The Smurfs (2016 film)

The Smurfs is a 2016 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy 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 series of the same name created by the Belgian comics artist Peyo, it was directed by Byron Howard and Garth Jennings, co-directed by Jared Bush (in his feature directorial debut), and produced by Clark Spencer and Brian Henson, from a screenplay written by Bush and Phil Johnston, and a story by Howard, Bush, Johnston, Pamela Ribon, Jim Reardon, Josie Trinidad, and Lee. The Smurfs must undergo adventures when the evil wizard Gargamel chases them from their beloved village to send them to our world, more precisely in the middle of a city where anthropomorphic mammals coexist. No taller than three apples, these blue beings must cross Zootopia, with a help of unlikely partnership between a rabbit police officer and a red fox con artist in an attempt to find a way home before Gargamel finds them.

The Smurfs was released on March 4, 2016. A sequel, titled The Smurfs 2, was released on November 24, 2021.

Voice Cast

 * 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, Nick's love interest.
 * Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde

Development
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. In June 2013, it announced that Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios and The Jim Henson Company obtained the film rights from Lafig Belgium. The Smurfswas officially announced on August 10, 2013, at the D23 Expo, with a March 2016 release date.

Research for the film took place in Disney's Animal Kingdom, as well as in Kenya and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where animators spent eight months studying various animals' walk cycles as well as fur color. Eight hundred thousand forms of mammals were created for and featured in the film. To make the characters' fur even more realistic, they also went to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to closely observe the appearance of fur with a microscope under a variety of lighting. The filmmakers drew inspiration for Zootopia 's urban design from major cities including New York City, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Brasília.o develop a city that could actually be inhabited by talking mammals ranging in size from two inches (5.1 cm) to 27 feet (8.2 m) and from drastically different climates, the filmmakers consulted Americans with Disabilities Act specialists and HVAC system designers. To develop a city that could actually be inhabited by talking mammals ranging in size from two inches (5.1 cm) to 27 feet (8.2 m) and from drastically different climates, the filmmakers consulted Americans with Disabilities Act specialists and HVAC system designers. For assistance with designing motor vehicles appropriate for so many different types and sizes of mammals, the filmmakers consulted with J Mays, former chief creative officer of the Ford Motor Company. During the development process, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn suggested that Nick should expressly state his disappointment ("Just when I thought someone actually believed in me...") after discovering that Judy still fears him as a predator. In March 2015, it was revealed that Garth Jennings (The Hitcchiker's Guide to the galaxy) had been added as a director of the film, in addition to Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero) as co-director.