“Bringing Up Smurfy” (“Le Schtroumpf Bêta Devient Papa”)

Summary: Dimwitty finds an egg in the forest. He brings it home to see it through to completion, even if he isn’t terribly sure what that means. The half-hatched egg runs around the Village.
Comments: It’s Dopey Smurf. They’ve renamed him Dimwitty Smurf somewhere along the way because, I’m sure, “Dopey” is as big a swear word for kids today as “stupid”. (If you really want to hear kids swear, stand outside the local middle school when the kids get out at the end the day and listen for how they try to impress each other with the most curse words per minute.)
The all-too-brief scene where Papa Smurf is trying to explain to Dimwitty what an egg is made me laugh out loud. It’s the Smurf version of the Birds and the Bees talk, and Papa Smurf looks horribly uncomfortable throughout it. “Babies come from eggs, and eggs come from –” is all Papa Smurf gets out before being interrupted.
The rest of the Smurfs realize how clueless Dimwitty is — thus his name — and give him a helping hand in bringing the new baby bird to life. A series of Smurfs give the obvious advice, though Chef’s lesson that starts with cracking an egg is quickly cut short.
The sequence where the legs hatch out of the egg and it runs around the Village is the highlight of the episode. When someone point out that the hatchling can’t see or hear inside its egg, Dimwitty draws it a face with some ears on the outside of the shell. Dimwitty is as dumb as a sack of bricks, but he does care and tries his best.

The other Smurfs start “hatching” a plan to take care of the egg, which makes Dimwitty think they’re plotting against him, so he tells the egg to run. Once he realizes that they’re really trying to help him, it’s time for a Smurfs 2021 classic — the race through the forest! It’s Dimwitty, Smurfette, Papa Smurf, and Hefty to the rescue!
But it’s Dimwitty and his natural parental instincts kicking in to save the day. Hell hath no fury like a parent whose kid is in trouble. Dimwitty launches himself at a snake who ate his egg: no second guessing, no hesitation, just pure unbridled fury and assault.
You know the stories of the mother who could suddenly lift a car to save her baby? That’s Dimwitty in this episode with his unborn egg.
Also: Lens flare!

His ferocity even surprises the other Smurfs.
In the end, of course, the egg hatches and the newborn flies away with its parents in what is a moment sure to cause you all the feels. The range of emotions that crosses Dimwitty’s face in those moments is amongst the most memorable and precious things I’ve see in this series so far.


it’s a very sweet episode, and one where Dimwitty’s ignorance makes him all the more sympathetic a character. It gives him a childlike innocence that works in his favor.

The final gag at the end is also hilarious, but I won’t spoil that one on you.
Title Translation: Roughly, the French title is “Dimwitty Becomes a Dad.” This is very descriptive, indeed. I like “Bringing Up Smurfy” a lot, though, too. “Bringing Up Baby” was a 1938 screwball comedy featuring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn (“Baby”). I don’t think the title is completely coincidental.
Credits:
Script: Reid Harrison
Storyboard Supervision: Alexandre Viano
Storyboard: Alexandre Ulmann
Director: William Renaud
“The Makeover” (“Le défilé de la discorde”)

Summary: In the middle of the night, Vanity Smurf wakes up with the idea to bring fashion to the Smurfs Village. Every Smurf can wear a unique look! Papa Smurf gives him the go-ahead to design one new outfit, instead. Vanity teams up with Tailor Smurf, but the two have a falling out and wind up competing to create the new Smurf uniform.
Comments: It’s Vanity Smurf channeling Karl Lagerfeld, and Tailor Smurf doing his best, uhm, Ralph Lauren? Someone with more fashion industry knowledge can check me on that last part, but it’s definitely Lagerfeld for Vanity. Right?
It’s a good question why the Smurfs all look alike. In reality, it’s probably because Peyo had to draw 100 of them on a weekly deadline for his stories. This is another one of those things that doesn’t need to be overthought, but it does provide an angle for a cute story.
This is a fun little story that I think lacks a strong enough ending to really bring it home. The back-and-forth competition is fun to watch, as is the way the rest of the Village lines up to pick sides and go crazy with their curiosity. It brings up other conflicts that have split the Village apart in the past, such as “King Smurf.”

I like Vanity as a strong-willed almost villainous British guy as he counter-plots Tailor’s plans. I even love the way he dismisses potential models all for being too short when, you know, Smurfs are all basically and exactly three apples high.

The whole thing quickly becomes a battle of wills and ego, which is a perfect match for the fashion industry.
There are some others swipes at the world of fashion, in general, and the absurdities of it all. I laughed out loud at the one time a character complained about a design-in-progress not having any pockets. It felt like such a modern complaint, but it fit in well with the story.
Spoiler alert: The end of the story is a direct lift of an original “Star Trek” episode, “Let That Be Your Battlefield.” I saw it coming as soon as it was on screen. The gag is that Tailor and Vanity both create the same outfit — the familiar white pants, but with a cherry attached at the hip. But one put the cherry on the left side, while the other had it on the right side.
Papa Smurf just rips them both off and everyone cheers at keeping the same white pants, including the Smurf women, who all wears different clothes already, anyway.

Title Translation: “The Parade of Discord.” I have a feeling this isn’t a title that should be literally translated. That said, I like the title but it would have to be for another episode.
It sounds like a title you’d use when one Smurf is trying to disrupt the Village with lies and pitting friends against friends. That said, disrupting the Smurfs’ basic uniform would be quite discordant, but I think “The Makeover” is good enough for me on this one.
Credits:
Script: Peter Saisselin and Amy Serafin
Storyboard Supervision: Alexandre Viano
Storyboard: Jean-Luc Abiven and Alexandre Ulmann
Director: William Renaud