartoonist Peyo, it was directed by Byron Howard and Garth Jennings, co-directed by Jared Bush (in his film feature directorial), and Rich Moore, for a screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Bush, Phil Johnston, and for a story by Howard, Jennings, Bush, Aibel, Berger, and Jennifer Lee. The ensemble voice cast stars Jason Bateman, Neil Patrick Harris, Ginnifer Goodwin, Gary Oldman, Charlie Day, Reese Witherspoon, Katy Perry, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Dwayne Johnson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Peter Dinklage, Kevin Hart, Sofia Vergara, J. K. Simmons, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Jay Pharaoh, Leslie Jones, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Natasha Rothwell, Trey Parker, Liam Neeson, Neal McDonough, and Jim Carrey.

Voice Cast

 * Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde, a sly red fox who is a small-time con artist and the new VP of marketing at The Hank Croc Company.


 * Kath Soucie voices a younger Nick Wilde.


 * Neil Patrick Harris as Buster Moon, an optimistic koala who plans to save his theater from closure by holding a singing competition.


 * Gary Oldman as Papa Smurf, the leader of the Smurfs.


 * Jim Carrey as Gargamel, the arch-nemesis of the Smurfs who plots to use the Smurfs as part of a spell that would turn lead into gold. As opposed to the television show where Gargamel's goal is to use the Smurfs as the key ingredient in an alchemical formula to create the gold or eat them or destroy them, in the film he wants to capture them to serve as charms, "whose mystical essence will make his inept magic more powerful — and dangerous".


 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, a young optimistic rabbit from Bunnyburrow and a newly appointed member of the Zootopia Police Department, assigned to the 1st Precinct.


 * Charlie Day as Clumsy Smurf, the dimwitted but friendly smurf. Day commented on his character's personality change from the cartoon series saying, "I was familiar with Clumsy from the TV series, where he had that Southern twang. I went back and watched that, and then Howard, Lasseter and I talked about it. We decided to make Clumsy a little simpler, a little sweeter. His voice is pitched higher than my normal speaking voice – it's full of joy, optimism, and enthusiasm for life. Clumsy isn't trying to mess anything up for anybody — he's just clumsy, and actually, he's tired of being clumsy".


 * Katy Perry as Smurfette, the female of the Smurfs. About gaining the voice role, Perry said: "They had done a blind test where they took certain voices from previous interviews and matched them with the character. They liked my voice without even knowing who it was, and when they found out it was me, they thought that would work out. My personality was just a plus!"


 * Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, a pig who gave up her teenage music dreams to become a devoted housewife, and mother of 25 piglets


 * Seth MacFarlane as Mike, a white mouse street singer with a big Frank Sinatra-esque voice and an arrogant attitude


 * Dwayne Johnson as Gutsy Smurf, one of three Smurfs created specifically for the film and who is Scottish, wears a kilt and has sideburns. The character is also described as the "action-hero" of the film


 * Peter Dinklage as Grouchy Smurf, a smurf who is always grouchy.


 * Kevin Hart as Brainy Smurf, the smartest Smurf, below Papa Smurf. Quentin Tarantino was up to voice him, but dropped out.


 * Scarlett Johansson as Ash, a teenage porcupine punk rocker who takes part in an alternative-rock music duo with her boyfriend Lance


 * Danny McBride as Eddie Noodleman, a sheep and Buster's friend who doubts the future of the theater


 * Taron Egerton as Johnny, a teenage gorilla who wants to sing, though his father would rather have him follow his criminal footsteps


 * Tori Kelly as Meena, a teenage elephant with an exquisite voice and severe stage fright


 * Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, an African buffalo who is the police chief of the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.


 * Jenny Slate as Dawn Bellwether, a diminutive sheep who is the assistant mayor of Zootopia.


 * Trey Parker as Dr. Ivoshan


 * Sofia Vergara as Nana Noodleman, Eddie's grandmother who was a famous singer in her glory days


 * Jennifer Hudson as Young Nana


 * Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana with a glass eye who is Buster's administrative assistant


 * Nate Torrence as Benjamin Clawhauser, an obese cheetah who works as a dispatcher and desk sergeant for the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.


 * Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Hopps, a European rabbit from Bunnyburrow who is Judy Hopps' mother.


 * Don Lake as Stu Hopps, a European rabbit from Bunnyburrow who is Judy Hopps' father and a carrot farmer.


 * Natasha Rothwell as Rachel Hopps, a European rabbit from Bunnyburrow who is Judy Hopps' older sister who dislikes Nick and frequently attempts to encourage her parents and Judy to leave him.


 * Peter Serafinowicz as Big Daddy, a gorilla gang leader who wants his son Johnny to follow in his crime business


 * Nick Kroll as Gunter, a passionate dancing pig who is partnered with Rosita for the show


 * Sebastian Maniscalco as Handy Smurf, a hard-working smurf.


 * Tom Kenny as Jokey Smurf, a smurf who plays pranks on others.


 * Fred Tatasciore as Hefty Smurf, a strong smurf with a tattoo of a heart.


 * John Oliver as Vanity Smurf, a smurf who is obsessed with his looks.


 * Eric Bauza as Greedy Smurf, a smurf who loves smurfberries.


 * Eric Jacobson as Baker Smurf, a smurf who loves to bake.


 * Rob Riggle as Farmer Smurf, a smurf who is a farmer.


 * Wolfgang Puck as Chef Smurf, a smurf who loves to cook.


 * John Kassir as Crazy Smurf, the alarm for the village and the second Smurf created specifically for the film


 * Tom Kane as Narrator Smurf, a smurf with a deep narrator voice and the third Smurf created specifically for the film.


 * Beck Bennett as Lance, a porcupine and Ash's self-absorbed boyfriend


 * Neal McDonough as Major Bennington, a soldier tasked with assisting Ivoshan (whom he dislikes) in his efforts to capture Smurfs.


 * Jonah Hill as Agent Stone, a government agent who works for Robotnik.


 * Jay Pharoah as Meena's grandfather, who pressures her to overcome her stage fright


 * Nick Offerman as Norman, a pig and Rosita's workaholic husband


 * Leslie Jones as Meena's mother


 * Rhea Perlman as Judith, a brown llama from the bank who warns Buster that his theater will be repossessed if he does not pay


 * Laraine Newman as Meena's grandmother


 * Adam Buxton as Stan, a gorilla who is a member of Big Daddy's gang


 * Brad Morris as an unnamed baboon whom Mike attacks for not donating more money to his street performances


 * Bill Farmer as Bob, a dog who documents Buster's singing competition


 * Liam Neeson as Commander Walters, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who orders Ivoshan to investigate the power outage caused by Smurfs.


 * Frank Welker as Azrael, Gargamel's cat. Welker provided the voice of Hefty Smurf and other characters in the 1980s cartoon series.

The voices of Rosita and Norman's piglet children were provided by Oscar, Leo, Caspar, and Asa Jennings, the children of Garth Jennings. Jennings had directors Edgar Wright (as a goat) and Wes Anderson (as Daniel, a giraffe who auditions with the song "Ben") provide "additional voices", continuing a tradition of the three friends appearing in each other's films. An archival recording of Shooby Taylor, who died in 2003, singing "Stout-Hearted Men" was used for the singing voice of a hippopotamus.

Development
In 1997, producer Brian Henson sent the first "of a series of letters" to The Smurfs’ licensing agent Lafig Belgium expressing interest in making a feature film. Peyo's daughter Véronique Culliford and family had wanted to make a Smurfs film for years and said that Henson was the first person to pitch a film that shared their "vision and enthusiasm". In 2006, Henson said the film was planned to be a trilogy and would explain more of Gargamel's backstory. He stated, "We'll learn [more] about Gargamel and Smurf Soup and how all that began and what really goes on in that castle. What his backstory really was. There's an all-powerful wizard... there's all sorts of things that get revealed as we go along". Early animation footage was leaked on the internet in early 2008. The filmmakers were allowed to create three new Smurfs for the film – Narrator, Crazy, and Gutsy. In May 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group would produce a CGI animated film based on the book. But in November 2012, it was reported that Warner Animation Group cancelled the project.

In March 2013, it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios obtained the film rights from Lafig Belgium. In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter initially reported that Howard was directing the film and that Jason Bateman had been cast, but little else about the film was known at the time. The Smurfs was first officially announced on August 10, 2013, at the D23 Expo, with a July 2016 release date. On June 20, 2014, it was announced that Henson would be produced the film, making it the first Henson-produced film for Disney since Muppet Treasure Island. On November 2, 2015, it was announced that Michael Giacchino would compose the film's score, and Lin-Manuel Miranda would compose the film's songs.