The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol



The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol is an American computer/traditionally animated short film based on The Smurfs comic book series created by the Belgian comics artist Peyo. The animated short was written by Todd Berger and directed by Troy Quane, and it stars the voices of George Lopez, Jack Angel, Melissa Sturm, Fred Armisen, Gary Basaraba, Anton Yelchin and Hank Azaria. The film was produced by Sony Pictures Animation with the animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Duck Studios. The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol was released on DVD on December 2, 2011, attached to The Smurfs film.

The short is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol. When Grouchy Smurf behaves badly to everyone and refuses to celebrate Christmas, the Smurfs of Christmas Past, Present and Future teach him to appreciate Christmas.

Plot
On Christmas Eve, the Smurfs get ready for their Christmas party. Hefty Smurf and Handy Smurf cut down a Christmas tree, and by Christmas evening, they all finish and start to celebrate. Grouchy Smurf refuses to join the party, expressing his hatred towards Christmas. After their Christmas party, all of the Smurfs go to bed and receive a gift from Papa Smurf - a Smurf hat handcrafted by him. Grouchy wakes up to find a present in front of his door.

He opens it and finds a Smurf hat, but not the one he had expected - a hang glider. Grouchy yells at the top of his lungs, "I hate Christmas". Subsequently, he sees everything around him turn into animation, and finds himself animated too.

Suddenly, he sees an angel appear, who seems to be Smurfette. She explains to him that she is the Smurf of Christmas Past to teach him a lesson about appreciating Christmas. She shows him a young "Smurfling" receiving a gift, which is a Smurf hat, and how happy the Smurfling was to get it. Then the Smurf of Christmas Present, who is Brainy Smurf, appears and shows how he felt about the gift he had received. He then tells him to be happy on Christmas.

Then the Smurf of Christmas Future, who appears as Hefty Smurf, shows Grouchy his future. Hefty tells him that if he does not change his ways, all of the Smurfs will wander into the forest and get captured by Gargamel and his cat.

Then everything around him goes back to its original form, and the Smurfs come and see Grouchy on the Christmas tree decorating it by putting ornaments on it. He yells out to the Smurfs, "Merry Christmas everyone".

Cast

 * George Lopez as Grouchy Smurf (Ebenezer Scrooge)
 * Jack Angel as Papa Smurf
 * Melissa Sturm as Smurfette and the Smurf of Christmas Past
 * Fred Armisen as Brainy Smurf and the Smurf of Christmas Present
 * Gary Basaraba as Hefty Smurf and the Smurf of Christmas Future
 * Anton Yelchin as Clumsy Smurf
 * Hank Azaria as Gargamel

Production
The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol went into development in December 2010, and was completed in nine months. The short was animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, which did the CGI, and by Duck Studios, which animated the main, hand-drawn part of the film. The CG are the same as in the 2011 film, while the hand-drawn part follows the original designs by the Smurfs creator, Peyo, with the help of some of the artists who worked on the 1981 television series. The short's director, Troy Quane, explained that the hand-drawn sequence "...gives us that dream-like moment where he's learning things from these ghosts," and it is "...a nice nod to the Smurfs history as a hand drawn comic."

Some of the original cast from the feature film were replaced in the short. Jack Angel, who voiced various characters in the 1980s television series, replaced Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf. Katy Perry, who was eager to reprise her role of Smurfette, was replaced by Melissa Sturm, due to scheduling conflicts with her tour.

Release
The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol was released on December 2, 2011, only in standard definition, on DVD as part of The Smurfs three-disc holiday gift set. It was released as a stand-alone DVD on September 10, 2013.