The Smurfs (2011)

When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world into New York City.

Director:

Raja Gosnell

Writers:

J. David Stem (screenplay), David N. Weiss (screenplay),

Stars:

Hank Azaria, Katy Perry, Jonathan Winters

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hank Azaria	...	Gargamel
Neil Patrick Harris	...	Patrick Winslow
Jayma Mays	...	Grace Winslow
Sofía Vergara	...	Odile
Tim Gunn	...	Henri
Madison McKinley	...	Model
Meg Phillips	...	Model
Julie Chang	...	Newscaster
Roger Clark	...	Newscaster
Mark Doherty	...	Bluetooth Businessman
Minglie Chen	...	Young Woman
Sean Kenin	...	Guy in Plaid Shirt
Victor Pagan	...	Bum
Mahadeo Shivraj	...	Cabbie
Adria Baratta	...	Anjelou Employee

Storyline

When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours -- in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

---

Plot Keywords:

Smurf | Blue | New York City | New York | Based On Comic | 

---

Taglines:

Who's your papa? (Papa Smurf poster)

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and action

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los pitufos

Filming Locations:

Kaufman Astoria Studios - 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$35,611,637 (USA) (29 July 2011)

Gross:

$142,614,158 (USA) (9 December 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Kerner Entertainment Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The filmmakers cast Katy Perry without knowing it was her: "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!"

---

Goofs

In some scenes in the streets of New York, a crowd watching the recordings can clearly be seen at the end of the street.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator Smurf: There is a place. A place that knows no sadness, where even feeling blue is a happy thing. A place inhabited by little blue beings three apples high. It lies deep within an enchanted forest, hidden away beyond the medieval village. Most people believe this place is made up, only to be found in books or children's imagination. Well, we beg to differ.

---

Crazy Credits

At the end of the film, a Smurf is seen reclining on the upper left of the Columbia Pictures logo, smiling and waving to the audience.

---

Connections

Referenced in Edición Especial Coleccionista: Especial Halloween - Braindead (2011)
Appears on the list of Blu-ray/DVD releases of November/December

---

Soundtracks

"Back In Black"
Written by Brian Johnson, Angus Young and Malcolm Young
Performed by AC/DC
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Smurfed Away My Money

What was I thinking? I knew this movie was going to be bad, but yet I felt compelled to go see it for myself. I was never really a big fan of the Smurfs cartoon but yet I remember I wanted that Smurfs Atari game so bad. Later I found out that it was horrible but I'm sure I would have loved it as a kid. Why did I go see this?

It's not completely terrible. Hank Azaria did a very good job playing Gargamel and I could actually see the cartoon counterpart that he was based on. I didn't see this in 3D but I can imagine it would be pretty entertaining to watch in that format. I just didn't pay for the 3D because I didn't want to pay more for a bad film, and I had been suffering with headaches lately. I didn't want to make it worse.

With that being said, the film centers around the Smurfs escaping from Gargamel who found them in their village. In some weird way, they come across this portal they knew nothing about until that time, and they are forced to go into this portal in order to escape from Gargamel and his CG cat Azriel. There, the Smurfs stumble upon New York City where they find the care of Doogie Houser and his cute, pregnant wife. They must find a way back home while being hunted by Gargamel on the streets of New York, and Doogie is trying to not to get fired from his cosmetics job.

One of my biggest problems is that I never felt connected to the Smurfs. The only ones that I really knew was Papa Smurf (who can ever forget Papa Smurf anyway), Smurfette and Clumsy Smurf who the only reason why I knew him is because they always reference how clumsy he is, gets left behind, and I knew that he was going to be the hero by the end of it all. Movie 101: If a character in your film is the underdog, he will always prevail in the end. This film is no exception.

The film is basically sloppy writing through and through, especially in the ending. The film could have ended easily by having the adults handle all the work but we couldn't have a Smurfs climax without having them be the center of it. So they basically just have the adults just stand around somewhere as the Smurfs get their butts kicked by Gargamel.

It's a kid's film and this film knows it. The kids will eat this up despite probably never seeing the cartoons. It wasn't the worst film I've seen but certainly not the greatest of kid's films. It was directed by Raja Gosnell. I should have stayed far away. Smurf you, Raja.