The Smurfs Movie (2024 film)

The Smurfs Movie is a 2024 American computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy film based on The Smurfs comics series by Peyo, inspired on 3D animated series The Smurfs, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. A reboot for Pixar to Disney's previous The Smurfs (2016), The Smurfs 2 (2022) and The Smurfs (2023) the fourth installment in Disney's Smurfs movies series, it was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, co-directed by Chris Miller and Conrad Vernon, from a screenplay writers of Darnell, McGrath and Genndy Tartakovsky, produced by Lindsey Collins and Tartakovsky, and stars the voices of Anya Taylor-Joy, Hank Azaria, Jason Sudeikis, Selena Gomez, David Schwimmer, Jack Black, Chloë Grace Moretz, Anna Kendrick, Meghan Trainor, Ben Stiller (who also served as an executive producer alongside Pete Docter, McGrath and Gomez), and Jayma Mays. In the film, a mysterious map prompts Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy, and Hefty to find a lost village before Gargamel does. The film introduced the female Smurfs, who appeared in the franchise the following year. 
After the success of the animated of The Smurfs (2016), in March 2021, the plans for a completely computer-animated reboot to be produced with Pixar Animation Studios instead Walt Disney Animation Studios, who produced of two films of The Smurfs. By June 2021, Darnell and McGrath were been hired to direct the film, and Tartakovsky was attached to write the screenplay and producer, with production set to begin later that year. 
The Smurfs Movie premiered on February 25, 2024 at Dolby Theater, and was released in the United States on March 1, 2024, and went into general theatrical release in Disney Digital 3-D, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX formats in the United States, received mostly positive reviews from critics, and was successful as its three predecessors. It grossed $796 million worldwide against its $200 million budget, becoming the second-highest-grossing film released in the month of March, and the lowest-grossing film in the The Smurfs franchise. A sequel is in development and scheduled to be released on March 5, 2027.
==Plot==
The Smurfs live peacefully in Smurf Village. Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel but was redeemed by Papa Smurf and became part of the village. She feels that she does not fit in as she tries to find her purpose in life, which the other Smurfs have. Gargamel makes it his mission to capture the Smurfs, steal all of their essence, and become the most powerful wizard.
During a smurfboarding trip, Smurfette discovers a possible Smurf creature, and encounters a modern smurf girl named Smurf Lily and his pet sloth Belt, who have made a torch. Smurf Lily leaves her a shell horn to blow if she needs help, but she is captured by Gargamel, and is taken to his castle. There, she accidentally reveals a hat the creature dropped, enabling Gargamel to create a brew that causes him to locate the village on a map. Hefty, Brainy, and Clumsy help Smurfette escape, and they return to Smurf Village. Papa Smurf confines them to their houses as punishment for almost disobeying his orders, dismissing their claims of the existence of another Smurfs village. That night Smurfette sneaks out to look for the lost village with Brainy, Clumsy, and Hefty volunteered to join her. Gargamel discovers them trying to find the village and heads out with his pet cat Azrael and his pet vulture Monty to stop them.
The four follow the map and have various adventures and encounter bizarre creatures, including a colony of fire-breathing dragonflies, which Gargamel provokes into attacking the Smurfs. They escape a cavern maze but encountering a "Macawnivore" (portmanteau of "macaw" and "carnivore"), a Saber-toothed Cat whom Clumsy dubs "Chunky", the family flees him, until he is scared off by "piranhakeets" (portmanteau of "piranha" and "parakeet") that devour a ground whale. Smurfette makes another horn and calls to Smurf Lily, who rescues them with his fire. After some confusion regarding the Smurfs' first contact with fire, Grug imprisons Smurf Lily in a log so he can guide them somewhere safe. To appease Hefty, Smurf Lily suggests the Smurf go to a three trees where there is a lost village, though in reality he and the other Smurfs doubt the wisdom of this. Hefty becomes jealous of Smurf Lily. His disastrous attempts to fight against change, and to come up with inventions and ideas of his own, distance him from the Smurfs. Eventually, the five Smurfs reach a river where they sail on a handmade raft. Following a brief chase, Gargamel is thrown out of his own raft, and the Smurfs save him. Instead of thanking them, he pushes them out of their own raft, and they plunge down a waterfall.
Angered, Hefty attacks Brainy, and the two fall over a cliff into a tar flow. Moved, Hefty decides to work together with Brainy to escape. They make a dummy to attract Chunky, who mistakes them for a female cat and pulls them free. The five are captured by leaf-covered creatures who reveal themselves to be female Smurfs. They are taken to Smurfy Grove and meet Smurf Blossom, Smurf Storm, Smurf Melody, and their leader Smurf Willow, who all welcome the Smurfs to their home. Smurf Storm and Clumsy head away from the village to locate Gargamel and alert the others. During the trip, Clumsy reveals that Smurfette was created by Gargamel, which causes Smurf Storm to distrust Smurfette. Gargamel, who was led into a piranha-infested swamp, and Azrael spot Clumsy and Smurf Storm. Monty attacks them, but they fly away to return to the village.
Following a village tour, Smurfette grows accustomed to life in Smurfy Grove, to the dismay of Hefty and Brainy. Smurf Storm and Clumsy return, revealing that Smurfette was created by Gargamel. The female Smurfs prepare an attack that night. Papa Smurf, having discovered the quartet's absence, arrives to bring them home, and the female Smurfs accept him into their home. Gargamel, Azrael, and Monty suddenly invade and destroy Smurfy Grove, capturing every Smurf. Smurfette is spared because she is not a real Smurf, and thus, is of no more use to Gargamel, and they leave. Feeling heartbroken, Smurfette is shown a picture of herself with her friends, and after realizing what not being a real Smurf truly means, she heads back to Gargamel's lair to save her fellow Smurfs. Smurfette encounters Chunky, who reveals he is scared of the dark, and seeks comfort with Smurfette instead of attacking him.
At Gargamel's lair, Papa Smurf and Smurf Willow accept Brainy's escape plan. Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy, Smurf Blossom, Smurf Storm, Smurf Lily, Smurf Melody, Smurf Jade, and Smurf Petal succeed at the plan until Gargamel and Azrael spot them and put Clumsy, Smurf Blossom, Smurf Storm, Smurf Lily, Smurf Melody, Smurf Jade, and Smurf Petal into his Smurfilator, a machine capable of extracting their essence. Smurfette arrives and deceives Gargamel into believing she wants to be an evil Smurf again. Gargamel tries to turn Smurfette evil again but realizes that she is absorbing his magical powers instead. The lair explodes, sending him, Azrael, and Monty flying back into the piranha lake. The Smurfs are freed, but Smurfette has been reverted to a lifeless lump of clay.
Back at Smurf Village, the Smurfs make a memorial for Smurfette and silently mourn her loss; Papa Smurf refers to her as the truest Smurf of them all. Their energy and love for Smurfette brings her back to life, and everybody celebrates. Smurfette finds her purpose: to be anything she wants to be. Gargamel, Azrael, and Monty walk back to their lair, and Gargamel wrongfully blames Azrael for ruining his plans and reveals Azrael's adoption.
==Cast==
*Anya Taylor-Joy as Smurfette, a girl Smurf who was created by the wizard Gargamel and the main protagonist of the film. Surrounded by male Smurfs who each have a clear role in the village, she becomes curious about her own purpose, and betrays Gargamel to join with them.
*Hank Azaria as Gargamel, an evil wizard and the film's main antagonist who seeks to find the Smurfs and steal their magic in order to become the greatest evil wizard in the world.
*Ben Stiller as Papa Smurf, the fatherly Smurf chief leader of Smurf Village and narrator, who does not want his children entering the Forbidden Forest.
*Jason Sudeikis as Hefty Smurf, a strong Smurf who tends to annoy Brainy and has a crush on Smurf Lily.
*Selena Gomez as Smurf Lily, a smart and gentle girl Smurf who brings the Smurfs to Smurfy Groove.
* David Schwimmer as Clumsy Smurf, an accident-prone and good-natured Smurf who tends to panic.
*Jack Black as Brainy Smurf, a book-smart Smurf who butts heads with Hefty and gets annoyed by his antics.
*Jayma Mays as Smurf Willow, the motherly Smurf leader of Smurfy Grove and Papa Smurf's love interest.
*Chloë Grace Moretz as Smurf Storm, a tough, tomboyish girl Smurf who sometimes does not trust Smurfette because she was created by the wizard Gargamel to undermine the Smurfs. However, Smurfette betrayed Gargamel to join the Smurfs.
*Anna Kendrick as Smurf Blossom, an energetic and friendly girl Smurf who quickly befriends Smurfette.
* Meghan Trainor as Smurf Melody, a musical girl Smurf.
*Jon Hamm as Grouchy Smurf, a Smurf who is always grouchy and ill-tempered.
*Tom McGrath as Baker Smurf, a Smurf who bakes cakes.
*Tituss Burgess as Vanity Smurf, a Smurf who is obsessed with his looks.
*Conrad Vernon as Jokey Smurf, a Smurf that plays pranks on others, usually in the form of "gifts".
*Blake Shelton as Farmer Smurf, a Smurf who is a farmer. Freeman, who previously voices in the 2021 TV Series.
*Christopher Knights as Nosey Smurf, a Smurf who peeks in on private activities.
*Alan Mechem as Passerby Smurf
*Danik Thomas as Karate Smurf
* Patrick Ballin as Patient Smurf and Frank the Caterpillar.
*Tony Hale as Snappy Bug, Brainy's ladybug assistant.
*Melissa Sturm as Smurf Jade. Melissa Sturm who voiced Smurfette from the two spinoffs.
*Frank Welker as Azrael, Gargamel's sardonic pet cat. He comes up with all of Gargamel's plans and is shown to be smarter than his incompetent master even though Gargamel gives him no credit and blames him instead of Monty. Frank Welker reprises his role from the live-action movies and the second spinoff.
*Dee Bradley Baker as Monty, Gargamel's dimwitted but ruthless pet vulture. He's just as incompent as his master, who gives him more credit than Azrael.
== Production==
===Development===
After the success of The Smurfs (2016), in March 2019, plans for a completely computer-animated reboot to be produced with Pixar Animation Studios instead Walt Disney Animation Studios, who produced of two films of The Smurfs. In June 2021, it was announced that former DreamWorks Animation veteran Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell were been hired to direct the film. It was revealed that the film would explore the origins of the Smurfs, and feature a new take on the characters, with designs and environments more closely following the artwork created by Peyo, the creator of the Smurfs franchise. In August 2021, Genndy Tartakovsky was brought on board to write the script, producer, and doing the additional sequences director. In addition, Chris Miller and Conrad Vernon attached as co-director, while Tartakovsky doing as sequence director. McGrath wants for the characters to inspired in 2021 TV Series and for origin story. In February 2022, it was announced that The Walt Disney Company signed partnership with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS to produce multiple films and TV series based on The Smurfs comic series. In September 2023, Robert Marianetti and David Wachtenheim were served as head of story. By that month, it was reported that the film would be entitled The Smurfs Movie. 
=== Writing ===
For the film's opening sequence, the producers didn't want to simply re-introduce the character to general audiences, but also to "[introduce] the world to where the character is now" by establishing him as a celebrity, with the writers drawing inspiration from Mick Jagger.
=== Casting===
On January 16, 2022, Ben Stiller was added to the cast of the animated adventure film to voice Papa Smurf, who was previously voiced by Dustin Hoffman in the Walt Disney Animation Studios films. On June 14, 2022, Anya Taylor-Joy was revealed as the voice of Smurfette, and Hank Azaria as Gargamel. Frank Welker, who voices Gargamel's pet cat Azrael, is the only voice actor to reprise his role from the Walt Disney Animation Studios films. In July 2022, Jack Black was confirmed to be in the cast as the voice of Brainy Smurf. The first image from the film was revealed in October 2022, with Jason Sudeikis, David Schwimmer, Chloë Grace Moretz, Anna Kendrick, Selena Gomez, Jon Hamm, Meghan Trainor, Blake Shelton, Tony Hale, and Jayma Mays revealed to be part of its cast.
===Animation and design ===
The film was animated by Pixar's Presto and rendered by Pixar's Renderman. McGrath cited the classic movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984) and The Goonies (1985) as his main inspirations. The Forbidden Forest is inspired by the Land of Oz, Pandora and Wonderland, filled with dangerous and magical creatures. Pixar built a shader prototype using the toonshader of the Autodesk Arnold render engine as a starter base. Additionally, a group of five traditional 2D effects animators to train the team were assembled, and Toon Boom Animation software was brought into their pipeline. Although it is a CG-animated feature, the film includes scenes that are traditionally animated, flash animated, a short cutout animation segment. To make the film feel more like a comic book, it was animated with motion blur, instead using an older technique of 2D animation called motion smearing, as seen in the 1942 Looney Tunes short The Dover Boys. Rather than using animation principles like squash and stretch, the animators came up with substitute versions, "so that in texture and feel it felt different, but it still achieved the same goal—to either feel weight or anticipation or impact or things like that." Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri said "we can do something like for 1980s TV Series and 2021 TV Series." The film's animation draws heavy influence from Peyo's original comics. The artist's drawings inspired many of the creative choices taken with the film's look, including the incorporation of action lines and comic thought bubbles, as well as "a fun and buoyant, with plenty of squash and stretch." This required Pixar to upgrade and purchase additional computers for the film. For context, Toy Story (1995) employed 294 cores, Monsters, Inc. (2001) employed 672 cores, and Finding Nemo (2003) employed 923 cores.
===Music===
The film's score is composed by Hans Zimmer, in his first feature-length project for Pixar, and he worked with McGrath in Madagascar, Megamind, and The Boss Baby. In November 2023, it was reported that singer Meghan Trainor had recorded a song for the film titled "I'm a Lady", which was released as a single, she also co-wrote the song. Additional, " You Will Always Find Me in Your Heart", performed by Anya Taylor-Joy, she also co-wrote the song with Zimmer, "Friends" performed by Blake Shelton and Jack Black and "The Truest Smurf of All" performed by Shaley Scott.
== Release ==
=== Theatrical ===
The Smurfs Movie will be released theatrically in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 1, 2024, in Disney Digital 3-D, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D, in addition to a traditional theatrical release of Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Smurfs (2016), and The Smurfs 2 (2022), received a PG rating from the MPAA, the film will be released exclusively in theaters with a G rating.
=== Marketing ===
A line of action figures and toys by Spin Master was released in January 2024.
== Future ==
=== Sequel ===
On March 26, 2024, Darnell, McGrath and Tartakovsky were in talks about the possibility of a The Smurfs Movie sequel. Azaria revealed that the second film "might actually deal with the genuine origin of how all these characters ran into each other way back when." In April, Black expressed interest in the sequel being a musical titled Gargamel's Revenge. Later that month, it was reported that a sequel film had been greenlit. Darnell and McGrath is set to return as director, and Tartakovsky joined as co-director. The film is set to release in theaters on November 6, 2026. On June 7, 2024, it was announced that Mikros Image in Montreal and Cinesite in Vancouver handled for some additional assets production.
Category:Complete with plots and casts
Category:Disney's The Smurfs