More Smurfs worldwide

Magnificent. Large and small stamps in a large sheet. No objection. Not even in combination with personalized stamps. The larger the sheet, the better! Just look at the Belgian sheets from recent years. In this blog, many examples of bpost's policy. What do you know about the history of the Smurfs? Why is it only Father Abraham who scores with the Smurf Song?

The Smurfs

The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs) are comic book characters created by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo and co-designed by Yvan Delporte. They look like little blue dwarves. The Smurfs were originally created as supporting characters in another comic series by Peyo, Johan and Pirrewiet. In 1959, they got their own comic series, after which they became increasingly famous. Later, the Smurfs served as inspiration for two animated films, two animated series, and two live-action films. A franchise has been built around the Smurfs, with music and merchandising.  

Origin as comic book characters

In 1952, Peyo (Pierre Culliford) began his collaboration with the comic magazine Spirou with a serial strip featuring the squire Johan (The Defeat of Basenau), later joined by the mischievous dwarf Pirrewiet (The Dwarf in the Rocky Forest). In the ninth story of the Johan and Pirrewiet series, The Flute with Six Smurfs (published in Spirou in 1958–1959), a small folk of creatures called Smurfs appeared. The very first appearance of the Smurfs was on October 23, 1958, in Spirou No. 1071. By analogy with the Seven Dwarfs from Disney's classic Snow white (Happy, Sneezy, etc.) Peyo created a personality for each Smurf with one strong, prominent characteristic, after which they were named. Because only one 'gimmick' was used per Smurf, thereby creating differentiation and recognizability, the simple characterization appealed to the young audience. Shortly afterwards, the Smurfs appeared again in another Johan and Pirrewiet story. Peyo and Spirou editor-in-chief Yvan Delporte gradually noticed that there was a lot of potential in the world of the Smurfs. Consequently, they decided to give the Smurfs their own comic series.

Click on the image above to view or buy stamps via Freestampcatalogue

 

Own series

In 1959, the first standalone story starring the Smurfs appeared in Robbedoes: The Black Smurfs (renamed 'The Purple Smurfs' in Anglo-Saxon countries and the cartoon series). In the Netherlands, this appeared in the comic weekly Sjors starting in 1968. This first series was followed by countless short and longer episodes. The first six stories are so-called 'micro-stories': complete adventures of 48 very small pages (8 pages on one A4) that were included as an insert with Robbedoes. Initially, the Smurfs were drawn as they appeared in The Flute with Six Smurfs. Subsequently, from 1963 onwards, the Smurfs appeared like any regular comic series, in standard format. The first six stories were redrawn for this purpose. Stories about the Smurfs also appeared in the weekly magazine Donald Duck starting in 1966. Even since Peyo's death in 1992, new comic stories about the Smurfs have continued to be produced, under the supervision of Peyo's surviving relatives.  

Cartoons

The first Smurfs cartoon series began at the initiative of Dupuis, which had founded the TVA animation studio in the late 1950s. The first Smurfs story, *The Black Smurfs*, was one of the first projects. It was directed by Jean Delire. The technique consisted of photographing cut-out figures that were placed on a background. The publisher deliberately kept Peyo and Delporte at a distance because they were considered not animators, but comic book creators. Consequently, the authors were not always satisfied with the adaptation of their comics. Ultimately, 10 episodes of *The Smurfs* would be produced. They were broadcast by RTB and subsequently briefly in cinemas. In 1965, the first feature-length Smurfs film was made from the initial short films. The first successful film, *The Flute with Six Smurfs*, was released in 1976. This animated film was based on the story of the same name from the *Johan & Pirrewiet* series, in which the Smurfs had made their debut.  

The name “Smurf”

The original stories were in French. In them, the name “Schtroumpf” was introduced, later translated as “Smurf” in the Dutch version. During a dinner with fellow comic author and fellow Brussels native André Franquin (known for Gaston Lagaffe and Spirou), Peyo couldn't remember the word for salt. He then said to Franquin: “Donnez-moi le schtroumpf” (Translated: “Pass me the schtroumpf”). The rest of the evening was spent further expanding this new language variant. It was not until a few years later that the Smurfs achieved international breakthrough, with the name being introduced in some thirty different languages. In half of these, the word “smurf” is used, which was coined for the Dutch translation somewhere around 1958, though it is not entirely clear by whom. Erwin Cavens, the son of Karel Cavens who started as a translator/editor at Robbedoes in 1968, assumes that Peter Middeldorp (editor-in-chief at Robbedoes in 1958) confirmed to him in an email that he was the originator. However, Middeldorp was quoted as saying in *de Volkskrant* as saying: “But how we came up with it, I really don't remember anymore. It was all in a day's work; we did nothing all day but deliver French texts to Dutch custom-made clothing.” According to Armand Van Raalte's daughter, however, it was her father who came up with the translation “smurf.” In 1958, Armand Van Raalte worked as a translator/editor at the publishing house Dupuis, and he was also the translator of the Smurf names until he died in an accident in 1967. Middeldorp later indicated that Karel Cavens' brother Frans used the word “Smurf” when he couldn't think of a word, and that the word thus reached the editorial office via Karel. Although the original name Schtroumpf sounds German, the German designation is “Schlumpf” to avoid confusion with “Strumpf” (German for stocking).

Features of Smurfs

An average Smurf is small and blue in color. He wears white trousers (with a little tail sticking out at the back) and a Phrygian cap, a floppy white pointed hat. His height is described as “three apples.” However, this is a literal translation of the French expression “haut comme trois pommes,” which means that something is very small. In the beginning, the Smurfs were fairly undifferentiated, but over time, where the story required it, quite a few specific Smurfs emerged. Characteristic is the language used by the Smurfs: in their Smurf language, most nouns and verbs are replaced by the words smurf and smurfs. Smurfs from the north speak a different dialect than those from the south. Officially, 101 of them live in their village, which consists of large mushroom-shaped houses. However, the exact number of Smurfs is higher than the original 101, as extra Smurfs were added in later stories, including Smurfette, Sassette, Baby Smurf, and Wild Smurf. The Smurf Village is located in a forest in the Unholy Land, between the mountains and the Smurf River. It is virtually impossible for humans to find. Their leader is Papa Smurf, who is the only one of the Smurfs to wear red pants, a red hat, and a white beard. Papa Smurf is also usually the one who, thanks to his wisdom and magic, saves the other Smurfs from trouble. Originally, there were only male Smurfs. Two well-known female Smurfs, Sassette and Smurfette, were created from blue clay. The origin of the third female Smurf, Grandma Smurf, is unknown. In the movie Smurfs: The Lost Village and the comic books derived from it, an entire village of female Smurfs was added. Baby Smurfs are delivered by stork. The Smurfs' greatest enemy is the wizard Gargamel, who lives elsewhere in the forest with his cat Azrael. Gargamel constantly tries to capture the Smurfs so that he can use them for his own magical experiments. Furthermore, he wants to take revenge on them for his previous defeats. Gargamel's plans always ultimately fail, although he sometimes manages to temporarily capture one or more Smurfs. The reasons why he wants to capture them vary. The main goals are to eat them, to turn them into gold, to use them in another way to obtain gold, or simply to exterminate them. Gargamel's godfather Balthazar and the witches Hogatha and Chlorhydris also want to capture the Smurfs. Smurfs are crazy about salsaparilla. Gargamel already knows the Smurfs' preference for this plant in the first story in which he stars. Using this fact, he tries to catch a Smurf to make gold. Salsaparilla is a real plant. The idea came from Delporte, who found the name of this plant to have something magical about it, which fit well into the stories. In America, however, it is a well-known plant used to make root beer. For the cartoon series, which was intended for young children, the plant was therefore replaced by the Smurfberry plant, and the Smurfs eat the Smurfberries from it.  

Father Abraham – The Smurf Song (1977)

In 1977, Vader Abraham (Pierre Kartner) was asked by SEPP to record a song to promote the film on the Dutch market. 't Smurfenlied became a major hit, reaching number one in the charts of the Netherlands and Flanders. The song was the best-selling single of 1977 in the Netherlands. The single reached number 1 in the Top 40 and the Nationale Hitparade and remained on both charts for 17 weeks. It was the best-selling single in the Netherlands in 1977, with estimated sales of between 400.000 and 450.000 copies. 't Smurfenlied was also the second best-selling Dutch-language single in the Netherlands of all time. During the presentation of the 2015 Buma Award, it was announced that a total of 17.000.000 copies of all versions released had been sold. A successful album followed afterwards. Translations of the song were released in German, French, English, and Spanish, among others, and these were also successful in various countries. In the United Kingdom, for example, The Smurf Song became the sixth best-selling song of the year. A total of more than 500.000 copies of the song were sold. Kartner also made a number of records featuring the Smurfs, which he also marketed in Germany. In 2005, Vader Abraham re-released his Smurf Song in Belgium, together with the group Dynamite. The song became a success and reached thirteenth place in the Belgian charts. Video Father Abraham – The Smurf Song (1977): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9bhmB1j8-c From the early 1980s, when the Smurfs appeared on TV everywhere, new Smurf records regularly appeared in almost every country. These featured either specially composed songs or reworkings of major hits of the moment. In the Netherlands, there was first Vader Abraham and, in the 1990s, Irene Moors; in French, Dorothée – who, together with the Smurfs, created special versions of, among others, Marco Borsato's *Dromen zijn bedrog* (sung by the Dream Smurf) and *No Limit* by 2 Unlimited. In Italian, Christina D'Avena worked with the Smurfs. In the 1990s, the Smurf voices were used for an alternative dance genre known as Smurfhouse, to which Moors also contributed. Especially in Germany, dozens of CDs with Smurf music were released. Smurf audio records with accompanying illustrated booklets also appeared in a number of countries.