The Smurflings

From Smurfology

You may also be looking for the group of Smurfs called the Smurflings.

"The Smurflings" was an episode that appeared in Season 5 of the Smurfs cartoon show. It is that season's premiere episode along with "Sassette".

Summary

Nat, Snappy, and Slouchy as adult Smurfs...

...and now as Smurflings.

As Papa Smurf plays with his harmonica, he ends up forgetting about his experiment boiling in the kettle. A bit too late he tries to keep it from exploding, and then he sees that the hourglass that he has been using to time his experiments with "has seen better hours". He goes outside to find Nat, Snappy, and Slouchy getting bored watching their fellow adult Smurfs practicing for the musical festival that night, and asks them to take his hourglass to Father Time's workshop to get it fixed, and if he isn't there, then just to simply leave it on his workbench with a note. Papa Smurf warns the three of them not to touch anything in there, which they say they won't.

Inside Father Time's workshop, the three adult Smurfs try to follow Papa Smurf's orders to the letter when Snappy notices a grandfather clock with its hour and minute hands running rapidly backwards. He opens the door to the clock, which causes a gust of wind to blow forth from it. Nat warns Snappy not to touch anything when the cuckoo clock accidentally scares the two butterflies that accompanied him. Nat rushes into the clock to try saving them, but he also draws Snappy and Slouchy into the clock when he is unable to leave. With the three adult Smurfs trapped in the clock, time continues its reverse spin until it hits 12:00, when the three Smurfs now emerge from the clock -- as young Smurflings in adult Smurf clothes!

After their return to the village, Papa Smurf, who is busy conducting the village symphony orchestra, is aghast to find that the three adult Smurfs he had sent to run his errand were now de-aged into Smurflings. They try to get Father Time's help in order to change them back into adult Smurfs, but Father Time is rather powerless to do so, being unable to go forward in time as easily as he could go back. Some of the adult Smurfs don't enjoy having to deal with three young Smurflings -- especially ones that were once three adult Smurfs -- but Papa Smurf tells them that they were all young Smurflings one time in their lives, including himself, and that they would simply have to care for them and make them part of their "smurfy life".

The Smurflings have their own fashion style.

Tailor offers the first step for them to get adjusted to their new life as Smurflings -- new clothes that are just their size. Of course, upon trying them on, they find that the clothes just simply aren't their style, so they decide to make their own Smurf clothes, and soon they establish their own identity with their own set of clothes. Next, realizing that the musical festival was tonight, the Smurflings decide that they're going to be a part of it -- but Brainy won't let them because he thinks they're too young to appreciate music. The four of them get into an argument that Papa Smurf comes in to settle, telling the Smurflings that they need to respect grownups and for Brainy to set an example to the Smurflings. He also tells Brainy that he should let the Smurflings be part of the musical festival, which makes Snappy and Nat get excited, while Brainy still thinks it would ruin the festival.

The next thing that happens for the Smurflings is the creation of a tree stump playhouse by Handy and Hefty, the former of which invites the Smurflings to build their own instruments using his tools and the junk he has in his backyard. The three of them take a look at Handy's junk collection and take the parts they need for the creation of their own instruments.

That night, the musical festival starts. Papa Smurf goes on first with his symphony orchestra, where he finishes his piece with his harmonica. Backstage, the Smurflings have a problem with Brainy's "promise" to let them go on to perform until he finally concedes to let them do so after Brainy's band is finished -- which Brainy secretly hopes it will be long after he's finished. Clumsy makes a comment about the Smurflings' instruments being strange, though it doesn't faze them in the least, particularly Slouchy who likes him.

The Smurflings show the adult Smurfs what "real music" is.

After Brainy finishes his piece to a moderate reception, Brainy decides to continue playing with another piece -- which irritates the Smurflings, who come up with a plan to get Brainy off the stage. Nat sends his pet butterfly to sit on Brainy's baton, causing Brainy to wildly swing it around to get it off, but also causing his band to play so fast that it exhausts both them and Brainy. The audience laughs as it now clears the way for the Smurflings to perform -- and what a performance it is! The music the Smurflings create with their homemade instruments leaves the audience wondering what to call it -- and so also does their dancing. The music continues well beyond the stage and into the night, leaving Brainy disgusted to think that Papa Smurf would even appreciate it as "music". Papa Smurf tells Brainy that maybe he's just old-fashioned, and as Brainy goes off to bed, Papa Smurf just couldn't resist dancing to a new tune.

Background Information

• This episode marks the last appearance of the adult Nat for the entire series. It is also the first and only appearance of the adult Snappy and Slouchy.
• This episode and "Sassette" were collectively part of the same origin story that appeared in the original Smurf comic books.