(Courtesy of the UK Telegraph)
Unicef bombs the Smurfs in fund-raising campaign for ex-child soldiers
By David Rennie in Brussels
(Filed: 08/10/2005)
The people of Belgium have been left reeling by the first adult-only episode of the Smurfs, in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes.
The short but chilling film is the work of Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, and is to be broadcast on national television next week as a campaign advertisement.
The animation was approved by the family of the Smurfs' late creator, "Peyo".
Belgian television viewers were given a preview of the 25-second film earlier this week, when it was shown on the main evening news. The reactions ranged from approval to shock and, in the case of small children who saw the episode by accident, wailing terror.
Unicef and the family company, IMPS, which controls all rights to the Smurfs, have stipulated that it is not to be broadcast before the 9pm watershed.
The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.
Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.
The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."
It is intended as the keystone of a fund-raising drive by Unicef's Belgian arm, to raise 70,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi.
Philippe Henon, a spokesman for Unicef Belgium, said his agency had set out to shock, after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers. "It's controversial," he said. "We have never done something like this before but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited."
Belgium prides itself on being the home of some of the world's most famous cartoon characters - from Tintin to Lucky Luke and the Smurfs, known to the Dutch- speaking half of the country as "Smurfen" and as "Schtroumpfs" to Belgium's French speakers.
The advertising agency behind the campaign, Publicis, decided the best way to convey the impact of war on children was to tap into the earliest, happiest memories of Belgian television viewers. They chose the Smurfs, who first appeared in a Belgian comic in 1958.
Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis for the campaign, said the agency's original plans were toned down.
"We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no."
The film has won tentative approval from the official Smurf fan club. A spokesman said: "I think it will wake up some people. It is so un-Smurf-like, it might get people to think."
Hendrik Coysman, managing director of IMPS, said: "That crying baby really goes to your bones."
Nothing wrong with the fund raiser, but...I mean look at the UNICEF advertisement!
Just something about it makes you laugh...because it's just too disturbing to do otherwise.
(And somewhere, Gargamel is laughing)
The U is bombing the smurfs. And I thought they were too afraid to wipe their own ass. >>
Laaa la, lala la la... >.>
... laa lalala la la. <.<;
That's all well and good, but it'll never defeat the Se7en episode of The Smurfs from Robot Chicken, now THAT is an adult episode of The Smurfs.
*Giggles* Chronic *ahem* Smurf... hehe.
YAY PROPAGANDA!
WITH CHILDREN'S CARTOONS!
Oh, and The link Cyc posted is so off the wall, yet makes perfect sense at the same time.
Wow... is that serious? Geez...
I'm sifting through my vocab words for a good adjective... Sad? Telling? Morbid? Shocking?
No, no... I think I'll go with frickin' hilarious. In a demented, sickening sort of way.
The concept is just so disgusting it's funny. I don't think I actually want to see the film, though. Too many good smurf memories.
Yeah...I mean, they even copied the art style into the fires and the one in the background screaming with its head on fire.
By the by, what are they going to do for children now? Looks like Smurfette's dead.
Not quite as good as the extremely hilarious Donnie Darko Smurf talk... But still quite funny! Oh wait, this ISN'T meant to be funny? o.o;
Quote:
That's all well and good, but it'll never defeat the Se7en episode of The Smurfs from Robot Chicken, now THAT is an adult episode of The Smurfs.
Ah yes! ^_^ I must see that Robot Chicken ep.. I've only gotten to see the first 2.
If it wasn't serious I would get away with laughing. ih well, LOL!
That's all well and good, but it'll never defeat the Se7en episode of The Smurfs from Robot Chicken, now THAT is an adult episode of The Smurfs.
"Oh GOD! What did you do to Smurfette!?!?!?"
This reminds me of the Cartoon Characters to the Rescue special, where the cartoons are advocating against drugs, and that trippy moment where the Muppet Babies are traveling through a decaying human brain.
The difference is that there are no nukes, but it is still a somewhat scary thing for a kid. xx;
I don't find it hilarious or serious, just a bit disturbed really.
~Neo
I'm curious... perhaps inappropriately so...
What color is smurf blood? I mean, would it really be reasonable to expect it to be red?
Ah, shock value advertising.
I'm reminded of that bowel cancer campaing over here a few years back.
This is a bit like that one in the sixties where they dropped an atomic bomb on a little girl picking daisies.
A bit heavy-handed, don't you think?
But they're right, images of suffering third-world kids don't work anymore because we've seen it so much.
I think with the Smurfs they could've hinted at it, but not done it outright.
Its on AOL, for those wondering. >>
And, in an attempt to add something a little more informative, here's the movie. The Smurfs short doesn't start until about halfway through, and the picture's choppy...but that's how it is. Plus, it's neat to hear the Smurfs 'la-la-laaing' in Belgian.
Plus, it's neat to hear the Smurfs 'la-la-laaing' in Belgian.
German.
RUTHLESS SMURF DICTATOR SADDAM SMURFSEIN.
EMBEZZELED "OIL FOR SMURFS" MONEY SQUANDERED ON LAVISH PALACES.
CHEMICAL ALI SMURF COOKING UP WEAPONS OF SMURFY DESTRUCTION IN MOBILE LABORATORY.
POLITICAL PRISONERS SMURFED INTO FILTHY PRISONS WITHOUT TRIAL.
LESS FORTUNATE SMURFS SIMPLY "DISAPPEAR".
And one of the alternative side-effects of beating Smurfsein...
OIL!
(Parody brought to you by Oxymoron Ltd. 
)
I always knew Mario was a communist...but not the Smurfs too!
Gosh, what other childhood 80s' icons are secretly commies??? >_> <_<;
BTW, if the high resolution slideshow isn't good enough for you, YTMND has a low resolution animation that gets the point across a good bit more.
