First Look: Smurfs in CGI

Published by Jeff Leins on September 1, 2009

The first official image from Sony Picture Animations’ The Smurfs was posted in a magazine recently and later scanned onto the Internet for you viewing pleasure.  It’s the first glimpse at the new 3-D Smurfs, and… it looks exactly like what a CGI Smurf would look like.

In fact, it might be a little too simple, like a game graphic rather than the title character in a 2010 release.  I guess I’m asking for too much from a movie following the Alvin and the Chipmunks formula.  But a Scarface reference?  Really?

I’m assuming the blue guy featured is “Clumsy Smurf,” the center of the rumored storyline.  Supposedly Clumsy is given to the main human child, Sophie, as a doll from Belgium but she soon discovers he’s a living Smurf.  A twist even M. Night Shyamalan would shake his head at.

When this cartoon was on TV, I think I considered it on par with David the Gnome, Doug, and the Rugrats.  Even for a kids show (and now movie), the Smurfs are lame.

The picture comes from PVCBlue, which seems to have an odd obsession with the little blue creatures.