The Smurfs were a group of over 100 dark blue, three-apple tall creatures who lived in the mushroom homes of
Smurf Village in the middle of a deep forest. They were led by 542-year-old Papa Smurf
. Their lives would have been perfect were it not for the villainous Gargamel
, a wizard who spent his days trying to capture the wee little creatures. Gargamel's cat Azrael
added to the menace, always looking for a tasty blue snack. The single-emotioned Smurfs � including Brainy
, Jokey
, Harmony
, Grouchy
, and Handy
� were later joined by Grandpa Smurf
, four Smurflings, who went back in time to become youngsters and then a stork delivered little baby Smurf
. Smurfette
was created by Gargamel as a way to stir up trouble with the other Smurfs, but Papa Smurf smurfed up a spell and changed her to a nice smurf. Later seasons brought two other Smurf females: Sassette and Grandma. Gargamel was joined later by his nephew Scruple as an apprentice. In 1982 the characters Johan and his aide Peewit
(pronounced "Peewee") were given their own segments during the expanded, 90-minute Smurfs, but the two humans simply weren't as smurfy as their tiny friends and did not last.
Each Smurf is assigned a task in the village, according to their ability and the needs of the community. Smurfs live peaceful lives in harmony with nature. Each Smurf possesses one dominant emotion or characteristic, which is reflected by his or her name. The Smurfs speak a dialect which makes heavy use of the word "smurf". The root word "smurf" is used extensively as a noun, verb, and everything in-between; "I'll go smurfing in the River Smurf." would not be an uncommon sentence. The word "Schtroumpf" (Smurf) is the Flemish equivalent of the English term "Whatchamacallit".
