Born in 1958 from the pencil of the Belgian author Peyo as secondary characters in the newspaper Spirou, the little blue elves have become over the years one of the greatest successes of European comics.
The exhibition “The Smurfs”, to be seen until November 19 at the Château de Saint-Maurice, offers on two floors collections of figurines and comics, games, projections or even a gallery of portraits of these atypical characters.
From Belgium to the whole world
“It is the only creation of a French-language comic strip that has really crossed borders. It has become universal thanks to the television series produced by Hanna Barbera in 1981 in the United States, explains the curator of the exhibition Philippe Duvanel to the RTS. This series spread the fun of the Smurfs everywhere”. Then came the 1990s, during which the blue elves became techno stars. Their CD and vinyl albums have sold over 40 million copies.
Overwhelmed by the success of his invention, Peyo founded his own studio in the 1960s. He surrounds himself with young artists like the designer from La Tour-de-Peilz Derib to support him in the production of comic strips. The latter notably worked on the comic strip “Le Schtroumpfissime”, released in 1964.
For José Grandmont, historical collaborator of Peyo and co-author of his biography “Une vie à schtroumpfer”, “everyone has appropriated the Smurfs so much that Americans are convinced that they are Americans. The word ‘smurf’ has been translated into all languages, such as ‘The Smurfs’ in English and ‘Los Pitufos’ in Spanish”.
The Smurfs are part of pop culture by their diversity, their number and their specificities. We all have something smurf in us.
A mysterious universe faithful to its beginnings
In Saint-Maurice, the exhibition also attempts to lift the veil on the mysteries surrounding the language and life of the Smurfs. “We know that they are very old, but we don’t know where they come from, who they are or if they are still alive. And there is the great mystery of their reproduction, of which we only know the story. of the stork which would deposit baby smurfs in the villages on blue moon nights”, adds Philippe Duvanel.
Despite the death of Peyo in 1992, the universe of the Smurfs has remained faithful to its beginnings. It was not until 2017 that a village of Smurfettes was discovered. In May 2023, with the release of the album “Qui est ce Schtroumpf?”, the features of the characters will change for the first time under the pencil of the author of the French cartoonist Tébo.
TV subject: Rafael Poncioni
Adaptation web: Myriam Semaani
Exhibition “The Smurfs”, Château de Saint-Maurice, to see from April 1 to November 19, 2023.