Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs (partially found Belgian animated film; 1965)

The Smurfs as they looked in the 1960s series.

Status: Partially Found

In 1958, Peyo created the popular The Smurfs (originally, "Les Schtroumpfs") and they first appeared on a Belgium comic Johan and Peewit story "La Flûte à six trous". A few years later, The Smurfs made their animation debut in a TV series called Les Schtroumpfs which aired from 1961-1965 throughout Western Europe (such as The Netherlands, West Germany, Austria, and Belgium).

Information

In 1965, a 90-minute black-and-white animated film was made called Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs (The Adventures of the Smurfs). It was the first animated production to feature The Smurfs.^[1] The film itself actually used five episodes from the 1961 series Les Schtroumpfs.

The character design is based on the early art style of the first Smurfs comic stories, featuring slightly more angular bodies and the eyes often turning into small dots. The animation is also very limited, even by 1960s cartoon standards. The 1960s series used cutout animation for animating the characters.

Parts of the film/TV series can be seen on display at the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels, Belgium (birthplace of series creator Pierre Culliford "Peyo") at a permanent Smurfs exhibit that was added to the museum to commemorate the franchise's 50th Anniversary in 2008.

On October 31, 2022, it was revealed that IMPS and LAFIG Belgium has made a deal with OTTera to launch a FAST channel known as "Smurfs TV" featuring the 1960 series as well as the 1981 TV series (except for the US due to licensing issues concerning Warner Bros. currently holding the rights on hosting the 1981 TV series in the region). Another article further explained that it will be featured on connected TVs including Xiaomi, Plex, Huawei, VIDAA, TCL etc.

The Segments

Smurfnapped

A Smurf gets captured by Gargamel.

The Smurfs and the Magic Egg

The Smurfs discover a magic egg.

The Black Smurfs

A contagious disease terrorizes the village.

The Smurfs and the Dragon

The Smurfs befriend a domesticated dragon.

The Flying Smurf

One of the Smurfs attempts to fly like a bird.

Gallery

Footage

Some surviving footage from the film.

More surviving footage from a high-quality German copy of Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs.

30 second footage from 2008 that shows "The Smurfnapper".

More surviving footage which shows the adaptation of "The Fake Smurf" and "The Flute Smurf".

The full version of "The Fake Smurf"

Images

Behind the scenes photo showing animation cells for The Smurfs.
Screenshot of "The Smurfs and the Dragon."
Screenshot of "The Fake Smurf."
Another photo of "The Smurfs and the Dragon."
Screenshot from "The Smurfs and the Magic Egg."
Another Screenshot from "The Smurfs and the Magic Egg."
Screenshot of the episode "Smurfnapped" showing Gargamel and Azrael.
Brainy witnessing Gargamel capturing another Smurf from "Smurfnapped."
During The Smurfs 60th Anniversary, the Official French Youtube channel briefly showed a clip of the 1960s series. The footage itself is of better quality compared to other videos of the series.