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, Rich Moore, and Garth Jennings, co-directed by Jared Bush (in his film feature directorial debut), John Musker, Rob Clements, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, 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, Dustin Hoffman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Tika Sumpter, 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, John Cusack, Leslie Jones, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph,Chris "Ludacris" Bridges Natasha Rothwell, Trey Parker, Liam Neeson, Neal McDonough, and Jim Carrey. The Smurfs must go undergoes with the help of unlikely friendship Nick Wilde and Buster Moon to get back home from Gargamel and the agents.

After five years of negotiations, Brian Henson bought the rights in 2002, and the film entered development with DreamWorks Animation and Pacific Data Images, but DreamWorks cancelled the project, until Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios obtained the film rights in 2013.

The Smurfs premiered at the Brussels Animation Film Festival in Belgium on February 13, 2016, and went into general theatrical release in Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX formats in the United States on July 29. The Smurfs received positive reviews from critics, who praised its screenplay, animation, voice acting, subject matter, and Michael Giacchino's musical score. The film features more than 60 songs from famous artists, mostly performed diegetically. The film opened to record-breaking box offices in several countries, and earned a worldwide gross of over $1.34 billions, making it the highest-grossing film of 2016 and was Walt Disney Animation Studios highest-grossing film until it was overtaken by The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2017). The film earned numerous accolades; it was named one of the top ten best films of 2016 by the American Film Institute, and received Best Animated Feature at the 89th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. This film was dedicated to Nine Culliford, wife of Peyo, who died on July 5, 2016, before the film was released.

A sequel, titled The Smurfs 2, was released on June 22, 2022, a live-action adaptation was released on December 22, 2023, a Pixar film, was released on March 1, 2024, and the third film, titled The Smurfs 3 was scheduled on February 14, 2025.

Plot
In Smurf Village, the Smurfs prepare for the Festival of the Blue Moon. Papa Smurf sees a vision of Clumsy Smurf reaching for a dragon wand and evil wizard Gargamel capturing the Smurfs. In a world populated by anthropomorphic mammals of Zootopia, con artist fox Nick Wilde along with her sister doctor Maddie Wilde, he is working with Hank Croc, koala Buster Moon owns a struggling theater, and is threatened with foreclosure by bank representative llama Judith. Shortly after, Clumsy leaves to pick smurfroot and ends up leading Gargamel into the village. Afterwards, Nick meets Judy Hopps at ice cream shop, who is assigned parking duty by Chief Bogo, when a baby elephant want a jumbo pop, with Judy relating to Nick's desire for friends. The Smurfs flee and Clumsy unknowingly runs for the Forbidden Falls, with Papa, Smurfette, Grouchy, Brainy and Gutsy going after him. The Blue Moon appears and creates a vortex that spirits them to Zootopia. Gargamel and his pet cat Azrael follow them. In the meantime, Judy tells to Nick that before she is a quirky aspiring filmmaker in Bunnyburrow who often clashes with her nature-obsessed and technophobic father Rick and has recently been accepted in the ZPD. The evening before Judy leaves, Rick accidentally breaks her laptop after a fight over one of her previous short films, leading the family to fear their relationship will permanently be strained.

Buster decides to hold a singing competition with a prize of $1,000, but a typo made by his elderly assistant iguana Miss Crawly adds two extra zeros to the prize money. The misprinted flyers are blown out of the window by a fan before they can be proofread, and float across the city.

The Smurfs end up in the apartment of Judy and Nick. After they explain their situation, Judy & Nick befriend them and allow them to stay in their apartment. The same time, it causes a massive power outage across the Pacific Northwest. The Department of Defense reluctantly enlists the services of eccentric roboticist and scientific genius Dr. Ivoshan and C.O.V.N.E.T agents, a top secret national security facility disguised as a cement factory, whose mission is to investigate threats of extraterrestrial attacks, and to determine the cause. The next day, needing to find a "stargazer", the Smurfs follow Nick to his workplace at The Hank Croc Company, believing he is a fortune-teller. Crowds of animals gather to audition, and Buster selects his contestants. Among them are housewife and mother of 25 piglets Rosita; punk-rock porcupine Ash; teenage gorilla Johnny, son of a criminal gang leader named Big Daddy; street musician mouse Mike; and an exuberant pig named Gunter; and Judy will works with Buster. Teenage elephant Meena fails her audition due to stage fright, Ash's self-absorbed boyfriend and co-auditionee Lance is upset to be dismissed from the contest, and Rosita is paired with Gunter for a dance routine. After Buster discovers the flyers advertise a prize of $100,000, he joins his friend sheep Eddie on a visit to Eddie's wealthy grandmother, former theater superstar Nana Noodleman. Nana is reluctant to sponsor the prize money, but agrees to attend a private preview of the show before making a decision.

Pressured by her grandfather, Meena attempts to request a second audition, but settles on being Buster's stagehand instead. After some acts withdraw from the competition, Meena is offered a spot in the show, but again struggles to overcome her fear. Further problems soon arise. Rosita flounders in her dance routine with Gunter, believing her motherly duties have caused her to lose her passion. However, Shan discovers Smurfs on social media. He contacts the police, falsely claiming that Smurfs is illegally aliens, and leads a citywide manhunt for him. COVNET henchmen after the former refuses the businessman’s bribe. Nick and Judy are confronted by Ivoshan, who falsely labels Nick a domestic terrorist. Lance cheats on Ash, causing her to break up with him, and later to break down crying during a rehearsal. Mike, assuming he will win the competition, takes out a massive loan from the bank to buy a flashy car and swindles a group of bears in a card game. Johnny, forced by Big Daddy to partake in a heist as a getaway driver, sneaks away to a rehearsal. Traffic prevents Johnny from returning to the heist in time, resulting in the arrest and incarceration of Big Daddy and his gang, straining their relationship.

After an accident causes stage lights to fall and break, Buster has the stage rebuilt and fills a glass tank with water so that luminescent squids can be used to light the stage. Desperate, Johnny attempts to steal the prize money for his father's bail, but when he sees a note on Buster's desk praising his talents, Johnny resolves to focus on his musical career instead. Meanwhile, Gargamel extracts Smurf essence from a lock of Smurfette's hair and impresses Nick's boss, Hank, by using the essence to restore her elderly father's youth. At the same time, Rosita regains her passion for dancing while grocery shopping, and Ash composes a song that Buster likes.

Upon recognizing Nick, Gargamel chases him and the Smurfs into the Toy Store and causes chaos while trying to catch them, even C.O.V.N.E.T. agents. Gargamel is arrested and jailed, but manages to escapes the prison with the aid of a swarm of flies. On the day of the preview, the bears Mike had cheated, locate him, and demand their money back. Mike directs them to Buster; the bears break open the prize chest, but it is nowhere near $100,000. Shocked by the lack of money, the rest of the contestants question Buster, and the squid tank shatters under everyone's weight. The flooded theater implodes and Judith repossesses the lot, while a disheartened Buster takes up residence with Eddie and supports himself by washing cars. Papa manages to calculate the night he and the others can return home, but needs to work out a spell. Nick reveals to Judy that he became a con artist because, as a child, he tried to join the Junior Ranger Scouts, but was bullied and rejected simply for being a fox. Linda reveals to Nick that she and Rick had originally lived in a cabin in the mountains years ago as it was his lifelong dream before he gave up on it to provide for their growing family.

Meanwhile, Ivoshan, discovering that one of Smurf's essences holds an almost limitless amount of electrical energy, plans to capture Smurfs to use his powers for his machines. While the Smurfs bond with Nick and Judy, Papa decides to search a nearby bookstore in order to locate the spell. However, he angrily tells Clumsy that send the wrong files, but Judy is disappointed with Nick, how Clumsy made a mistake. The Smurfs find the book L’Histoire des Schtroumpfs by researcher Peyo, containing the spell to turn the moon blue. Gargamel sneaks into the bookstore and finds a dragon wand, transferring his magic into it and uses it to capture Papa. In the meantime, Rick reflects on his actions after seeing one of Judy's videos that mirrors his relationship with Judy. Maddie soon learns Culliford did not die.

Judy discovers Rick's recordings of her childhood on her camera, realizing that Rick gave up on his lifelong dream to give his daughter a normal life. Meena goes to the rubble of the theater and sings out loud to music on her headphones, inspiring Buster and Judy to stage an outdoor show. Despite this, Nick tells Hank that he created the Blue Moon ad. After increasing the wand's power with Smurf essence extracted from Papa's DNA, Gargamel is confronted by the entire Smurf village, having been summoned by the blue moon which opened the portal to their world. Despite attempts from Judith to halt the show, it takes place on the lot of the former theater, with Meena's and Rosita's families in attendance. More animals are drawn into the audience when the show is broadcast live on the local news. Rosita's husband Norman is roused by his wife's talent, Big Daddy breaks out of prison and travels to the lot to reconcile with Johnny and apologize, Lance is impressed by Ash's original rock song "Set It All Free," the bears find Mike and chase him away, as the Smurf army battles Gargamel, Smurfette defeats Azrael and saves Papa. Gargamel is knocked out by Nick, who drops the dragon wand in the process. Meena overcomes her stage fright and gives an enthusiastic performance, and Clumsy tries to catch it, and to Papa's surprise, is successful and sends Gargamel flying into the path of a bus, carrying him away. Judy reunites with Culliford and desperately seeks his aid as a large crowd gathers. He tells her he can’t do anything with the Smurfs. Culliford advises Nick to advocate for Smurfs and himself, and that being different is a gift. Nick explains to everyone the importance of love, regardless of differences. However, Ivoshan, who arrived right after Nick finished her monologue, orders the police chief to see who Smurfs's owner is by scanning an ID chip his scientists secretly implanted earlier. When the chip identifies Nick, Buster, Judy, Maddie and Emily as Smurts's rightful owner, the police inform him that he will be fined for lying to them and wasting police resources. Packard reverses the family’s eviction, making the Smurfs his new family. The Smurfs bid Nick, Buster and Judy farewell and return to Smurf Village. The show is a success and impresses Nana who was in the audience.

A month later, Judy and Nick get married and get a baby, whom they name Blue. Even Buster and Maddie have a baby name Moon, even the government erases all evidence of the events, including records of Ivoshan's existence. She purchases the lot, and the theater is rebuilt and reopened, and the Smurfs rebuild their village in the style of Zootopia.

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.
 * Dustin Hoffman 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 and Nick's love interest, and later wife.
 * Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wilde, Nick's sister.
 * 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
 * Chris "Ludacris" Bridges 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
 * Danny McBride as Rick Hopps, a European rabbit from Bunnyburrow, who is the nature-obsessed and carrot farmer father of Judy, Rachel and Aaron, and Linda's husband
 * Maya Rudolph as Linda Hopps, a European rabbit from Bunnyburrow, who is the mother of Judy, Rachel and Aaron, Rick's wife and a carrot farm.
 * Mike Rianda as Aaron Hopps, the dinosaur-loving son of Rick and Linda, and Judy and Rachel's younger brother
 * 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
 * Tommy Chong as Yax, a laid-back domestic yak who owns the naturist club Mystic Springs Oasis in Sahara Square
 * J. K. Simmons as Mayor Lionheart, a lion who is the noble, but pompous Mayor of Zootopia.
 * Steve Martin as Hank Croc, the leader of The Hank Croc Company who is Nick's boss.
 * Nate Torrence as Benjamin Clawhauser, an obese cheetah who works as a dispatcher and desk sergeant for the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.
 * Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana with a glass eye who is Buster's administrative assistant
 * 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
 * Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton, a small-time least weasel crook also known for selling bootleg DVDs.
 * Shakira as Gazelle, a Thomson's gazelle who is a famous pop star. Shakira also voices Gazelle in the Spain and Latin America Spanish dubs.
 * Maurice LaMarche as Mr. Big, an Arctic shrew who is the most fearsome crime boss in Tundratown and is served by a group of polar bears.
 * Leah Latham as Fru Fru, an arctic shrew and Mr. Big's daughter who befriends Judy after Judy saves her from a runaway Donut sign in Little Rodentia. She also makes Judy the Godmother and namesake of her daughter.
 * John DiMaggio as Jerry Jumbeaux Jr., an ill-tempered African elephant who owns an ice cream parlor called Jumbeaux's Café, frequented by elephants and other larger mammals.
 * Gita Reddy as Nangi, an Indian elephant who works as a yoga instructor at Mystic Springs Oasis
 * Josh Dallas as an unnamed frantic domestic pig who frantically asks Judy for help after his "Flora and Fauna" flower shop is robbed by Duke Weaselton.
 * Nick Kroll as Gunter, a passionate dancing pig who is partnered with Rosita for the show
 * Tom Lister Jr. as Finnick, a fennec fox who is Nick's partner in crime and friend.
 * 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.
 * Will Arnett 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.
 * Clancy Brown 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.
 * Rich Moore as Henri, Hank's assistant friend of The Hank Croc Company.
 * 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.
 * Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone, a government agent who works for Ivoshan.
 * John Cusack 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
 * Raymond S. Persi as Flash, the "fastest" three-toed sloth in the DMV (short for Department of Mammal Vehicles).
 * 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.
 * Byron Howard as Bucky Oryx-Antlerson, a greater kudu who is Nick Wilde and Maddie Wilde' neighbor and Pronk's husband.
 * Jared Bush as Pronk Oryx-Antlerson, a gemsbok who is Nick Wilde and Maddie Wilde' neighbor and Bucky's husband.
 * John Lavelle as the unnamed construction mouse foreman of Little Rodentia's construction crew who receives the Pawpsicle sticks from Nick and Finnick.
 * Mark Rhino Smith as Officer McHorn, a black rhinoceros police officer who is part of the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct.
 * Phil Johnston as the voices an angry offscreen character who states that his taxes pay Judy's salary after she gives him a parking ticket.
 * Kristen Bell as Priscilla, a three-toed sloth and Flash's co-worker at the DMV.
 * Chris Sanders as Stitch, a blue koala-like, but not alien genetic experiment known as Experiment 626, who is Nick and Maddie pet. He is described as "[u]nruly, impulsive, and freakishly strong; he's a furry, ugly-cute wrecking ball seemingly bent on destroying everything in his path." Sanders reprises the role he originated in the 2002 animated film.
 * 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. Matt Vogel, Bill Barretta, Bret Iwan, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Faggerbake, Bill Barretta, Brian Henson, David Rudman, Scott Menville, Tara Strong, Dave Goelz, Tony Hale, Daniel Ross, and Charles Fleischer make cameos in the film.

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 DreamWorks Animation and Pacific Data Images would produce a CGI animated film based on the book. But in November 2012, it was reported that DreamWorks Animation was 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.

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. To develop a city that could actually be inhabited by talking mammals ranging in size from 2 in to 27 ft 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. 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. By November 2014, Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri had been joined and brought on board as an executive producer of multiple sequels The Smurfs. In March 2015, it was revealed that Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) had been added as a director of the film, in addition to Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero), John Musker, Rob Clements (collaborate Treasure Planet and The Princess and The Frog), Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois (collaborate Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon) as co-director. By May 2015, Ed Skudder confirm that he will be co-head of story with Josie Trinidad and Jim Reardon.

Writing
Development of the film that would come to be called The Smurfs began when Byron Howard and Brian Henson pitched six story ideas to Disney Animation chief creative officer and executive producer John Lasseter, of which three involved animal characters: an all-animal adaptation of The Three Musketeers, a 1960s-themed story about a "mad doctor cat...who turned children into animals", and a "bounty hunter pug in space". The common thread running through these ideas was that Howard wanted to do a film similar to Disney's Robin Hood, which also featured animals in anthropomorphic roles. According to Howard, Zootopia emerged from his desire to create something different from other animal anthropomorphic films, where animals either live in the natural world or in the human world.

His concept, in which animals live in a modern world designed by animals for animals, was well received by Lasseter, who responded by embracing and lifting Howard "in the air like a baby Simba". Howard and Bush continued to develop the film with the assistance of the Disney Story Trust, the studio's top creative personnel who meet regularly to review and discuss all projects in development. The most delightful part of the spy film turned out to be its first act, set in a city created by and for animals. To focus on the all-animal city, Howard eventually dropped the 1960s setting, along with the espionage and international aspects, which Nick Wilde, Buster Moon and Papa Smurf in lead roles and Judy Hopps was essentially Nick's love interest and friend even Maddie Wilde was essentially Buster's love interest.

Casting
On January 14, 2015, Neil Patrick Harris was cast in the film's second lead voice role. On May 6, 2015, Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin were announced as having been cast, respectively, in the roles of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps. The filmmakers chose Bateman because they wanted an actor who could bring "a funny yet heartfelt side" with "a wily, dry-witted sort of voice". Bateman described his character as "a crafty, sarcastic schemer", remarking on the role's similarity to many other roles he had done since he was 12. He explained that he had said to the directors: "'What kind of voice do you guys want me to do?' And they just looked at me like I was an idiot and said, 'Just do what you do. Just talk.'" He described Nick as "a big Alex the Lion mixed with Kermit the Frog, Po and Gru".

Commenting on the casting of Goodwin, Moore said that she brought "very centered sweetness, tremendous heart and a great sense of humor"; he described Judy as "a little Pollyanna mixed with Furiosa". Goodwin stated about her character: "People mistake kindness for naïveté or stupidity, and she is a good girl through and through, even she is creativity. But she's not a dumb bunny." This was followed by casting announcements for Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Rianda on the next day. On June 17, 2015, Tika Sumpter was cast as Nick's sister Maddie, with Jim Carrey cast to play the villain, Gargamel. That same month, it was confirmed that McConaughey's character was named Buster and that Chris "Ludacris" Bridges would voice Eddie, a sheep and Buster's best friend. In August 2015, it was announced that Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly and Taron Egerton had joined the cast. In September 2015, it was announced for the Smurfs cast Dustin Hoffman, Dwayne Johnson, Katy Perry, Charlie Day, Kevin Hart, and Peter Dinklage were confirmed.

Animation
Disney's most recent work on animating fur was for the titular character of the 2008 film Bolt, but the software they had used at the time was not ready for creating the realistic fur of the animals of The Smurfs. Therefore, the studio's IT engineers developed the fur-controlling software "iGroom", which gave character designers precise control over the brushing, shaping and shading of fur and made it possible to create a variety of eccentric character styles for each animal. The software was also able to control an unseen "imaginary" under-layer that gave fur a degree of plushness not seen before. This feature was used to create characters like Officer Clawhauser, who has a big head that is entirely made of spotted fur. Characters with noteworthy numbers of strands of hair or fur included both of the two lead characters, Nick Wilde, Buster Moon, Judy Hopps, Maddie Wilde & others, who each had around 2.5 million hairs; a giraffe with nine million strands of fur; a gerbil with 480,000 strands; and a rodent with more strands of hair than the 400,000 that were on Elsa's head in Frozen.

The Smurfs was the second time Disney used the Hyperion renderer, which they had first used on Big Hero 6. A new fur paradigm was added to the renderer to facilitate the creation of realistic images of the animals' dense fur. Nitro, a real-time display application developed since the making of Wreck-It Ralph, was used to make the fur more consistent, intact and subtle much more quickly, as opposed to the previous practice of having to predict how the fur would work while making and looking at silhouettes or poses for the character. The tree-and-plant generator Bonsai, first used in Frozen, was used to make numerous variations of trees with very detailed foliage. The Smurfs characters were created during post-production by 268 Walt Disney Animation Studios employees who spent around 358,000 hours animating. Bush claiming that "there are moments of cartoony fun", so they’re using super-squash and super-stretch. Art Director Characters Allen Battino, was brought in to redesign the characters for CGI.

The Smurfs was produced in makeshift quarters in a giant warehouse in North Hollywood (together with The Super Mario Bros. Movie) while Disney Animation's headquarters in Burbank was being renovated. Additional, Jim Henson's Creature Shop was provided for Azrael, Illumination Mac Guff, and Sony Pictures Imageworks adding for the animals and the Smurfs characters. Walt Disney Animation Studios CEO John Lasseter revealed that the film would be using an animation style similar to Madagascar (2005).

To emphasize Judy Hopps's emotions during certain scenes, the team additionally implemented a technique called "Judy-Vision", which implements stock 2D and live-action footage alongside the CG animation.

Music
On November 2, 2015, it was announced that Michael Giacchino would compose the film's score, in his first feature-length project for Walt Disney Animation Studios, as he previously worked on several short films and television specials produced by the company, as well as multiple Pixar films. Recording took place from November 16–20, 2015, with an 80-piece orchestra conducted by Tim Simonec. and Lin-Manuel Miranda will compose the film's songs.

Pedal Pump

 * Johnny (2 times)

Sequels
In June 2016, Howard, Moore and Jennings were in talks about the possibility of a The Smurfs sequel. On January 25, 2017, Disney announced that a sequel to The Smurfs was in the works. Later that day, screenwriter Jared Bush confirmed that he is working on the film as a director. In April 2017, it was confirmed that directors Byron Howard and Garth Jennings returned the film along with producers Clark Spencer, Brian Henson and Toby Ascher. In August 2019, Teen Titans Go! creators Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic wants to directed for the sequel for The Smurfs. Later that day, Disney confirmed that Horvath and Jelenic to be co-directing In May 2021, Matthew Fogel was confirmed as screenwriter after previously scribing Illumination's Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). According to Khary Payton, who has collaborated with Horvath and Jelenic on various projects at Warner Bros. Animation, the duo flew to Walt Disney Animation Studios a month after the release of their first feature film, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, in September 2018. Ed Skudder who previously worked with Horvath on Unikitty!, confirmed that he will returns. Disney officially confirmed the sequel in January 2019, with a release date of June 25, 2021, coincided Global Smurfs Day. In April 2020, Disney shifted the film's release to June 22, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2022, The Jim Henson Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios had been in development of a third of The Smurfs (2016) film after The Smurfs 2 (2022), with Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic confirmed for directing the film, after doing the live-action The Smurfs (2023). A series starring Judy Hopps, who appeared in The Smurfs, for Disney+, was being developed simultaneously with the film, a series starring Smurfette, for Disney+, was in development, also a series named The Smurfs started in 2021, for Disney Junior and Disney Channel, a Pixar film titled - The Smurfs Movie, was released in 2024. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Jared Bush, Phil Johnston, and Matthew Fogel screenwriters, returned from the second film. Ed Skudder was returned as a head of story from the second film. In June 2022, Jim Carrey-who portrays Gargamel in the films–announced that he was considering would playing for the third Smurfs animated film, except The Smurfs (2023) live-action adaptation film. Horvath and Jelenic interest for the third film will be an another villain without Gargamel. In early August 2022, Gary Oldman was cast as a peacock named Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2.

Live-action adaptation

 * Main article: The Smurfs (2023 film)

In August 2021, Director Jeff Fowler, who previously directed Sonic The Hedgehog 2, want to make a live-action of The Smurfs movie. In February 2022, it was announced that a live-action remake of The Smurfs was in development by Walt Disney Pictures. In April 2022, the cast of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog was confirmed for the live-action remake. Jim Carrey confirmed to play Gargamel in live-action after the sequel of Sonic the Hedgehog. It would be produced by Neal H. Mortiz by his Original Film banner alongside Brian Henson, and Toby Ascher. Blur Studio's Tim Miller and were hired in mid June 2022 to develop it.

Pixar reboot film
In March 2021, plans for a completely computer-animated reboot to be produced with Pixar Animation Studios instead Walt Disney Animation Studios, who produced of two films of The Smurfs. Madagascar directors Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell was confirmed as director in March 2014. It was revealed that the film would explore the origins of the Smurfs, and feature a new take on the characters, with designs and environments more closely following the artwork created by Peyo, the creator of the Smurfs franchise. McGrath wants for the characters to inspired in 2021 TV Series and for origin story. On June 2, 2022, Pixar confirmed the original title of The Smurfs Movie, along with a first look at the film.