History Headscratchers / TheSmurfs

* WTF is up with the opening sequence? It seems to show Main/HarmlessVillain Gargamel destroying a large chunk of the world.

** Is it really accurate to classify Gargamel as a Main/HarmlessVillain? The examples given for that trope strongly imply a villain that is hard to take seriously, not just one with an unbroken track record of failure. Gargamel's plans may be doomed but they're rarely if ever laughable on their face.

** It has to be magically since to be biologically possible, a Main/OneGenderRace would have to be female. Any more specific details are still a mystery.

** A Main/DeliveryStork brings a baby smurf to the village on nights of a blue moon.

* The above raises the question: if the Smurfs are naturally a Main/OneGenderRace, as all indications appear, why would they be attracted to a female?

** Handy's attracted to a female mermaid, as well; they are apparently capable of feeling attracted to females (and the reverse is true for Smurfette, judging by "Smurfily Ever After" and "Wild About Smurfette) even if they are biologically incapable of reproducing sexually (which we, technically, don't know for sure), possibly like a sterile member of any sexually-reproducing species.

** Not only are they blue, they are blue for a reason. Peyo has stated that he went through a number of colours before he decided on blue. Initially, they were going to be green, but then they wouldn't stand out enough in their natural habitat. Then he considered red or orange, but that was too aggressive. Blue is calm, but also stands out among the green, allowing for a Smurf that is very pleasing to the eye...

** Or Smurfette doesn't have the same PhilosophersStone qualities that allow the normal murfs to be used in the creation of gold.

** In addition to the fact that Smurfette wasn't a "real" Smurf from the start and probably wouldn't have worked for mking gold, Gargamel's motivations for capturing the Smurfs varies a bit. He does want to use them to make gold, but he also wants to eat them because apparently they taste good -- but the ''main'' motivation for his continued pursuit of the Smurfs seems to be that ItsPersonal. He's been thwarted, defeated and humiliated by the Smurfs so many times now that he wants revenge; in very many episodes he begins schemes that are meant to totally destroy the Smurfs and would render them useless for eating or gold-making... but by now he seems to wiew killing them all, or at least causing the rest of them grief by killing ''some'' of them, as a decent consolation prize, even if he ''doesn't'' profit from it.

** Since when do the communist hate pranks? That's one stereotype I've never herd of.

* Movie question, what's up with Clumsy's appearance? I know the film is live-action and The Smurfs are suppose to look realistic. But Clumsy act's like a child in the movie. Sometimes he sounds like an adult and most of the time in the film he sounds like a young child. But what's with clumsy's ears? Clumsy's ears look more like Dopey's ears from Snow White.

* One fact bugs me - so here's Lazy Smurf, and he is best at sleeping. Which means that: when he is awake, he can barely walk and needs coffee. Papa Smurf ''still'' forces him to work. Jokey at least has an excuse (morale booster), but smurfs like Brainy, Lazy and Flighty don't. P.S.: [[FridgeLogic Does it mean that all smurfs are born with a medical condition,]] and, thus, [[FridgeHorror screwed over before they were even born?]]
** This is addressed in the animated version with "Nobody/Somebody" Smurf. Nobody goes to Papa Smurf to get a "cool" name, and Papa Smurf replies that Smurfs aren't just handed "cool names." The Smurf's personality and character traits are ''very'' carefully studied, and then the name is chosen to match. Since "Nobody" didn't manifest any special traits or abilities and was basically flat character, that was the name he got until his "Day in the limelight" episode where he beat the imp that was single-handedly curbstomping Smurf Village by turning every-smurf's name against them. That's when he went from "Nobody" Smurf to "Somebody" Smurf.
*** If so, then ''how'' Brainy got his name if his first word was "gobbledygook" (''Baby's First Word'', in contrast to, for example, Jokey's ''surprise'') and is, in essence, [[KnowNothingKnowItAll a pretentious intellectual who actually knows very little]]?

** There are people who born with a condition named narcolepsia which causes them to be sleepy all the time, Lazy may just be the Smurf equivalent. The only difference is that he adds nothing to society unless the job of testing beds becomes a thing in the Smurf Village, but we have to deal in RealLife with people who, for different reasons like medical conditions, are disable and can't really work.
* This bugged me as a kid. Why is gargamel wearing an old beat up robe and living in an old house if he has a book of magic spells? That's like having a brilliant inventor live in a rat infested apartment. Gargamel's book can turn him handsome, change him into other creatures, make people fall in love, turn victims into mindless slaves, etc. Why is he miserable and angry in most episodes? That book of his could make him a lot of money, or make his life easier. Why waste his spells on the smurfs?
** The book is unreliable at best, most of his schemes against the Smurfs fails. Even more, maybe he already tried to do all does stuffs and fail and we don’t know because the show is tell from the Smurf’s perspective so we don’t see what Gargamel does in non-Smurfs related situations.
* Why does Azrael acts more like a dog than as a cat? When Gargamel is punished at the end of most episodes we always see Azrael at his side sharing the punishment to some degree. When Gargamel is persecuted by some treat (like a giant or an angry mob) Azrael runs at his side even when he can run in other direction, hide or just stay still and probably the mob or the treat will keep following Gargamel and not him. Everyone who is familiar with cat behavior will know that a cat would never do these kind of stuffs. It doesn’t mean that cats can’t be loyal and protective to their owners, but not in that way.
** Remember Gargamel is a wizard, so Azrael is not just a pet; he's a familiar. Familiars were said to bond to witches/wizards and be always by their side, serving if not as servants, as sidekicks, which is really what Azrael is.

** He did go to wizard school, even if he flunked out, he clearly has some talents with potions and such, and he's pretty knowledgeable about magic and magical objects/artefacts. All of this is probably enough to classify him as a wizard -- just not a very good or powerful one.

* 2011 Movie Headscratcher: Why did Neil Patrick Harris' character leave his custom Blue Moon advert right next to the actual advert on his computer? It seems somewhat stupid to leave the advert that isn't supposed to be public next to the actual one, especially since doing so would leave a risk of the wrong one being accidentally sent to his employers (which, of course, is exactly what happens during the Guitar Hero scene). This also brings up the question of why the make-up company proceeded to publicly distribute the wrong advert. Wouldn't there be some sort of approval process that the advert would need to go through before it is publicly released to prevent a scenario like this?

* In the [[WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs2021 2021 TV series]] episode "Smurfy Day Care", how did the Baby Smurfs somehow appear in random places?

* After so many Brainy's authoritative acts (including crowning himself king, inciting a village war, and nearly causing Clumsy's death), why hasn't Papa Smurf banished him from the village yet? In fact, Brainy has already commented to private individuals that "Papa Smurf is not always right", and someone has certainly told Papa Smurf this. Has he still not realized that Brainy is eager to pull the rug from under him?
** It just seems like Papa isn't really the sort of Smurf who "bans" Smurfs from the village. He's a pretty nice guy like that. Also because it's probably unlikly that Papa gets overthrown by Brainy if he even ever tries either.

* Movie question. Ok, so there are about five little blue creatures yelling, running around, and climbing tall objects, with extremely unrobotic movements...And [[WhatAnIdiot everyone goes after them thinking they're toys.]] How?

** Let's see. Going by cartoon continuity (since the events of the comic are somewhat different) there were originally 98 Smurfs in the village, including Papa Smurf. Then Gargamel creates Smurfette, and the number increases to 99 -- we know this because Papa counts all the Smurfs in the episode ''The Hundredth Smurf'' and concludes that they're 99. In the same episode, Vanity's reflection comes to life and after some time spent as a backwards Smurf is reflected and becomes the titular hundredth Smurf. The Smurfs stay an even hundred for a while until Baby Smurf appears, bringing the number up to 101. After some time Nat, Snappy and Slouchy get themselves de-aged and become Smurflings, but that doesn't alter the actual number of Smurfs any -- but when Sassette is introduced she's once again magically created as a new Smurf and increases the number to 102. Later, Grandpa Smurf, who's a notorious wanderer, returns to the village and moves in for good, and then there are 103 Smurfs. Then, Wild Smurf is discovered; a Smurfling who got lost and was presumed dead for many years but was in reality raised by wild squirrels -- with him the number becomes 104. Finally, there's Grandpa's old flame Nanny Smurf, the last "extra" Smurf character to be introduced in the show, making the final number of Smurfs 105. Which is the number that's presented in the later days of the franchise. Other Smurfs who are "introduced" over the course of the cartoon have in reality been there all along, they just haven't gotten any individual on-screen attention yet and have only appeared as anonymous Smurfs in crowd scenes. Whew!
** Add one more in the original comics; Smurfette already existed during "The Hundredth Smurf", but she didn't live in the village, so she wasn't there when Papa Smurf counted the Smurfs. That would be the only significant difference.
* Are Smurfs really blue? Or was... Angry Smurf's commercial canon, and they're actually orange, and we all need to fix the color settings on our [=TVs=] ?

* In ''The Fake Smurf'', Hogatha seamlessly blends in with the Smurfs despite the fact that they should all recognize each other. Papa Smurf is the one who initially calls her (without a second thought) "Snorty Smurf" due to Hogatha's inability to conceal her VerbalTic. This raises the question as to whether there was already a "Snorty Smurf" in the Smurf Village and that Hogatha was just lucky enough to have voice mannerisms that were similar enough to one of the more obscure Smurfs.

* What was Papa Smurf's original name?

** You don't have to be Christian to celebrate Christmas or Easter. Lots of non-Christians do, without bringing religion into it at all.