The Smurf Formula Is Tired (And That’s Okay)
It’s not that this new movie looks terrible; it’s that it seems aggressively familiar. Papa Smurf is still the wise one. Brainy is still insufferable. Smurfette is still the token girl in a village full of questionably single men. Gargamel is still out here trying to extract the Smurfs' magical power, as if it were 1984 and we weren’t asking questions.
And that’s kind of the problem.
The Smurfs formula is fine for what it was intended for. It worked in the '80s because it didn’t try to be anything more than a whimsical Saturday morning cartoon. But every time Hollywood tries to revive the franchise, it has to overcomplicate it and give it a new edge, a big villain arc, a pop star cameo, and a self-aware wink that says, “We know this is silly. Please still buy the toys.”
But here’s the thing: I don’t want the Smurfs to be updated. I want them to stay weird, cozy, and full of mushrooms. Not rebooted into something that feels like a committee brainstormed it in a glass office labeled “IP Optimization Room.”
Some classics don’t need to evolve. They need to be left alone.
The Reviews Are In and We’ve Seen This Movie Before
Critics haven’t been kind to the new Smurfs movie. Words like “uninspired,” “overproduced,” and “blandly corporate” are getting tossed around like Smurfberries in a windstorm. And honestly? That’s exactly what it looks like.
From the trailers to the tone, this isn’t a celebration of a classic. It’s a repackaging. There’s always a musical number. There’s always a meta-joke about being small. There’s always some human subplot no one asked for. And of course, there’s always a lesson about teamwork or believing in yourself, delivered in the exact same rhythm as every other animated franchise film of the last 15 years.
It’s not offensively bad. It’s just unnecessary.
We’ve reached the point where “safe” is more dangerous than “risky.” Movies like this don’t bomb- they just float by, barely leaving a footprint, until the next reboot tries again. The new Smurfs movie doesn’t fail because it’s too different. It fails because it’s not different enough.
Why Do We Keep Rebooting the Smurfs?
Let’s be honest: the Smurfs are IP. That’s how studios see them. Not characters. Not history. Not legacy. Just intellectual property with built-in name recognition and a marketing package already halfway done.
Hollywood doesn’t reboot the Smurfs because there's a creative vision burning to be realized. They reboot the Smurfs because they exist. And because someone in a pitch meeting said, “What if we make it a musical this time?”
There’s a formula for this: take a nostalgic brand, throw in a few shiny updates, test it with three focus groups, and hope for franchise viability. The problem is, you can’t manufacture the kind of love people had for the original Smurfs. Or Looney Tunes. Or Winnie the Pooh. That love came from years of imperfect, charming, slightly chaotic storytelling that wasn’t worried about market penetration or cinematic universes. That brings me to something a lot of people don’t realize: There’s already a new Smurfs series out there, and it’s actually pretty good.
The 2021 Smurfs TV show, produced by European studios like Peyo Productions, IMPS, and Dupuis, is currently airing on Nickelodeon. It’s fully CGI, sure, but it keeps the tone playful, the stories short and sweet, and the village intact. No cinematic universe. No pop star cameos. Just Smurfs being Smurfs, in high-def. It’s a solid, faithful modern take and a reminder that you can update a legacy without rewriting its soul.
And that brings us to
Europe Updates, It Doesn’t Overhaul
Yes, Asterix has had a few recent 3D animated films. But here’s the difference: they still feel like Asterix. The humor is intact. The tone is clever, not cloying. The art may be updated, but the soul remains French, satirical, and weird in the best way. No one is trying to give Asterix a pop music montage or force him into a shared cinematic universe.
Same with Donald Duck. He may show up in new comics or animated shorts, but he’s still recognizably Donald - grumpy, chaotic, pantless and all. There’s a restraint in how Europe treats legacy characters. We don’t try to make them “relevant.” We let them be themselves.
That’s the respect I wish the Smurfs still had.
In Europe, comics and animated characters are part of cultural heritage, not just merchandising opportunities. There’s a sense of stewardship, of continuity. Whether it’s Tintin, Lucky Luke, Spirou, or even Maya the Bee, these characters are preserved, not repackaged. Studios understand that legacy is part of the appeal. They don’t reboot every five years because the brand book changed.
Instead of letting the Smurfs exist as the charming, oddball fantasy they were always meant to be, Hollywood keeps sanding down their edges, smoothing out their weirdness, and turning them into just another content product. And that’s the real shame. The Smurfs didn’t need to change. We just needed to remember why we loved them in the first place.
And as the current Nickelodeon TV series proves, you can bring the Smurfs into the modern age without turning them into soulless brand bait. You just have to trust the source material and the audience.
Let the Smurfs Be Smurfs
I’m not against new animation. I’m not against kids discovering beloved characters in fresh ways. But not everything needs to be optimized, streamlined, or scrubbed until it looks like everything else.
Some things are supposed to be a little weird. A little slow. A little blue.
I loved the Smurfs because they weren’t trying to be cool. They were trying to get along. They lived in a mushroom village. They had no idea how money worked. Their biggest problem was usually Gargamel or themselves. That simplicity, that strangeness, is what made them memorable.
This new movie? That’s what makes it forgettable.
So no, we don’t need another Smurfs movie, not like this. We need the Smurfs back as they were: timeless, odd, and quietly magical. Let them live in their forest. Let them stay weird. Let them be blue.
And if you're looking for a modern version that still gets it right? The current Nickelodeon series is already doing the work. No reinvention required. Just heart.
