55 Years of Belgian Blues - A History of The Smurfs Part One A History of The Smurfs 55 Years of Belgian Blues A History of The Smurfs One of the most important contributions to popular culture from the tiny nation of Belgium is the Franco-Belgian comics, known under the name of bandes dessinées - which in English translates to "drawn strips", where the Smurfs as well as the characters from recent feature films Tintin and Asterix originated. The man who introduced the Smurfs was Charles Depuis, a pioneering Belgian publisher of French-language comics, who gave out the first issue of "Le Journal de Spirou" in 1938 in response to "'Le Journal de Mickey" published four years earlier. His father Jean Depuis, the founder of publishing house Depuis, felt that Belgium needed something to compete with the cultural imperialism of the American Disney character Mickey Mouse and thus Spirou was born. Creator of the Smurfs was the illustrator Pierre "Peyo" Culliford, here seen with the collectible figurines that became hugely popular during the 1960's and 70's.

In the beginning the French-language magazine contained a mixture of the American superhero comics popular at the time and new creations, this led to some difficulties during World War II when Belgium was occupied by the Nazis and American comics got banned from being published – however Spirou quickly recovered in the post-war era and became one of two leading European comic magazines, with Tintin being the other one. Dupuis went into a period of rapid growth as comics became more popular in the late 1940's and 50's and in 1958 the Smurfs made their first appearance in Spirou magazine, as part of the comic "Johan and Peewit"'. The creator Pierre Culliford, who used the pen-name "Peyo"', was a graduate of The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels who'd been working at Spirou since 1952. The Smurfs, who quickly gained popularity, got their own strip a year after their debut and at the same time Dupuis went into merchandising with plastic PVC collectible Smurf figurines.

These became widely distributed in the 1970's when garages in the UK and several other countries started giving them away as a promotion when petrol was purchased – the demand was so high that manufacturers got them made in Hong Kong at one point which caused a led-paint scare as led limits in Asia weren't as high as in Europe, however no children were reported poisoned by the PVC smurfs. The famous stip where Grouchy Smurf was created that led to controversy and accusations of racism. Peyo started his own animation studio in the 1960's and with time he became less involved with comic creation and took on more of a supervising role. In 1965 the first animated feature called "The Adventures of the Smurfs" was released in Belgium – a collection of five black and white shorts that had been made for Walloon TV.

During this period Dupuis started to publish comic albums collecting the strips published in Spirou – the first Smurf album came in 1963 under the name "The Black Smurfs" and told the story of a Smurf that got bit by an insect which spread a virulent disease that turned its victim into a mad black creature that jumped around shouting "GNAP" and tried to bite as many other other Smurfs as possible to spread the plague. Whilst a cure was invented against the virus and others who got infected later returned to normal this Smurf never did and became the Grouchy Smurf whose catchphrase in response to everything is "I hate...". In the U.S. Translation the album title was changed to "The Purple Smurfs" and the Smurfs were considered a racist comic by many – what's important to note here is that "The Black Smurfs" came at a time when colonial empires were falling and just three years earlier Belgian Congo had gained independence to form what became the Democratic Republic of Congo, after years of brutal rule under Belgian kings where millions of African people had been killed.

Cover of Spirou magazine in 1938 and the first collectible Smurf album from 1963 in French- and English language editions. 1. A History of The Smurfs- All images displayed are the property of their respective owners Part Two A History of The Smurfs According to Peyo the Smurf characters were inspired by the trolls of Nordic folklore, in these fairy tales trolls are usually stupid and slow to act. They also talk of a female forest woman called a huldra who is a dangerous seductress who lures men into the forest and sucks the life out of them. When he described the behavior of Smurfette - the single female character – he said; "She's seductive, uses trickery rather than force to get results" so perhaps she was created with the Scandinavian mythical creatures in mind. An important collection of old Nordic folklore is 'Amongst Gnomes and Trolls' that started in Sweden in 1907 as an annual publication and is famous for its amazing illustrations. From the many artists that have worked on it the most well-known is perhaps John Bauer who inspired several successful illustrators of children's books that came after him in the 20th century.

Image from the 1915 edition of 'Amongst Gnomes and Trolls', by John Bauer who inspired many 20th century illustrators possibly also Peyo. In 1976 the animated feature "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" was released in the Netherlands, Belgium and France which was caught by media-entrepreneur Stuart R. Ross – the man who brought the Smurfs to the U.S. by selling the rights to the American market. The Smurfs then became an animated show by Hanna-Barbera in the years 1981-89 with Peyo on board as the story supervisor. It aired as a Saturday morning cartoon on NBC and led to a Smurf fad sweeping across the nation, the Belgian animated feature was translated to English in 1983 and became the highest grossing non-Disney release in American cinemas. This also created a huge boost for the Smurfs merchandise, during the 1980's marketing executives were aggressively targeting children with ads and the memorable blue Smurfs were the perfect candidates for product branding.

Smurf music covering everything from annoying jingles to ear-numbing techno combined with comics and figurines to promote various processed foods. One campaign that stood out was the Smurfberry Crunch Cereal from 1982 that came with blue smurfberries – surprisingly the food dye used to color them made the feces of children who ate it turn a shady blue, hence it was quickly removed from the shelves. UNICEF Advertisement UNICEF campaign from 2005 where Smurf village gets annihilated was considered in bad taste by critics. In 2005 another memorable advertising campaign involving Smurfs was created for UNICEF, with the aim to raise money to rehabilitate child soldiers in former colonies Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Kongo. The ads were shown late at night on Belgian TV to prevent children from being traumatized as Smurf village was completely annihilated by bombs dropped from warplanes, ending with a crying Baby Smurf surrounded by corpses.

The smurf fad, with the Hanna-Barbera series described as 'kiddie-cocaine' for the people growing up in the 1980's, slowed down in the 90's after the show was canceled although re-runs were still being shown on the U.S. Networks. Another reason for the quiet 90's would have been that Peyo, the driving force behind the little blue creatures, died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve in 1992. For the 50th anniversary in 2008 Belgium had a special commemorative five Euro coin created - at this point the Smurfs merchandise had made more than US $5 billion since its conception. This is also the year when the film rights were obtained by Sony Pictures Animation and Universal which led to a Smurf-renaissance in 2011 when the first film in the trilogy hit the cinemas. Combining live-action with CG animation has allowed the Smurfs to leave their world and join ours, first arriving in New York and now Paris in the sequel.

These high-budget 3D films are rich in visual effects to make what's fake and real blend smoothly, three specially trained cats were used on set to help make the digital Azrael as real as possible. The actual cat performance was then match-moved to allow for face replacement with an animated performance where the digital version could show emotion that would not be present in a real cat. 8 Facts About Smurfs That Are Actually Kind of Interesting | The Robot's Voice 8 Facts About Smurfs That Are Actually Kind of Interesting July 21, 2011 · 8:01 am · Comments () ?If you lived through the 1980s, chances are you owned, listened to or watched the tiny blue gnomes named The Smurfs. They’re actually much older than that, as Belgian cartoonist Peyo created them way back in 1958. And since then they’ve been entertaining (and boring the minds out of) millions of people around the world. Which brings up the question: How can the Smurfs be both universally popular and so boring that watching their “adventures” makes you want to take a smurfing gun and smurf yourself?

It might be because the having a giant village of identical creatures doesn’t really lend themselves to interesting, nuanced plots. Or it might be that their cartoons and comics relied on paper-thin storylines that were shallow even for ’80s Saturday morning cartoons, which is really saying something. Either way, The Smurfs were a blight on the cultural landscape, which will somehow be made even worse by the upcoming CGI movie travesty. After all, Smurfette was already annoying, but her voiced by Katy Perry should have you smurfing your eyes and ears out by the second smurfing act. But still, even the most boring, sappy properties usually have at least one or two interesting things hidden within their layers of horribleness. Here are the few we were able to dredge up from 52 years of Smurfs history. Read ’em and smurf! 8) The Smurfs Started the Zombie Genre ?In 1963, six years before George Romero filmed Night of the Living Dead, Peyo introduced a Smurfs storyline called Les Schtroumpfs Noirs, or “The Black Smurfs” (they changed them to “The Purple Smurfs” in the U.S.

for the obvious reasons). In it, a Smurf is bit by an unusual stinging insect which spreads a virulent disease that turns its victims into angry, insane black creatures that hop around shouting “GNAP!” while also mindlessly trying to bite every smurf in sight to spread the plague. As the Smurfs try to contain the infection, the Smurf patient zero regains enough intelligence to disguise himself as a regular Smurf, infiltrate the village and further spread the Smurfy disease. And just when it looks like lone survivor Papa Smurf has developed a cure… he’s goddamn bitten and transforms too. But luckily, he knocks the cure into the fire, where it explodes, curing everyone and bringing everything back to normal. Except in the original comics, where the first bitten Smurf never regains his normal happy outlook on life and becomes known as… Grouchy Smurf. Which is understandable. You’d be grouchy too if you almost brought about the Smurfocalypse. 7) The Smurf Village Was Once Bombed into Extinction Most people would agree that war crimes and genocide are kinda bad.

But just in case there were people on the fence, UNICEF created a series of anti-genocide commercials featuring a happy Smurf village that got bombed back into the stone age (which to be honest, wasn’t too far back). While you can debate the effectiveness of the message, it certainly didn’t pull any punches with it’s final shot of a crying baby smurf surrounded by dead Smurfs and the mangled body of Smurfette. Although we have to say it didn’t make us any more against war crimes… it just made us want to see more dead Smurfs. 6) There Was a “Poison Smurf” Scare in Britian During the ’70s ?While Smurfs were everywhere in the states during the ’80s, they were even bigger in the UK during the ’70s. You’d find Smurf figurines everywhere. You even got them free for buying gas at National Garage Petrol stations, who had the slogan “service with a smurf,” which, because of the vagueness of the Smurf language, could’ve meant anything.

Unfortunately the demand for Smurf figures was so high that at one point, the manufacturers got them painted overseas in Hong Kong, forgetting that overseas lead paint requirements were much lower than the usual European regulations. Suddenly people all over the country were terrified that kids were going to get lead poisoning from putting Smurfs in their mouths (how stupid did they think kids were back then?). Of course, no kids ended up dead by Smurfs, although it did lead to a parody song called “Lick a Smurp For Christmas (All Fall Down)” by Father Abraphart and the Smurps… which thankfully doesn’t exist online. 5) Smurfs Creator Peyo Hates Smurfette ?Keeping in mind that the ’70s was not the best time for feminists, it’s still fair to say that Peyo was not the most… um… pro-woman person. If you read the old Smurfs strips, it was clear that Smurfette was a vain troublemaker that existed to tempt and nag male Smurfs into to getting whatever she wanted.

Now, Smurfette fared a little better in the 1980s cartoon, but since Peyo was the script supervisor, she still wasn’t exactly a strong, female character. In fact, Peyo once reportedly described Smurfette’s behavior as “She seduces, she uses trickery rather than force to get results. She is incapable of telling a joke without blowing the punch line. She is a blabbermouth but only makes superficial comments. She is constantly creating enormous problems for the Smurfs but always manages to blame it on someone else.” Not exactly enlightened stuff. And when the U.S. writers asked Peyo if she could actually help the Smurfs and save the day once in a while, his response was a shocked “Come on now, do they expect me to make her a (female) gym teacher?” which of course, was Belgian for “lesbian.” Kind of makes you wonder what he thought about Sassette, doesn’t it? 4) The Smurfs Were a Spin-Off from a Less Successful Comic Strip ?With the success of the Smurfs, you might think they were just created to be a cash cow for Peyo.

Well, they actually began as part of a different comic strip, “Johan & Pirlouit,” about a medieval page and his tiny goat-riding sidekick (if they sound vaguely familiar, it’s because they appeared in the Smurfs cartoons as the similar sounding “Johann and Peewit”.) Well, in one of their original comic adventures, the pair discovered a mushroom village of tiny blue men called the Schtroumpfs. While the Smurfs were just minor recurring characters in the strips, they soon took off and Peyo gave them their own series, although Johann and Peewit showed up from time to time. In fact, the first Smurfs movie, The Smurfs And the Magic Flute, was a just retitled Johan and Pirlouit movie, which is why the Smurfs don’t show up in the film until around 20 minutes in. 3) Celebrities Were Voicing Smurfs Well Before the New Movie Considering the huge number of Smurf crowd scenes, it makes sense that the Smurfs TV series needed huge numbers of voice actors.

Now, like every Saturday morning cartoon series, you had a few of the legendary professional voice actors who dominated ’80s cartoons like Don Messick (Papa Smurf, Scooby Doo, Muttley), Michael Bell (Handy Smurf, G.I. Joe‘s Duke, Voltron‘s Lance) and Frank Welker (Hefty Smurf, Megatron, Scooby Doo‘s Fred). But a lot of others were well-known actors that did small parts on the show under the head of “additional voices.” These include Ed Begley, Jr., Sorrell Booke (The Dukes Of Hazzard‘s Boss Hogg), Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek DS9‘s Odo), Edie McClurg (the secretary from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and Ray Walston. And yes, legendary SNL comedian Phil Hartman pitched in some various voices for different episodes, although we haven’t waded through all the episodes to pick out his voice. We don’t hate ourselves that much.

2) The Smurf Village iPhone App Cost Some People Thousands of Bucks ?One of the most popular iPhone apps in 2010 was Smurf Village, which allowed iPhone users to make a, well, Smurf Village and rebuild it after Gargamel destroys it. While the app was free, users could buy extra things to pretty up their village like extra mushroom houses, wheelbarrows and smurfberries (and those things weren’t cheap, as batches of smurfberries can go for $60 and buildings like a town bakery sells for $100). Well, it turns out that kids could buy those things just by tapping on them without even a warning that the user’s iTunes account was getting charged… which meant kids could rack up huge bills for their parents without even knowing they were doing it. That led to kids spending literally thousands of dollars on the apps, including one Swedish mom getting charged $7,800 for virtual Smurf crap during a single car trip. Afterwards, they built in a capability to lock out purchases and programmed it to give warnings about the purchases and gave refunds to people who complained, but some people were still out a whole lot of smurfberries.

1) Smurfberry Crunch Cereal Turned Your Crap Blue If you’re going to have a cereal called Smurfberry Crunch, you’d expect it to be kind of blue, right? So, even though smurfberries in the cartoon were red, Post added a bunch of blue berries into the mix. Unfortunately, the blue food coloring wasn’t absorbed by the human body, leading to a bunch of scared mothers worried about their kids’ blue poop. It was taken off the market and replaced with a different version, which is a shame because it undoubtedly gave kids the ultimate Smurfs experience. After all, when a Smurf smurfs in the woods… we’re betting it’s blue, too. December 15, 2015 0 Unofficial Sponsor of Your Inner Childishness Edited by Luke Y. Thompson Smurfs (race) | Smurfs Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Gallery You may also be looking for the cartoon show called Smurfs . For information about the history of the comic book characters themselves, see Smurfs (comics) .

The Smurfs are the main character species that appear in the Smurf comic books , the Smurfs cartoon show , and any visual presentation featuring them with the exception of the Johan And Peewit comic book series and " Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue ", where they appear as supporting characters. Their first appearance is in the original comic book story " The Smurfs And The Magic Flute " in 1958. They are little blue human-like creatures that live in a small mushroom-house village hidden within a forest , the exact location of which is unknown to all but Smurfs and Mother Nature . According to the 2011 Smurfs movie, Smurfs are native to the European country of Belgium and were originally known by their French name Schtroumpfs, as documented in-universe by Peyo. NOTE: Most of the following information is derived from observations of the Smurfs cartoon show and pertains mostly to the cartoon show universe of stories and characters. Applications to their counterparts in other visual media will be noted here.

Contents [ show ] Physical Makeup Physically, a Smurf is usually no more than "three apples tall" (in human measure, probably around 3 inches; the 2011 movie records them as being 7.5 inches) and has a pear-shaped body with an oval-shaped head, springy legs, and limber arms, with a short stubby tail sticking out from his or her buttocks. The springy legs allow a Smurf to jump to high places or across rocks and branches rather easily. According to the Sony Pictures Imageworks animators, the Smurfs in the film can run up to 10 feet per second and have a vertical leap of 4-12 inches. Smurfs are primarily a single-gender race that are generally born male (though Smurfs do not physically reproduce, they do come into the world by a stork that delivers them to the Smurf Village from an unknown location); very few Smurfs are female, and those that are are most likely magical creations rather than natural-born Smurfs.

Nanny Smurf may be the only exception as far as female Smurfs are concerned, but since little has been revealed about her origin as a female Smurf, it is uncertain whether she truly is a naturally-born female Smurf. The male Smurf is mostly bald and relatively hairless. He does not begin to sprout facial hair (a beard and/or moustache) until sometime around his 400s, as mentioned by Papa Smurf in " Symbols Of Wisdom ". The "non-canonical" Gutsy Smurf , interestingly, may be the only exception to this rule, as he wears sideburns despite being around the same age range as his fellow Smurfs. Grandpa Smurf , being in his 1000s, is the only known male Smurf at present who also has head hair growing around the back of his head, indicating that additional hair growth may be a sign of advancing age for a male Smurf. Because of the lack of head hair, male Smurfs wear hats on their heads.

Besides that, male Smurfs also only wear pants, though a few Smurfs do wear clothing on their torsos; no specific reason is given for this, though it simply may be a matter of function and/or comfort for them. Given that on occasion few Smurfs would wear nothing more than some gloves and a scarf in addition to a hat and pants in cold weather, it would appear that Smurfs are also somewhat physically adaptable to weather changes. Smurfs tend to age slower than humans and thus live longer than humans. A Smurf reaching his 100 years of age is usually considered an adult, with relative mental maturity of humans somewhere between mid-adolescence and early twenties, though some depictions of young Smurfs have them behaving more like pre-adolescent children. It is rare for a Smurf to live to around 1000 years of age, as Grandpa Smurf has done. In the cartoon show, this is due to the effects of the Long Life Stone , which has kept the Smurfs from accelerated aging and their possible destruction. No similar explanation has been given for their longevity in their other media appearances.

Hefty eating a hot dog in "King Smurf" Though it is suggested that Smurfs tend to be vegetarians, there are rare occasions where some Smurfs are seen eating meat-based products, such as Hefty with his hot dog in " King Smurf ". A few plants that are essential to their diets are sarsaparilla leaves and smurfberries . Smurfs are considered highly sought after by wizards, since they are part of the ingredient for the formula that turns base metals into gold. In "The Miracle Smurfer", It's said that their blue skin cures every human illness. In the 2011 Smurfs movie , Gargamel prepared a formula made from a portion of Smurf essence, mostly from Smurfette's hair, that had various magical properties, including restoring the youth of Odile Jouvenel 's mother . General intelligence The general intelligence of the Smurf race in whole seems to be based on a level of obliviousness. Examples of that can be found in stories like " The Purple Smurfs ", where Handy Smurf carries an infected Smurf over his shoulder, leaving himself wide open for that infected Smurf to bite him and infect him as well.

Or when the Smurfs have succeeded to capture an infected smurf and bring him to Papa Smurf's lab, but only Papa Smurf was smart enough to flee the scene when that infected Smurf escapes while all the others just go "He bit me!" and basically let themselves be infected. Another good example is in the comic book version of the " King Smurf " adventure, where the nameless Smurf who would eventually become King Smurf had figured out that the way to get the others to elect him as their replacement leader until Papa Smurf returns is to make them promises, but he has no intention whatsoever to keep them. The others never even considered that King Smurf would betray their trust, and it's only when they are forced to build his castle that they realize this. King Smurf made good use of how gullible the other Smurfs were and they resent that. In that same story it's Brainy Smurf who most clearly shows the obliviousness that seems to be part of the Smurf race.

When he sees the pamphlets promoting the future King Smurf, he goes "How nice of them to print pamphlets for me, but they forgot my glasses." He also time after time fails to acknowledge that he's not that popular with the others and is genuinely surprised to find that he received only two votes at the election. Furthermore in that story, when King Smurf is taking his troops into the woods to look for the rebel camp, he tells them to imitate the hooting of an owl to signal when they found the camp. Failing to understand the seriousness of their assignment, some of them actually start practicing how to make that sound leading to some false alarms. Cumulating into King Smurf being drawn to a real owl that's been hooting and one of his troops going. "Ah that smurfs it, I figured that was a smurfily good imitation." Even Papa Smurf, who is regarded as the wisest of his kind, has displayed the same obliviousness, most obviously in " Smurf Versus Smurf " where during the duration of the story he was completely unaware of the unrest in his village, being too engrossed in his lab work.

As he finishes his lab work with an astounding success, he is completely caught off guard when he finds that not only has the language problem not solved itself, but that the village has been split in two and the two halves are at war with each other. To his shame he admits to himself that if only he had paid more attention to what was going on, he would stop it before it went as far as it did. Lastly, the Smurfs ALWAYS fall for Jokey Smurf 's joke with the exploding gifts, no matter how many times they received one before. Society Structure And Culture Papa Smurf, the leader The Smurfs are led by a single adult Smurf of advanced years, who happens to be Papa Smurf, who is around 542 years old (546 in the movie). He functions as both a village leader and a father figure, directing them in their daily tasks and serving as a mediator in disputes, using his skills, wisdom, intelligence, and power with benevolence.

Each Smurf is given a name that's usually based on a talent, an occupation, or a dominant personality trait exhibited by that Smurf; the name can define that Smurf's particular role in their society, though at times a Smurf may seek to expand his range of talents and abilities or to outgrow certain traits they are named after. (In the Smurf comic books, unnamed Smurfs are simply called Smurf.) Sometimes a foreman would be selected among the young Smurfs to direct the other Smurfs in their tasks, such as Hefty. Why Papa Smurf is the only Smurf that wears red clothing while most of the other Smurfs wear white is unknown, though it may simply suggest leader status. Grandpa Smurf's wearing yellow may also indicate that different generations of Smurfs wear different colors. The Smurfs' community generally takes the form of a cooperative, sharing and kind environment based on the principle that each Smurf has something he or she is good at, and thus contributes it to Smurf society as he or she can. In return, each Smurf appears to be given their necessities of life, from housing and clothes to food.

The Smurfs have no use for money , though at times they may trade something valuable to outsiders in order to get something they need, as Wooly has done in "Wild And Wooly". An attempt to introduce a capitalist monetary system in the comic books' depiction of Smurf society in " The Finance Smurf " has resulted in the Smurfs turning entirely against it. In either media, this is usually interpreted by some readers and/or viewers as the Smurfs promoting communism, though their society is more of a close-knit family than a nation of individuals. The Smurf Village The Smurf community at the present time of their adventures consists of a little over 100 Smurfs, which includes Papa Smurf, Smurfette , 98 male Smurfs of around 150 years old, Baby Smurf , three young boy Smurflings of 50 years old who were originally adult Smurfs around the age of 150 years old , Sassette , Grandpa Smurf, Wild , and Nanny.

Some additional residents of their village include pets such as Puppy , a 1000-year-old dog that Homnibus the wizard had given to the Smurfs, Smoogle , a pink marsupial-type animal that has been a companion of Nanny, and Feathers , a crane pet of the Smurfs and a mode of transportation, Smurfs communicate in a language that they call Smurf , which is just basically a variation of a human language where the word "smurf" is used to substitute for a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. The language is rather intuitive since only Smurfs can understand what each other are really saying in Smurf. Smurfs dancing in a typical Smurf celebration Smurfs celebrate birthdays and holidays , including some that are rather indigenous to the Smurf community at large. They also enjoy various recreational activities as well as arts and music, including their local sport of smurfball . Smurfs usually sing the Smurf song whenever they're happy doing something (or just happy).

Smurfs tend to be nature-based in their belief system (though some do hold to the concept of a "heaven" and a "hell" , as demonstrated in " Heavenly Smurfs " and in " The Egg And The Smurfs "), and have certain rituals that involve elements in nature. Marriages (between male and female Smurfs) are very rare, if they even happen at all, though it is possible that such do happen. See the article Smurf customs for a list of customs indigenous to the Smurf people. History As far as established history goes, Papa Smurf was born the son of Grandpa Smurf, who left on a 500-year journey to find the purest sources of the four known elements to restore the Long Life Stone. Nanny Smurf had followed after Grandpa Smurf in order to look for more yarn, which left Papa Smurf for the most part alone, though he was taught magic by a wizard named Palladore , who was trapped in stone along with other wizards by a group of druids.

Roughly around 150 years prior to the present time set in the cartoon show, Papa Smurf became the father of about 98 young Smurfs, though it is not known how they were raised with Papa Smurf as their sole parent. They first met Gargamel when he was in his late teens, which inspired his desire for revenge against them when they had foiled his first plot to capture them. Years later, Gargamel created Smurfette to be his weapon to destroy the Smurfs, but when Smurfette expressed her desire to become a real Smurf, Papa Smurf used his magic to change her into a real Smurf, thus foiling Gargamel's plans. From that time on, other Smurfs have joined the group, and the Smurfs have met other humans which included their constant allies Sir Johan and Peewit.

In the animated version of " The Smurfs And The Magic Flute ", their first encounter took place when Peewit came across a magic flute that the Smurfs were looking for that fell into the hands of a thief named Matthew McCreep , and together they helped Johan and Peewit stop the thief and his associate Earl Flatbroke from taking over their kingdom . Eventually seventeen Smurfs have been trapped in time due to the misuse of the time crystals , leaving the future of the Smurfs uncertain from that point on. The Smurfs are about to discover their own legend has been recorded! In the "non-canonical" 2011 Smurfs movie , their history and legend has been documented by a cartoon artist named Peyo (who in the real world is their creator ) and written in a book called L'Histoire des Schtroumpfs which the Smurfs find in Mr. Wong's Mystical Emporium in New York City , which they search through in order to find the spell to make the blue moon appear so they could open the portal back to their own place in time.

Name Translations The name Smurf is derived from the Dutch translation of their original French name Schtroumpf when their comic book series was first published in Belgium. Since they have become internationally known, the name has also been translated into various other languages, as follows: Arabic: سنافر (sanafer) or singular: سنفور (sanfur) Basque: pottokiak (singular: pottoki), after the Basque pony race pottoka. Early editions used pitufoak, straight from Spanish. Bulgarian: Смърфовете (Smurfovete) - The Smurfs or singular: Смърф (Smurf). Catalan: Barrufets (singular: Barrufet), that in Catalan means little wind evil or goblin. Croatian: Štrumpfovi (singular: Štrumpf) Czech: Šmoulové (singular: Šmoula), name based on their light blue colour. Danish: Smølfer(ne) (singular: smølf).

Originally published as "Snøvserne" (singular: snøvs) Dutch: smurfen (singular: smurf) Estonian: smurfid (singular: smurf) Finnish: smurffit (singular: smurffi) [the word "strumffit" (singular: strumffi) was used in the 1970s, but smurffit became the de-facto-standard translation during the 1980s]. When they were first published in Finland in the early 70's, they were called Muffet (singular: Muffe). "Smurffit" is also a slang word for public transport ticket inspectors, who wear blue uniforms. French: schtroumpfs (singular: schtroumpf) German: Schlümpfe (singular: Schlumpf). The original French schtroumpf sounds very similar to the German word Strumpf meaning "sock" or "stocking".

Greek: Στρουμφάκια (stroumfakia) or singular: Στρουμφ/Στρουμφάκι (stroumf/stroumfaki) Hebrew: דרדסים (dardasim) or singular: דרדס (dardas). Dardak is a small child. The somewhat rare Hebrew word "dardas" has a totally unrelated meaning (slipper or overshoe), and therefore should be treated as an invented word when referring to smurfs. It is still used in an insulting manner towards short people. Hungarian: törpök (singular: törp), and also: hupikék törpikék (singular: hupikék törpike). Please note that it is a spelling mistake to write these terms in capital letters.

Icelandic: strumparnir (singular: strumpur) Italian: puffi (singular: puffo), the name has been reinvented from scratch because in Italian language the "schtroumpf" (or in Italian spelling 'strumpf') reminds speakers of the slang Italian word "stronzo", literally meaning 'turd' and, by extension, 'asshole'. The fantasy name "puffi" is derived from the word "buffi" (singular: buffo, as in opera buffa) a word meaning at same time "funny" and "strange".

Japanese: スマーフ (sumaafu - a phonetic approximation) Korean: 스머프 (seumeopeu - a phonetic approximation) Lithuanian: smurfai (singular: smurfas) Macedonian: Штрумфови (Štrumfovi) or singular: Штрумф (Štrumf) Mandarin (Chinese): 蓝精灵 (Simplified Chinese) /藍精靈 (Traditional Chinese) (lán jīng líng) - blue fairy spirits/elves/pixies; 藍色小精靈 (lán sè xiǎo jīng líng) - little blue fairy spirits/elves/pixies Norwegian: smurfene (singular: smurf) Polish: smerfy (singular: smerf; since the 1990s used as a slang word for traffic policemen due to their blue uniforms and white caps) Portuguese: In Portugal they're known as estrumpfes (singular: estrumpfe); in early editions they were called Schtroumpfs, as in the original French.

Brazil knows them as smurfs, but when first introduced in the storybook format they were called "Strunfs" Romanian: Ştrumfi (singular: Ştrumf) Serbian: Штрумпфови (Štrumpfovi) or singular: Штрумпф (Štrumpf) Slovak: Šmolkovia (singular: Šmolko) Slovenian: Smrkci (singular: Smrkec) Spanish: Pitufos (singular: Pitufo; female: Pitufita or Pitufina). The name derives either from "Patufet", a slightly similar looking character (short, smurfish cap wearing) of the Catalonian folklore (basically, the Catalan counterpart of British Tom Thumb), or from pituso[6] ("cute child"). The term "Pitufo" was later incorporated in Spanish slang meaning "local policeman" due to their blue uniforms. In 1974, the Smurfs appeared in TBO Magazine under the name "Tebeítos".

Swedish: Smurfer(na) originally, currently more often called "smurfar(na)" (singular: smurf) Turkish: Şirinler (singular: Şirin; feminine – Şirine) the name means cute in Turkish. Urdu: اسمرف (ismarf) Welsh: Y Smyrffs (Singular: Smyrff) Trivia Contrary to popular belief, the phrase that is often used to describe the height of most Smurfs ("three apples high," the direct translation of the French idiom "haut comme trois pommes") was never a precise scientific measurement. It means that something is really small, and an English equivalent would be "knee-high to a grasshopper". The Smurfs are actually based on a fictional elf race that appeared in a short film, whcih was called "La Cadeau à la fée" ("The gift to the fairy"), made by a company called "La Compagnie Belg D'Actualités", whom Peyo used to work for as a young man. See Also Who invented what ? Who invented what ? Welcome to the EUPEDIA FORUM.

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today ! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us . If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Dear forum members, Eupedia moved to a new server last week. If the forum tells you that the page has unsafe scripts, or if anything doesn't work properly on the forum, just clear your browser cache and cookies and everything should go back to normal. Chinese, Columbian, German, and Russian Country: As for the invention of video games dispute, it was actually one American who came up with it.

He was in the army at the time, and was trying to come up with a training tool for soldiers in target practice. Not only that, but it was supposed to be for fun and hunting practice. He used a couple of old BB guns for what would be the very first light gun. Later he profected his techniques and later came out what would be a instant senstation around the world, Pong. Man I'm full of useless information. Doc "Suppress all compassion and you bear a weapon far greater than any held in the hand of a normal human being." - The Psychology of the Assassin Chinese, Columbian, German, and Russian Country: This is not meant to be a double post, but you forgot to add one invention, the internet. The US military was the first to invent it during the 50's and it was known at the time as the intranet. Basically it was what we have now, only a little different. It was supercomputers connected to phonelines from around the country and were routed to one another, and would send information in and out from the Pentagon and then newly formed CIA.

It wasn't until the early 90's when the internet was invented by Microsoft, the US government, and several other technology firms for commerical use. No one owns the internet and no one fully controls it. There are regulations and money to support it, but that's about it. Man I'm a geek. Doc "Suppress all compassion and you bear a weapon far greater than any held in the hand of a normal human being." - The Psychology of the Assassin Country: Originally Posted by Mycernius A couple of years back the Chinese tried to claim that they had invented Football (soccer) and Golf. As I explained in another thread (see post #44), it is interesting how the Chinese almost didn't invent anything unique or sunstantial in the last 1500 years. The Chinese oft mentioned inventions are alsways the same cast iron, fireworks/black powder (but not gunpowder, as they didn't invent guns), printing, and the others are controversial (compass, paper...). Many inventions are cultural (fans, kites, origami, fireworks, abacus, kanji, acupuncture...) are not 'necessary' contributions to the world. Most of the Chinese inventions date back to the Antiquity.

There is hardly more connection between Ancient and Modern China as between Ancient and Modern Egypt, or Babylon and Iraq. And even so, Ancient China invented surpringly few things that have had a direct effect on the present world compared to Ancient Middle Eastern or Mediterranean countries. The latter much to the annoyance of the Scots. BTW Mary Queen of Scots was said to be a good golfer. The first reference of golf in 1353 was in fact in Flanders, Belgium. I read somewhere else that it was first invented in the Netherlands (Flanders was part of the Netherlands at that time) and exported to Scotland in the 15th century where it became popular. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter ----------------- My profile on Academia.edu and on ResearchGate ----------------- Check Wa-pedia 's Japan Guide ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill. French/Irish Country: Yes, but it seems Japan has taken most of those inventions to a higher level. Why is that?

Look at what Bill Gates did for the Computer that IBM didn't want anything to do with. Or the copy machine that, I think, Kodak turned down. If they didn't do it, I think the Japanese would have. Why is it that there is not a single American TV manufaturer in the US anymore? Why is it that, if you look closely at the NASA boards during a shuttle launch, they are made by SONY? Why is it that the best copiers, cameras, cars and other technologically advanced products are made by the Japanese? Why is it that the best anime in the world is Japanese? (Maybe, in the not too distant future, by the Chinese.) I think it was an American Politician that once said back in the late 1800's, paraphrasing here, "Everything that needs to be invented, has already been invented." Heck, American scientists once assumed back in the 1800's that all the people on a train would be suffocated as the air would be pushed out of a train when it started moving. Even Ford Motor Company purchased the patent and rights to produce a hybrid vehicle from Toyota!

(Considered the best in the world at the moment.) Why in hell didn't some American or European company do it? It just seems to me that the Japanese build on, and improve upon, the inventions, of others and it always bugged me as to why the original inventors didn't do the same. Maybe it has to do with the quarterly earnings report or something where American companies, and maybe most western ones, only look to the the next quarter and expect higher earnings and not much money is put into reasearch and development. Whereas the Japanese take a much longer term approach and don't look for profits for months or years ahead. They look for quality and market share. In reality, the Japanese really didn't invent anything including their own written language! (save for hiragana and katagana) But, most of your better products on the market today have Japanese brand names. Go figure. Do What You Love And You'll Never Work Another Day In Your Life!

Country: Originally Posted by Dream Time there is this myth saying that the Chinese invented ice cream and spaghetti, and Marco Polo brought the ideas to Europe in the 13th century If we include food, it's easy to find hundreds or thousands of inventions in almost any major country. As for the spaghetti, the Chinese probably invented noodles (like ramen), but the hundreds of variety of pasta in all their shape and colour (cappelini, spaghettoni, linguine, tagliatelle, macaroni, penne, farfalle, conchiglie, etc.) are Italian inventions. Lasagna could however have first been cooked in England! Follow me on Facebook and Twitter ----------------- My profile on Academia.edu and on ResearchGate ----------------- Check Wa-pedia 's Japan Guide ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill. Country: Originally Posted by Pachipro Why is it that the best copiers, cameras, cars and other technologically advanced products are made by the Japanese?

Regarding cars, even the majority of the Japanese people I know crave for European cars, usually Mercedes, BMW, Porche or Jaguar, or if they are rich Ferrari or Rolls Royce. Interestingly Peugeot is also quite popular in Japan. Japanese people buy European cars at about twice the prices they are sold in Europe, as they can't be manufactured in Japan (to to market protection laws), while Japanese cars sold in Europe are made in Europe, and therefore as cheap as in Japan. The people I know in Europe who buy Japanese cars are usually looking for service and reliability at affordable price. Those who want luxury or design go for European makers. Even those who care about safety and reliability can get a better deal with VW, Audi, Mercedes or Volvo than many Japanese makers. Recently, French cars share a lot in common with Japanese ones: innovative designs, safety, reliability, performance... As for electronics, do you know brands such as the Danish 'Bang & Olufsen' or the Belgian 'Barco' ? This is very high-quality (and costly) electronic equipment. Barco is almost only for professional use (e.g. videoprojector), while Bang & Olufsen is the luxury version of anything made in Japan.

I'd say that Japanese products are not better, but manufactured in such large quantities (first thanks to a home market of 126 million people, as opposed to 5 million in Denmark) that they can sell at very affordable prices, and are then agressively marketed all over the world. The Japanese are born salespeople (a trait that often lacks among Northern European). But look at Samsung from Korea. They are making the same products as the Japanese (which somehow proves that even a less developed country can easily manufacture the same quality of product) at a lower price. What played in favour of Japan is that its labour cost was comparatively lower than Western countries in the 1960's and 70's, so Japanese companies had very competitive prices and managed to get rid of almost all their Western rivals for electronics. Why is it that the best anime in the world is Japanese? (Maybe, in the not too distant future, by the Chinese.) Technically, it seems to me that Walt Disney anime are superior to Japanese anime. They use more images per second, computer graphics (3D effects, etc.), and even the music is taken greater care of (although for the style it is a matter of personal preference).

The same goes for comics. There are hundreds of European comics (especially te Franco-Belgian ones), usually unheard of in Japan and the US, but very popular in Europe. I suppose everyone knows Tintin (which is now over 70 years old), Asterix or the Smurfs. These are the "Astro Boy" generation comics. Modern ones are as varied as the Japanese manga, including "adult comics". The style is quite different though. For example the typical format is A4, not pocket format, and all pages are in colour, while Japanese manga are generally black & white, printed on cheap paper to sell in bigger quantities. The last time I went to Belgium, I noticed that a supermarket had a 15m-long shelf full of the latest Belgian comics. There are also many comic bookshop, similar to the specialised manga shops in Japan, and the number of Franco-Belgian comics on sale certainly compares well with the number of books in Japanese shops (and Belgium is 13x smaller than Japan, both in area and population, so it's quite a feat). This site can give an idea of the style of new Franco-Belgian comics.

So again, Japanese comics are more famous, mostly because they are more widely commercialised (especialy on TV) and have a bigger home market than Belgian ones. Not because they are better or more varied. There is also the exotism linked to it that attracts the Western reader (while ironically, Japanese readers care little about non-Japanese comics - maybe because of the cultural barriers, although it is not a problem for Western readers to enjoy Japanese manga). Follow me on Facebook and Twitter ----------------- My profile on Academia.edu and on ResearchGate ----------------- Check Wa-pedia 's Japan Guide ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill. French/Irish Country: Maciamo you are quite correct. Maybe I should've said, "Why is that the most reliable cars, copiers, etc are made by the Japanese?" It has always amazed me that people go for brand names over reliability and quality even when a certain brand name is supposed to equal quality when in fact it doesn't.

If I were to buy a luxury car I would not even consider Cadillac, Lincoln Continental, or Mercedes; Audi AB, Jaguar S-Type, Jaguar XJ8, VolvoS80, BMW 745Li or the BMW530i as their reliability and quality has been among the worst as reported in the latest issue of Consumer Reports regarding cars. However, their satisfaction among owners has been fair. Could it be that people are more satisfied with owning a vehicle that gives the image of "I have money or I want you to think I have money?" rather than the vehicles reliability and quality? In the case of Japan and the US I would have to yes. If I were to buy a luxury car I would buy a Lexus as their quality and reliability is tops among the worlds luxury cars. But, even though I can afford one I wouldn't buy one as I see no sense in buying a high ticket asset like that that depreciates in value as soon as you drive it off the lot. Also, I think it's rather stiupid and egocentric to advertise one's wealth or the perception of wealth. As for electronics I've never heard of 'Bang & Olufsen' or 'Barco".

Granted, their quality may be the best in the world, but can the average person afford it? Probably not. Japanese products may not be better but, like you said, they are more affordable to the average person and, in my experience, their quality far surpasses anything else on the market for the average consumer. If the Europeans, as you correctly stated, were better salespersons, maybe these high quality items would catch on. Speaking of Samsung, I purchased one of their LCD TV's last year and I have been very pleased with the product. I did research before I bought it and they offered the most "bang for the buck", so to speak. They were much cheaper than any Japanese brand for the same 17 inch screen size. So they are definetly coming up in the world and, as you stated, their labor costs are what Japan's was some 20 or 30 years ago. But, do you know if the Japanese sold their technology to Samsung or are underwriting them in any way to gain a share of their profits? I don't know, but I would think they have their hand in there some way.

Concerning the anime, I would have to say that I base my opinion on what I know and what is available. Granted Disney may produce better quality anime than the Japanese, but there is something about Japanese anime that just draws me to it. Don't get me wrong here, I am no big fan of anime, but I do enjoy watching one now and then on TV here. And I do get a better feeling inside my 50 year old body than I do when watching a disney movie. I can't explain it. I checked out the Belgin link you mentioned concerning the Franco-Belgin comics and I must agree with you, they do look interesting and something I may enjoy reading or watching once in a while. The artwork does look good, but why don't they market it more? They just may find a bigger audience than they could conceive. I am just amazed at the popularity of Japanese anime here in the states. They have whole sections of video and electronic stores devoted solely to Japanese anime. But, like you said, it's because they are more commercialized. Other countries should market this genre more as they would probably find a bigger audience.

However, getting back to the topic of this thread I still hold to my opinion that it is the Japanese who have taken others' inventions to the next level, improved upon the product, thereby, making it more available to the general public at a higher quality and more reliable than the original. It may be debatable, but it is proven in almost everything that I own own a daily basis. One example: I drive an 18 wheeler from my hometown of Nashville, TN to Memphis, TN and back everynight. That's almost 800km per night. I see quite a few broken down cars on the side of the road and I must say less than 1% of those cars are Japanese brands. If I do see a Japanese car it is usually one that is 10-20 years old. I see quite a few Mercedes, BMW's and other so called luxury cars with American brand names, not to mention late model "regular" cars and SUV's for the average American. Most of them late model cars to boot, but nary a Japanese brand name car. Why? Some years back Toyota management in Japan went crazy when some Lexus's were recalled for a manufaturing flaw.

Since then there has not not been one recall. Could it be that the Japanese care more about satisfying the consumer with a reliable product than the bottom line? "A satisfied consumer, with a reliable product will always return," so they say. I can vouch for this as my wife and I have owned 5 brand new Toyotas since returning to the states 17 years ago. One Celica, One Camry Solara and three Camrys. The first three cars (Celica and two Camrys) were all driven over 150,000 miles (240,000 km) and not one single item ever failed or had to be replaced. This included brakes and clutch; water pump, thermostat, air conditioner etc. Nothing had to be repaired! The only thing we ever did was change the spark plugs at 100,000 miles (161,000 km), change the oil every 5,000 miles (8,000 km) and change the timing belt at 80,000 miles (128,000 km).

To give you some perspective on this, I drive 80 miles (128 km) roundtrip to work and my wife drives 62 mile (99 km) to work everyday. Granted, it is all highway driving, but the point I am making is that the vehicles are reliable and have never failed us. Is it no wonder that Toyota is the best selling car in America? And most are made here? Why are Toyotas more reliable than American made cars when both are made here in the USA by American workers? The same could be said for everything else from copiers to cameras. Nothing Japanese named (and Samsung for the TV) has ever failed us. But anything with an American name (except for Kenmore [Sears]) has always failed us within the first year. Why? Do What You Love And You'll Never Work Another Day In Your Life! Country: Originally Posted by Pachipro If the Europeans, as you correctly stated, were better salespersons, maybe these high quality items would catch on. ... But, like you said, it's because they are more commercialized. Other countries should market this genre more as they would probably find a bigger audience. Always the same problem, especially in Belgium.

The Dutch and Swiss seem very good at marketing their products around the world, but the Belgian aren't. Even their most famous chocolates, Godiva and Cote d'or, are now owned and markted by American companies. And I do get a better feeling inside my 50 year old body than I do when watching a disney movie. I can't explain it. This is because Disney anime are almost exclusively destined to children, while Japanese anime/manga (and Belgian comics) aren't. This partly has to do with the stigma on "maturity" in Western countries. Anime are just not considered to be for adults in the West (even in Belgium, although comics are ok, as long as they are not made for a younger audience in the first place). The Japanese do not have this "complex", which explains why the industry has grown so big. They also don't have complex about hentai or other adult-only stuff. People just read that in the train in front of everyone and nobody cares. That's a very big cultural gap with all Western countries.

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter ----------------- My profile on Academia.edu and on ResearchGate ----------------- Check Wa-pedia 's Japan Guide ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill. Country: Originally Posted by Maciamo This is because Disney anime are almost exclusively destined to children, while Japanese anime/manga (and Belgian comics) aren't. This partly has to do with the stigma on "maturity" in Western countries. Anime are just not considered to be for adults in the West (even in Belgium, although comics are ok, as long as they are not made for a younger audience in the first place). The Japanese do not have this "complex", which explains why the industry has grown so big. They also don't have complex about hentai or other adult-only stuff. People just read that in the train in front of everyone and nobody cares. That's a very big cultural gap with all Western countries. Very good point. Something I haven't given much thought to.

You are quite correct in pointing out that that the Japanese and Belgians do not have this complex so prevalent in the west, especially here in America. If one were to read a Japanese hentai manga here on the train or in public they would probably be arrested and labeled a "sex offender." He/she would then have to register with the local police wherever they lived or moved to. I can not, for the life of me, understand this American puritanical obsession that "anything to do with sex is bad." This is quite an anomoly here as sexual innuendo is and is so prevelant on TV and in music and such. All one has to do is look at an episode of "Desperate Housewives" or watch any night time sitcom or drama and sex is the main theme! But talk about it in public or look at a hentai magazine and you are labeled a pervert! One fine example of this hypocrisy is Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and his most popular prime time show "The O'Reilly Factor." He always talks about how bad sexual innuendo is and is so prevalent here in the US and how America is going downhill because of it, and he is always rallying against it. But he, Mr.

Perfect, was caught in a sex scandal a couple of months ago, where he paid millions to the woman he offended with his talk of masturbation and phone sex and such to drop her lawsuit and he refuses to talk about it. What a freakin' hypocrit. And to think I used to listen to what he said because I believed he "was looking out for me"! No more! I always respected Japan and some other European countries for their practical views towards sex. One can watch a movie in Japan on prime time and see a couple having mild sex or a breast exposed here or there and no one bats an eyelash. But let a microsecond of Janet Jackson's breast be exposed on national TV here in the US, and America goes nuts banning anything to do with sex, verbally on the radio, or visually on TV! What puritanical hypocitical bastards! The rest of the world probably thinks we are nuts! Do What You Love And You'll Never Work Another Day In Your Life! Country: Originally Posted by Pachipro You are quite correct in pointing out that that the Japanese and Belgians do not have this complex so prevalent in the west, especially here in America. Err, actually the Belgians are maybe halfway between Japan and the US.

It is definitely a no-no to read a hentai comic or porn magazine in public in Belgium, although there are (a few) Belgian hentai comics. If one were to read a Japanese hentai manga here on the train or in public they would probably be arrested and labeled a "sex offender." He/she would then have to register with the local police wherever they lived or moved to. Wow, it's that bad in the States !? In Europe people would around would probably laugh to themselves, or feel uncomfortable, or even tell off the person reading porn (especially if there are children around). But the police wouldn't do anything. In Japan people don't react at all and find it natural, even in front of kids. That's one step further. This is quite an anomoly here as sexual innuendo is and is so prevelant on TV and in music and such. ... One can watch a movie in Japan on prime time and see a couple having mild sex or a breast exposed here or there and no one bats an eyelash. Yes, I have never quite understood this American dilemma. More sex in American moviesand TV than in almost any other country's productions, then the puritans make all a fuss about a pop star's breast.

However, I have to say that sex or nudity on Japanese TV is extremely rare. Look at French or Italian TV and you'll see nudity in almost all commercial breaks (eg. soap or shampoo ads). In Japan we may see a nude back, but I haven't seen even a nude breast in commercials. That's also contradictory given that all conveniences stores are filled with porn (even in regular magazines and newspapers) and people don't mind reading it in public. As for sex offenders, it's clear that Japan has a much more relaxed attitude even than Europe, as molesters or people masturbating in trains often don't get anything (maybe because nobody complains, although it's been recently changing). Follow me on Facebook and Twitter ----------------- My profile on Academia.edu and on ResearchGate ----------------- Check Wa-pedia 's Japan Guide ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill. Country: Originally Posted by Maciamo Err, actually the Belgians are maybe halfway between Japan and the US.

It is definitely a no-no to read a hentai comic or porn magazine in public in Belgium, although there are (a few) Belgian hentai comics. kirei_na_me was right in her signature when she said, "It's funny how the conversation always turns to sex." Anyway, while we're on it, I guess I misread your your post. Wow, it's that bad in the States !? In Europe people would around would probably laugh to themselves, or feel uncomfortable, or even tell off the person reading porn (especially if there are children around). But the police wouldn't do anything. In Japan people don't react at all and find it natural, even in front of kids. That's one step further. Yes, it really is that bad here in the states. Get caught with a porn magazine or something like that in public and you will probably be arrested. They are so caught up in the pedophilia thing now that two young girls were recently murdered in Florida by former sex offenders who failed to register with the local police and the "Christian Right" here just won't let the subject alone. One can be in serious trouble if they have any kind of porn around and their children find it and say something to others outside the family.

They are so crazy here that a few years ago the parents of a child were arrested because they took pictures of their 2 year old girl while she was being given a bath by the mother! A pretty normal thing by my standards. They sent the film to a local department store to have it developed and they were turned in and arrested for child pornography! Can you believe it? It's crazy! However, I have to say that sex or nudity on Japanese TV is extremely rare. Look at French or Italian TV and you'll see nudity in almost all commercial breaks (eg. soap or shampoo ads). In Japan we may see a nude back, but I haven't seen even a nude breast in commercials. That really has changed. I've noticed that also these past few visits. Back in the day, nudity on TV was quite prevailent. There was a show on NTV Ch4 everynight called "The 11pm Show" that used to highlight the best porn movies. I also remember a prime time show during New Years a few years back that allowed women into a popular rock concert for free if they would show their breasts to the camera. I watched it with my my wife and her parents and it was just as if it was a normal thing.

No embarrassment, or comments such as "How filthy. Turn this off." or something to that effect. We all watched it and tried to guess which girls who were asked would do it. I even remember when porn magazines were sold openly in vending machines in Japan. Much like beer. High school boys used to buy them and no one would think it was unusual. I don't see them anymore. Maybe JApan is getting too westernized. I have no experience, but I have heard that the French, Italians, Swedes, and Dutch were much more open about those things on TV. We never hear about it here. America is really going over the deep end on something that is so natural. Why it is kept a secret and hidden and looked down upon when the innuendo is all over the place is beyond my comprehension. Must be the "Christian Right." Maybe that explains the high rate of teen pregnancy. As for sex offenders, it's clear that Japan has a much more relaxed attitude even than Europe, as molesters or people masturbating in trains often don't get anything (maybe because nobody complains, although it's been recently changing). I'm glad to see that's changing. I always though it quite disgusting to do something like that out in public!

Do What You Love And You'll Never Work Another Day In Your Life!

Question: In what country were the Smurfs invented?
Answer: Belgium