The Smurfs and the Magic Flute

For this entire month, I will be looking at the animated movies to famous 80s cartoons that had later got live-action movies in the 2000s. We will first look at “The Smurfs and the Magic Flute.”

“The Smurfs and the Magic Flute,” the first feature length film to have the most famous characters of Belgian cartoonist Peyo, was made in 1976. Later, two English dubs were made for the film; the first was done in the United Kingdom as the film came out in 1979 there. The second one was for the North American audiences and it came out in 1983 after the animated series had quickly become very popular.

Fans of the cartoon that haven’t seen the film before might be thrown off by some of the differences here. Remember, this film was made a few years before the animated cartoon so it shouldn’t be so appalling to see that certain characters from the cartoon aren’t anywhere in the movie. The story is about a young knight named Johan (Grant Gottschall) and his jester, Peetwit (Cameron Clarke) (Ian Jane said in his review, “two earlier creations from Peyo's cartoons in the 1950s - trivia note: The Smurfs first appeared in their comic strips before getting their own”). A travelling salesman arrives at the castle to sell Peetwit a flute but the King (Efron Etkin) know just how horrible Peetwit is when it comes to music and throws him out but the salesman leaves flute. The King doesn’t want Peetwit to see the flute, tries to burn it but that doesn’t work. When Peetwit does get a hold of the flute, the music played from it sends everyone in the castle dancing crazily. Here is when everyone involved finds out that there’s something different about this flute.

In comes the evil Matthew McCreep, voiced by Mike Reynolds, who wants the flute and will go so far to steal it when he finds out that it’s been left at the castle, that’s where he goes. He steals it from Peetwit who goes with Johan at the King’s request to get the flute back from McCreep who wants to use it to cheat people. Peetwit and Johan first visit a wizard who sends them to where The Smurfs live, the peculiar blue creatures who created the flute, and their leader, Papa Smurf, voiced by Mike Reynolds, agrees to help them track down McCreep and them trying to get the flute back.

Jane noted, “Though the film was released theatrically by Atlantic, most who remember it probably saw it by way of the Vestron VHS release that made the rounds in the eighties as the title was popular and did quite well on home video.” For the movie itself, it has a nice story. Some might complain that Smurfette or Gargamel aren’t in the movie but Peetwit and Johan are fun characters who really make up for them not included. Jane mentioned, “Though the Smurfs themselves don't actually appear in the movie until just past the twenty minute mark, something that may dismay younger viewers who need the little blue guys to be on the screen at all times, the storyline is in keeping thematically with what we saw in the animated TV series.” There are lots of magic, good lessons, fun characters, evil worthy villains, catchy music and some nicely odd animation.

Jane said, “A lot of the appeal of a movie like this is going to be the nostalgia that has set in for those who remember it from their childhood. It might not appeal as much on a visual level to today's kids used to CGI animation and the slower pace might have trouble holding the attention of some youngsters. With that said, however, this is enjoyable enough and completely passable entertainment.” The last half of the movie picks up the pace a lot and if this isn’t a mainly deep or amazing film, it’s a nice seventy five minutes of harmless fun and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that.

Jane ended his review by saying, “The Smurfs And The Magic Flute is a fun nostalgia trip and though it will certainly appeal more to those who remember the characters from their eighties heyday than those weaned on the recent CGI revisionist take, there's probably enough common ground that kids of all ages can have some fun with it. It's nice to have this on DVD after all these years (though the UK Blu-ray release offers improved picture quality) but the non-anamorphic transfer and lack of any substantial extras will understandably annoy a segment of its audience. Recommended for Smurfs enthusiasts (smurfthusiasts?), a fine rental for the masses.”

This is a nice film, but I can understand why someone may not like it. Peetwit can get really annoying and the Smurfs come in late in movie, even though their name is in the title of movie. However, it’s a harmless movie for everyone, so if you want to, see it for yourselves. It might be a better movie than the latest ones that have come out in recent years.

Check in next week to see the next film I look at in “80s Cartoon Movie Month.”