Last Look: “The Smurfs” trailer

By
on

Okay… it looks sorta funny to me. Neil Patrick Harris is good, and it seemingly doesn’t take itself too seriously. That’s my two cents – What do you think?

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  • Ergo

    That was awful. My preconceptions were right. The Smurfs is exactly the kind of movie you think it is. Run while you still can.

    • Iritscen

      And to think, SOME of you didn’t want the world to end last week. Now look where that’s gotten us.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        Yes, now we’re stuck with this smurf to endure!

  • tgentry

    Ugh, for some reason I had a small amount of hope for this based off my childhood love of the Smurfs and the presence of Neil Patrick Harris. This pretty much squashes that. It seems like most of the Smurf related jokes are recycled from the last 20 years of pop culture riffing on them. Feels sadly stale and derivative with little respect for it’s source material.

  • Joe

    The concept of ‘Enchanted’ (falling through the magical vortex to land in New York) + the style of Alvin & the Chipmunks + Blue = The Smurfs. Wah, wah!

    I’m definitely not going to see it, even though the character designs are spot on minus the fact they added the unnecessary Smurf skin pores. TMI!!! Studios need to stop this kind of stuff … too many CG redo’s gone horribly wrong.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      We should not be questioning the biological functions of our animated characters!

    • Peter Bangs

      You nailed it with the Chipmunks. This looks heavily derivative of the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. My daughter will probably love it and with a few more toilet jokes my 2 year old will too. I think they’ll do okay with their target audience whatever us oldies may think.

  • http://aalong64.blogspot.com Aaron Long

    Well, it looks better than the show.

    • http://www.cartoonresearch.com Jerry Beck

      My point exactly!

      • The Gee

        I’m guessing that people have a better memory of the TV show than I do. So, yeah. It does look better than the 80s cartoon, in a weird way.

        Given what the trailers have shown, I can see how young kids might like it a lot. It is weird but the technical things and the some of the gags I don’t like in the trailers seem to be perfect for kids. I say this might do okay, either sooner or later when it is on video.

        Now, if the Smurfs had been zapped by some embiggening spell and one of them Hulked out* and went a rampage through the city, that might be something I’d look forward to seeing.

        Smurf Smash! has a nice ring to it.

        Won’t put words in his mouth, but, I’m guessing Hulk might like that different take, too.

        *the Scottish smurf…bonus points if he was on a bender

      • Hulk

        “Won’t put words in his mouth, but, I’m guessing Hulk might like that different take, too.”

        As a matter of fact, I would.

    • Caty

      Don’t ever EVER say that, please. The show actually had MAGIC stuff going on. Probably recycled bad animation, but this movie has recycled bad EVERYTHING you can think of, specially the animation. One of my favourite episodes was the grumpy smurf searching for the baby smurf. You think this kind of sensitivity is going to appear in this movie? NO. The comics, even better, the way it is told about a Smurf who discovers money and applies the financial system to his village? You’re never going to find this again. This is just another blue cheesy Chipmunks movie.

      P.S. I loved the random classic music they added from time to time.

      P.S.2 Oh my smurf never existed in none of the comics/episodes I’ve seen. Complete crappy inventiveness.

    • Pez

      At least the Show looks like the comic!

  • christian

    looks smurfing lame to me!!!!

  • http://orangecow.org Garrett Gilchrist

    They say Smurf instead of God because there is no God.

    • David

      I think this comment falls under the inappropriate category for the comments section on cartoon brew. Unless you really think that a religious debate is necessary on an animation website.

  • Matt P.

    It still looks like another “Alvin & the Chipmunks” to me. I think Hank Azaria fits the look for Gargamel and I still like the way the Smurfs themselves look but that’s it.

  • DNAndy

    Eh, I don’t think it looks THAT bad. But I said that same thing about Yogi Bear.

    I just wish that they made a movie where they stayed in their more interesting world. Or maybe for a change, the human character(s)stumble into the Smurfs’ world on accident and have to learn their customs, instead of seeing more old cartoon characters rapping for no reason.

  • Autumn

    I feel like I just watched the trailer for the CG Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

    That is not a good thing.

  • http://youtube.com/user/drexelboi1991 tedzey

    it was okay, but I don’t get what’s the point of having a scottish smurf. Kind of a dumb thing to nitpick, but it seems out of place. Also have a feeling like the filmmakers are banking on having gargamel getting hit by cars and other large objects as being funny…cause it isn’t… just saying.

  • cbat628

    Am I the only one who has the feeling that little kids might just suddenly star replacing variations of “smurf” for expletives?

    In any case, I don’t think I’m going to want see this piece of smurf anytime soon.

  • Mike Russo

    So this is Alvin and the Chipmunks…but with Smurfs? Why, why, WHY???

  • sebdab

    Adaptating the smurfs’ design to 3d is a very very bad idea.
    Look at their eyes !… They even added a strange texture to their skin.

    That’s hideous. Poor PEYO.

    That looks even uglier & dumber than the Alvin & the Chipmunks’ feature (or Rocky & Bullwinkle)(or Yogi Bear).

  • Scarabim

    I can’t STAND Neil Patrick Harris.

    And the animation on the Smurfs still looks mushy.

    For the record, I liked the original HB cartoon version. Great toon for kids. And I have no objection to a CGI re-imagining of the series. But THIS…the only good thing I saw was the CGI-animated/live action cat. That was pretty effective. But otherwise…

    *sigh*

  • http://dana-draws.blogspot.com Dana T

    Oh my smurf. No thanks!
    If they kept them in their own interesting world instead of sending them off to [insert major US city here] like the Hop, Enchanted, etc. I would have actually gave it a chance.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      It would’ve been nice too, there’s other humans they could’ve cast back there like Johan and Peewit or something.

  • Richard

    You’ll hate me for his, but I think it’s hilarious!

  • http://www.coffeeroll.com JPDJ

    No.

  • Animus

    If something like this had come out when the original TV show was popular I would have taken my 6 year old niece and nephew to it, if I had had a six year old niece or nephew then.

  • http://ryuuseipro.blogspot.com/ John Paul Cassidy

    Meeeehhhh…

    I’ll stick with THE SMURFS AND THE MAGIC FLUTE, thanks.

    • secret goldfish

      I have fond memories of THE SMURFS AND THE MAGIC FLUTE, It was the first movie I saw at the cinema without adult supervision.
      I don’t actually remember a single thing about the film as my older brother and I spent the entire length of the movie discussing all the naughty stuff we could do and get up to with no adults around.
      Strangely enough we did none of them.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        Heh, I remember the movie quite well after the first screening at a theater I went to some 26-27 years ago. I remember being upset at the end because Peewit made the mistake of giving the wrong flute back to the Smurfs after carving out a replica to do so.

      • http://ryuuseipro.blogspot.com/ John Paul Cassidy

        Yeah, I remember being somewhat upset at that, too, but even then, I realized how funny it was intended to be, because let’s face it, Peewit was very self-centered. :)

        Now, if Sony were to keep the medieval setting of the original comics, cast some teen idol (I don’t care if it’s Justin Bieber!) as Johann and probably Peter Dinklage as Peewit (and they can keep Gargamel if need be!), then THAT would’ve been acceptable.

        This film… not so much. It has more in common with the live-action GARFIELD movies than the original Peyo strip. It’s more of an ultra-cynical deconstruction of the 80s Saturday-morning cartoon show from Hanna-Barbera (which Americans still think the Smurfs originated as), with more lame, in-your-face hip references. A movie by, and for, people who hate the Smurfs, if you will.

        A wasted opportunity.

  • Mark R.

    my eyes just threw up.

  • Heather

    I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet…but I sense a killer drinking game from this film!

  • Steven M.

    I’m still very unimpressed. In fact, this trailer IS the whole movie. My verdict: It Smurfing sucks!

  • droosan

    On a positive note .. the original Peyo comic albums have been newly re-published, in both hardcover & softcover english-language editions. Thanks, SMURFS movie..!

    • Chris Sobieniak

      That’s probably the one thing we can be thankful for of this film, kids’ll finally get a chance to read those after so, so many years of not having an English version of those around (Random House published out a few back in the day).

  • top cat james

    We’ve officially gone from Peyo to Pee-yoo.

  • http://exclusive-cheese.deviantart.com Taco Wiz

    “Smurfitty smurf smurf smurf.”
    “There’s no call for that kind of language.”

    That put a big grin on my face, not a chuckle like the last trailer (which gave me TWO WHOLE CHUCKLES).

    To be honest, I think this could work if it doesn’t rehash the stale concepts all the other CG cartoon remakes have been using.

  • http://MrFun'sBlog Floyd Norman

    Comic books, old TV shows. Isn’t it painfully clear there’s no creativity left in Hollywood? Do these executives really get paid to be this dumb?

    Of course they do.

  • http://www.adamoliver.com Adam

    So promising until they went into the real world (always NYC eh?)

  • Tokyo

    Gargamel is an Alchemist, not a wizard…
    and if anything he will be the only bloody good thing about this movie.

  • http://crazybaloney.com Benjamin

    Peyo must be turning in his grave….. or not! BTW Smurfs isn’t a 80s cartoons, but a 60s comic-strip.

  • Deaniac

    Okay, I admit: the very beginning of the trailer actually looked promising (the scene where Gargamel dodged the one log only to be pummeled by a FRICKIN HUGE one got a good laugh out of me). When they got to NYC, everything just fell apart.

    Well, except for Gargamel being spontaneously struck by large objects. That was hysterical. And NPH slightly breaking the fourth wall (questioning the usage of “smurf” as a verb/adjetive/noun, how irritaing the theme song is) was kinda amusing as well.

    The movie doesn’t look as bad it as the other made it out to be…but I’m still not seeing it.

  • uncle wayne

    oh, f’Smurfs’ SAKE, Guys. This is a RIOT. (Ditto (and sheers to) RICHARD!: Loosen the smurf UP! Remember “The Brady Bunch” film!? Took the absburd (to beGIN with)…and made it triple even funnier. This is gonna be a RIOT!!! I can’t wait!!!

  • Adam

    It should’ve ended with “and what’s worse: it’s in 3D!”

  • http://www.enigmation.de slowtiger

    I still don’t like the character design, and the Smurfs just move waaaay too slow. But I had to laugh, if just at the Smurfs in front of Blue Man Group, and then all other blue product placements in there.

    Still I don’t think the New Your Tourist’s Information should get involved into any more animation.

  • Azz

    Why have they set this in the real world? I’d much rather seen a story set in the beautiful environment at the start of the trailer. Instead we’re going to get cynical pop-culture shit.

  • Maddog

    WHY?

    The budget spent on making this shitty CGI movie could have went to a movie with better a plot and better animation.

    Damn you, sony animation! You were doing okay before this.

    I want a ThunderCats movie right now!

    • snip2354

      I’m still baffled this is Sony “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs” Animation here! To me, they never did this.

  • Bill

    Looked really charming…until they went to NYC for the “fish-out-of-water” trope.

  • mat

    This trailer was better then the last one.

    The start of the trailer was great. The smurf village looked great. Then they went to new york. Why can’t the whole film take place in the past?

    There are tons of the original graphic novels they could use. Why not use smurfs and the magic flute? It had tons of humans to use. Did we really need a new york time story?

    It’s like they just did that to save money like the live action he-man movie did. We all know how well it did at the box office.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      The Smurfs and the Magic Flute would’ve worked best as an introduction to the characters for a new generation since it was the first story to have ‘em in anyway, and certainly there are a lot of good possibilities they could’ve explored there without taking it out of it’s elements. I suppose those casting the right guy for Peewit would be a challenge!

  • 2011 Adult

    Wow I can’t believe I’m watching a trailer for this again!

    The opening is by far the best part about this, given the familiarity with the setting, and Hank Azaria’s ability to work with…. NOTHING…. while on-set. I still don’t like how the Smurfs look (although Grouchy (?) Smurf finds their own song annoying, which is a start!).

    Someone best plug up that magic portal to Manhattan Land! Princess Gisele already had enough problems from that!

  • http://tresswygert.com Tres Swygert

    You’d think they’d learn from the live action movies of Underdog, Inspector Gadget, Garfield, or Yogi Bear….

    Guess not. It’s gonna be horrible, not going to see it, and totally a disrespect (again) to Hanna-Barbara.

  • http://zeteos.blogspot.com/ mick

    typical rethink of an old idea.. add ‘tude’, the conflict of the unfamiliar and wise cracks (am I just thinking of Alvin’s chipped monks)… stick a summery song on there and sell the beast.
    I don’t see a problem here and besides that I doubt that more than 2% of people that read this blog will go see it anyway… jaded perfectionists that we are.

    No harm done

  • Donnie

    I think I saw this movie a few years ago, it was called Enchanted….

    • showplease

      Why on god’s earth would you compare this crap to a GOOD movie?

      • Donnie

        Cartoon characters who are magically transported to NYC. Followed there by a wizard, need help from a guy who is annoyed by them and a woman he likes them.

        Same movie, different characters.

  • http://www.rhodesinternational.com Protogenes

    Crap of the Highest Order.

  • Justin Delbert

    It looks more like a Robot Chicken parody

  • Lucas

    I don’t see the point of people making movies about things they obviously don’t like. When somebody goes out to something they don’t like, makes fun of it the whole time citing their preconceptions (usually at people who are enjoying themselves, making them feel uncomfortable), and then leaves feeling exactly the same as when they arived; those people are douchebags, and I don’t care what they think! Instead of exploring interesting possibilities or trying to tell a good story using the established world of the Smurfs, this looks like it’s become douchebags making a Smurf movie ironically. “Hey, isn’t it stupid that they say ‘smurf’ all the time?” “Hey, isn’t their theme song stupid?”

    Y’know, I’m sure somebody out there actually wants to make a good Smurf movie, and would be excited to write a good story with those characters that’s actually got something worth saying and watching, and those need to be the people they find to make these movies! The douchebags can still go to see them ironically and can still make those pedestrian, easy jokes to themselves and the rest of us will get to enjoy something worthwhile. Stop catering to douchebags!

    The worst part about that, is that animators and performers who are doing great work and are working hard and doing it in service of this crap, while non-artist douchebags come up with the awful ideas that these artists and craftsmen then have to bring skillfully to life. Even worse, many of the people doing the work are likely better storytellers with more interesting things to say than the douchebags who come up with this crap.

  • Dave

    Ahh! Kill it Kill it!

  • http://www.frankpanucci.com Frank Panucci

    The TV show was run-of-the-mill Hanna-Barbera hack work of its era. It inexplicably succeeded despite its lack of quality, as Scooby Doo and other such cartoons often do. There’s nothing of merit to “desecrate” here, so the movie is more than likely much better and more entertaining than the cartoon itself. I probably won’t see the whole film for years, if ever, but the Smurf colors and textures look really cool in the trailer.

    • http://elblogderg.blogspot.com Roberto

      It’s a long time since I watched the tv series so I’m not really sure of its actual quality right now, but I can say without a shadow of doubt that the comic is a masterpiece that I liked as a kid and I like now, so yeah, there is a lot of merit to “desecrate”. Problem is the original work has been forgotten long ago. Even in Europe most people remember the tv show more, except , of course, for Belgium and France.

  • http://dailygrail.com/ red pill junkie

    The movie would have worked better if the human characters had been transported to the Smurf world… as Smurfs.

    But these kind of movies seem to be a sad conditioning for kids to acknowledge there’s no place in this world for magic —specially in New York city.

  • Ignatz the Brick Pitcher

    This was not intended for animation buffs (i.e. Cartoon Brewers), as most animated movies released today. Entertainment value and box office success has precedence over artistic merit…a topic discussed ad infinitum on this weblog.

    That being said, GET OVER IT! LOOL Any Fleischer brothers production would make mincemeat of today’s animation fare. But, this is the standard of movie making. Accept it or live in seclusion with your bygone days! I’m smurfin’ seeing this movie.

    • snip2354

      So if they don’t make them for animation buffs, do they even realize those people will hound over them more than the “regular” person? They started as 2D CARTOONS. But I’ll take your advice and just forget about it.

      Until Cartoon Brew reminds me of it again in a few months.

  • tonma

    Just one thought on this:
    Bet you NO ONE, of all the people who ever liked the smurfs and dreamed of a hollywood movie of them expected, imagined, or wished for a plot like this. It’s amazing how this people go incredibly long distances to produce a movie just the way nobody wanted it to be.
    I think many people is gonna feel a little sick inside when the tease of the smurf town sequence ends and yo get stuck with only six smurfs and the same city you always see in the rest of the movies.

  • Jim

    “Smurfitty smurf smurf smurf.”
    “There’s no call for that kind of language.”

    Okay that made me chuckle… the rest of it? Meh. Alvin and the Chipmunks meet Enchanted. Same old same old been there done that. It’ll be the first Sony Animation movie I skip out on (unless it gets really good reviews or something).

  • http://www.lawrencejackson.com Law

    Technically excellent yet charmless and curiously forgettable.

  • Josh

    I always say don’t judge a film until you’ve seen it but I am spectacularly uninterested. It’s pretty much the same concept as Enchanted but with a Saturday morning cartoon that wasn’t great to begin with.

    Come NPH, you need to choose better films. Did you really see the concept for a Smurfs movie and think “Yeah, this looks like a solid film”

  • TheBandSnapsBack

    I’m just waiting for the GNAP!olypse to decimate New York City. THAT would be a Smurf movie.

  • Valentin Moretto

    Either they didn’t take into account the fact that the Smurfette didn’t speak smurf in the original comics… or they were going by the idea that she acclimated to the smurfs’ language.

  • http://elblogderg.blogspot.com Roberto

    I think the techno-version of the theme song at the end of the trailer is a lot more annoying than the classic one.

  • Martin Juneau

    Guys, everyone was involved to their creations in the original Dupuis’ comics lines is long dead, so there is no way a Smurf motion picture is gonna be projected today. Besides, everyone here seems to know them only for the TV 80′s shows and not the real thing. Most of the producers needs to be educated by the original comics printed actually by PaperCut for the US, such it’s the best way to represent the Peyo’s political view (Mostly in King Smurf) in regard to this characters created for a Johan and Pewitt comic episode first.

    http://www.papercutz.com/smurfs/smurf_moreinfo.html

    Actually, i’m happy there’s not a Boule and Bill hacked picture filled with dated pop-culture references and fart jokes and solded by Americans. No ones in US and English Canada knows Boule and Bill.

  • Glowworm

    Sadly I liked watching Gargamel get run over by a truck. Hank Azaria as Gargamel is the only remotely funny thing about this movie–simply because it’s sort of funny to watch someone run about dressed like that.

  • andreas Wessel-Therhorn

    as long as parents take their kids to see those films and make them profitable, they will get made, no matter how bad they are.

  • http://kicreativestudio.blogspot.com/ Ki Innis

    Peyo is most likely turning in his grave.

    Sad to see his charming work reduced to a satire of itself and a “Tone-Loc” remix. Sad. So sad.

    Whoever developed this had a great opportunity to do something creative which “could” have celebrated the artistic appeal of The Smurfs. (And Peyo’s illustrative appeal)

    However they opted for the lazy:

    “Garfield- Alvin and the Chipmunks-Hop-Yogi Bear-Insert-Whatever-Film-You-Want-Formula.

    It’s SO lazy.

    “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.” – Henry Ford

  • David

    why is it whenever Hollywood makes a movie base on a tv show the first thing they do is take the characters out of their natural surrounding.

    Smurf in the big city

    Tom and Jerry the movie

    Garfield the search for Odie

    the Brady Bunch movie!

  • Spencer

    Some of these jokes actually sound like they’re trying to defy their own cliches.

    Gargamel gets hit twice and the cat laughs at him.

    Hell no.