In the last handful of years I’ve come to realize that many of the things I adored as a child weren’t really that great after all. From movies to toys to TV shows, there’s something about growing up that makes some things unbearable. More than once I’ve sat down with my kids and watched a show from my past and ended up shaking my head wondering how I could have sat through the same thing every day. But then I look over at the laughing youngster next to me and realize that some things are simply entertaining to kids and not their parents. Surprisingly, The Smurfs aren’t one of them. While some of the characters are obnoxious beyond belief, the show as a whole is just as smurfy now as it was 25 years ago. Nostalgia probably plays a part of it, but there’s something about the innocence of the little blue fellows that’s simple fun no matter your age.
The Smurfs: Volume 1 – True Blue Friends offers a total of five cartoons. While they don’t appear to be on a season-based continuum like the first two seasonal DVDs that Warner’s released, any Smurfs released for home consumption is a good thing in my books.
The Smurfs are a village of blue creatures that stand two apples tall. They’re mythological creatures who are individually very shallow and one dimensional. They each act according to their labeled name. For example Brainy Smurf is the smarty pants, Vanity Smurf always has a mirror in tow and Jokey Smurf likes to giggle and give away exploding boxes. But when you gather the Smurfs together you have a band of loveable creatures. And that’s how you’re supposed to see them. They work together and promote cooperation. So it’s as though they become something of a rounded character over the course of a given episode.
There are times when it feels that they’re just throwing out new characters to freshen things up. Selling toys was probably a goal back when the show first aired as well. This ever-expanding roster leads to some of the Smurfs getting lost in the shuffle but a few favorites like Papa Smurf and Smurfette always seem to remain.
The Smurfs find an arch nemesis in the evil and incredibly incompetent wizard Gargamel, along with his cat Azrael. Although he’s always plotting a way to snack on the blue forest friends that stand about ankle high, he always finds a way to mess things up. I remember as a child feeling sympathetic towards him because I felt bad he could never get a break, kind of like Wile E. Coyote trying to get the Road Runner. But, alas, the good guys getting boiled and eaten just doesn’t work in children’s cartoons.
The Smurfs: Volume 1 – True Blue Friends is a smurfy snippet of the show that should still appeal to its original fan base. And if my kids are any indication, today’s youngsters should be just as enthralled.
The Smurfs: Volume One – True Blue Friends DVD Review
The Smurfs: Volume 1 – True Blue Friends is shown in the show’s original full screen format. The picture isn’t the sharpest with plenty of minor dirt glitches and scratches, but it’s reminiscent to how I remember seeing it on Saturday mornings as a kid. Audio is in Dolby Digital mono. Other than the five cartoons contained in the main program, the only major bonus feature is entitled “Meet The Smurfs.” It’s made up of short biographies of several fan-favorite Smurfs, Papa Smurf, Grouchy and Tracker. I also found an Easter egg featuring storyboards by clicking on Papa Smurf’s bag on the “Meet The Smurfs” menu.
