Thursday, August 30, 2012

DVD Review - The Smurfs and the Magic Flute

The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
Director: Peyo (original version), John Rust (English version)
Voice Actors: Richard Ashley, Robert Axelrod, Bill Capizzi, Cam Clarke, Ed Devereaux
Studio: Shout! Factory
ASIN: B0080730K2
Release Date: August 14, 2012
Running Time: 74 Minutes
Rated: G

The Smurfs and the Magic Flute was directed by the Smurfs creator Peyo and was released to theaters in 1976 in Belgium, and 1979 in the United Kingdom. In 1981, NBC aired The Smurfs from Hanna-Barbera and it was an instant success. An English dubbed version of The Smurfs and the Magic Flute came out to theaters in the USA in 1983. Despite being disliked by critics, the move was a box-office success. Over the years it has been only available on VHS, but never on DVD, until now.

The movie centers on a young squire, Johan, and his goofy sidekick, Peewit, (Peyo created the characters in 1952 and then created the Smurfs in 1958). Peewit gets a hold of a flute that has only six holes. Whoever is playing the flute can control other people by making them dance.

A stranger, Matthew McCreep, steels the flute from Peewit and uses the flute to rob people. The King sends Johan and Peewit to retrieve the flute or their kingdom may fall. They fail at their first attempt to get the flute back, causing them to seek the help of a wizard who magically sends them to Smurfland.

Papa Smurf and the other Smurfs agree to make a new flute for them. Before the Smurfs can hand them the flute, Johan and Peewit are zapped back to their world. The Smurfs journey to the other world to help stop McCreep before he takes over the castle.

Shout! Factory has brought The Smurfs and the Magic Flute to DVD, but they used the UK Dubbed version and not the English Dubbed version for some odd reason. So the voices are different, and the names have been changed, such as Peewit is now William and Johan is now John! The picture quality is pretty good, up until the ending. There are a few extras - image gallery, glossary of Smurf terms, The Smurf Story, character guide, etc.

This is not the best animated movie I have ever seen. It takes forever for a Smurf to actually show up! I can only recommend the movie to Smurf fans and new fans may not appreciate it for what it is.



1 comment:

  1. I think I remember watching this movie as a kid when I was living in Germany and I have such fond memories of the Smurfs. I think that this is one I will eventually purchase just because I loved them growing up. For now though I’ll rent it through Blockbuster @ Home which lets me get the movie delivered straight to my door. It saves me time because I don’t have to run all over town trying to find it. A Dish co-worker told me about Blockbuster a few months ago and I’ve been using it ever since. I watched a clip from the movie and it made me smile because I remember being happy whenever the Smurfs were on and I don’t think I ever missed an episode.

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