“Knight Smurfalot” (“La Légende du Schtroumpf Chevalier”)
Summary: Dreamer Smurf follows his latest dream of being a knight, winning the heart of the fair Smurfette, and going on an epic quest to slay a dragon. Of course, he’ll need to be saved in the end…
Commentary: This is a cute episode, though my first thought was, “Dreamer who?!?” This is his debut episode in the new 2021 series, though he was in a few episodes of the original 80s show as “Dreamy”.
As if I haven’t had enough issues with keeping Smurfs’ names straight this year! (Seriously, I have a post-it note on my monitor now that says “Grouchy, Not Grumpy”. One’s a Smurf and the other is one of seven dwarfs.)
My second thought was, “Oh, this episode is ‘The AstroSmurf’ by a different name.” That’s when I looked it up and realized Dreamer was in the original “The Astrosmurf” episode of the original 1980s series. I believe the original comic book story by Peyo referred to the same character only as “Astrosmurf.”
My memory is not nearly as long as my life anymore, but occasionally I put the pieces together from the thin threads that remain!
The episode starts off with Poet Smurf (speaking in rhyming couplets) presenting a play in which Handy Smurf is a knight who is going to save a Damsel In Distress (Smurfette, who takes immediate offense at the trope) from a mean dragon (Lazy, with a cardboard cut-out Dragon head). Pay careful attention to the two-minute play because “real life” is about to mirror it.
It’s interesting to see how they animated 2D cardboard cutout props being handled by 3D CGI Smurf characters. They’re modeled as 3D objects, of course, but they’re drawn on with thick black lines to give you the impression that they are flat boards that have been drawn on. It took my brain a minute to get used to it. It’s fun to see, though.
Dreamer is in the audience for the play and obsesses over becoming a knight. While anyone else would have some brief thoughts, read a book, take a nap, and move on with their lives, Dreamer takes immediate action. He cobbles together a knight costume and a horse prop and vows to save the village from any dragons or ne’er-do-wells.
Unfortunately, his helmet cuts off three-quarters of his vision and his imagination gets the best of him. He’s an immediate nuisance to the Village, overzealously trying to protect Smurfs from threats that don’t exist.
And, yes, there’s something cute and charming about his earnestness and desire to do good deeds. He’s not being selfish or self-aggrandizing. He’s a dreamer living his dream, no matter how small the reality he can make for it.
Smurfette plays an interesting role in the story, too. First, she starts by rolling her eyes at having to play the damsel in distress. Later, she’s honestly taken by Dreamer’s advances on her. They’re cute, not aggressive. They’re from an honest place, and not an expectant one.
She gives Dreamer a rose to carry with him, and it makes Dreamer’s day. She’s not leading him on. She’s more rewarding him for admirable behavior and a bit of chivalry, though it’s somewhat misplaced.
It’s also the moment when Hefty gets very very upset. You may remember from “Who Nose” that he has a bit of a crush on Smurfette.
At this point, he misses the point entirely and becomes a knight so he can compete with Dreamer to woo the fair maiden, Smurfette. Together, Dreamer and Hefty advance on Gargamel and attempt to defeat him. It goes very very badly until, of course, Smurfette shows up with her Smurf-Fu to save the day, driving off Gargamel and then defeating a snake that threatens to eat the Smurfs.
It brings us back to the same debate I had with “Smurf Fu” — are they trying too hard with Smurfette? Are they trying too hard to move her away from the “damsel in distress” that they’ve turned her into “Superwoman”? I’ll leave that as an exercise to the viewer, because we have an even bigger issue to talk about here.
Budget Considerations
There’s blatant reuse of animation in this episode.
The final Smurf Fu fight between Smurfette and the snake is 80% copied from one of the first episodes, “Smurf Fu.”
Also, the earlier sequence with Gargamel setting up the mouse traps for the Smurfs is taken directly from “Pop Out.”
It makes me wonder how many other sequences are cut-and-pasted across episodes. It’s something I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for now.
Title Translation: “The Legend of the Smurf Knight” works as a title, too. The English titles tend towards shorter and slightly punnier titles, it feels like. “Knight Smurfalot” works, but I think I like the French title more.
Also, when you say the French title out loud in French, it sounds super French. Really crank up your accent and drink un verre de vin first and prepare to be tres French.
Credits:
Script: Henry Gifford, Peter Saisselin
Based on an original idea from: Henry Gifford
Storyboard Supervision: Alexandre Viano
Storyboard: Stéphane Annette
Director: William Renaud
“Forget Me What?” (“Gargamel Perd la Schtroumpf”)
Summary: Gargamel forgets who he is. Brainy takes pity on him and becomes his friend to help make him a better person. Things inevitably go wrong.
Commentary: This is a silly, but fun short. It’s ridiculous and cute and obvious and filled with fun bits and pieces. It’s also one of the rare times when Brainy becomes likable and a character you start rooting for, even if you know it’s never going to work out as well as he hopes. He has a moment of pure empathy that’s endearing, even if we all know it’s not going to work out for very long.
The story starts with Papa Smurf sending three Smurfs out into the forest to pull out a flower that blooms once every 100 years and causes those who are exposed to it to forget who they are.
Yeah, this is one of those high-concept things. Sometimes, it’s a spell gone awry. Sometimes, it’s a legend come true. This time, it’s a rare flower that has a singular effect to propel the rest of the story.
This same yellow flower showed up in the 1980s series, as well, but that story went in a wildly different direction.
You know that something is going to go wrong here, no matter how careful the Smurfs are to not inhale the pollen from the flower. (They pinched their noses closed with a clip where a N95 mask might have done a better job.)
Mostly, you know there’s trouble brewing because Papa Smurf entrusted this dangerous job to Brainy, Clumsy, and Dimwitty. If the Smurfs ever go to war, they better find a better wartime general than this clueless bearded nincompoop.
Gargamel finds the Smurfs in the forest and Brainy is smart enough to use the flower on Gargamel so they can get away.
Sure enough, Gargamel forgets who he is. He doesn’t know where he lives. He doesn’t know who his friends are.
All he knows, really, is that Brainy Smurf is right in front of him and that he knows a lot of stuff that he could learn from.
Brainy, in a soft moment of pure Smurfiness, doesn’t want this new poor Gargamel to not have any friends. So he proceeds to teach him everything he knows along the way back to Gargamel’s hovel. Once they get there, the two work together to clean the place up, arrange all the things, and turn the dirty disheveled hovel into something from the last segment of an HGTV fixer-upper show.
It’s a cute moment and a fun interplay between the two.
Of course, the rest of the Smurfs hear what’s going on and show up to see it for themselves. They get a little too comfortable in using Gargamel’s house as a theme park, and then Azrael shows up and cures Gargamel. Don’t worry — it’s easy enough for the Smurfs to run out of the house through the window in the roof (as always) while the credits roll.
Everything is reset back to the way it was, as it should be.
It’s a cute and inventive look at how the Smurfs might take advantage of Gargamel’s hovel, but it’s mostly a nice spotlight on Brainy. Seeing this completely different side of Gargamel is also fun — the wide-eyed innocent is a funny look for him. He even hates his own clothes.
Title Translation: “Gargamel Loses the Smurfs” vs. “Forget Me What?” I prefer the English title here. It catches my attention with its wordplay and the ideas it brings up. The French title is too literal, and Gargamel always loses the Smurfs in the end, anyway.
Credits:
Script: Henry Gifford
Storyboard Supervision: Alexandre Viano
Storyboard: Bruno Issaly
Director: William Renaud
One Comment