THE PLOT THUS FAR
A villain named McCreep steals the Smurfs’ magic flute, an instrument that makes people dance wildly, and uses it to rob them. The Smurf King sends out Peewit to track down the thief and retrieve the flute.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Smurfs and the Magic Flute” was one of those films that appeared frequently in my childhood viewing. While I never owned the now classic Vestron VHS, I watched the syndicated version on WGN to the point of verging on a personality disorder. Most of the characters act in direct connection to Peyo’s classic tales. However, don’t expect Smurfette or some of the later additions. This presentation is chronological accurate.
Fans of the classic American cartoon version might be a little put off by this film. While the film was initially released in Belgium in 1976, it took years before arriving in the United Kingdom and America. However, many changes were made to the film to make the movie much more presentable. The Smurfs are kind of violent to Brainy and others in this film. While I appreciate getting to see the original presentation, I would’ve liked to have seen a comparison documentary between the multiple cuts.
The DVD comes with However, the transfer isn’t 16 x 9. What is the deal with that? This is 2012 and we have people working on bringing 4K resolution to home entertainment. I didn’t know that non-anamorphic movies still got released. You get the original mono track that was used in England, so a lot of the voices threw me for a loop. There’s a glossary, a character guide and related text stuff about the Smurfs. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to fans.
RELEASE DATE: 08/14/2012
