Schtroumpf

Did you know that the Smurfs are celebrating their 50th anniversary? NPR just did a great piece on the history of the little blue creatures who are three apples tall. Listen to their feature here. Like many kids of the 80's, I had my collection of Smurf figurines. But I took my Smurf fandom a step further. The evidence:

I had Smurf Colorforms...
A Smurf birthday cake...
I even had a Smurf Playhouse...

Not pictured - my Smurf Big Wheels, Smurf board game, Smurf guitar, Smurf drums... I was fanatical about the cartoon. I was lucky enough to have seen Smurfs on Ice and if you needed further proof, please note the below legal documentation.

Materialism aside, the Smurfs made a great impact on me creatively. Some of my earliest drawings are of Smurfs.

In 2001, my friend Kevin and I traveled to Italy. We had a blast. And because we're both artists, we saw museum after museum. Some of the greatest works of art on the planet were just inches in front of our faces. On our way home, we had a 7 hour layover in Brussels. After a long trip, we just wanted to get home. But then we came across a flyer in an Italian cafe...there was a cartooning museum in Brussels. And Belgium of course was home to Pey0 - creator of the Smurfs. In Italy, Smurfs are called "Puffis". In French, they are called "Schtroumpfs". When we landed in Brussels and got in the cab, we asked, "Comment obtenez-vous au musem de l'Schtroumpfs?" (It looks more elegant than it sounded.) While we weren't headed to a museum dedicated solely to Smurfs, The Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art had plenty of Smurf stuff. They had an exhibit set up of Smurf artifacts - as though the Smurfs had been an actual species that had since died off and this was what was left. And they had Smurf statues and lots of amazing artwork from Belgian cartoonists.


And now apparently there is a 3-D movie trilogy in the works. I'm there!