Smurfette

For the comic book, see The Smurfette.

Smurfette
Smurfette as she originally appeared (left) and after Papa Smurf turned her into a real Smurf (right)
Publication information
Publisher	Dupuis
First appearance	1966 (Comic Strip)
Created by	Peyo
In-story information
Species	Smurf

Smurfette (French: La Schtroumpfette) is a female character from the Smurfs. She was created by Gargamel, the Smurfs' enemy, in order to distract and trap them. Smurfette was, at first, the only female character in a village of one hundred Smurfs ; a second female Smurf (Sassette) was added twenty-one years later in the comic book Les P’tits Schtroumpfs. A Granny Smurf was also later introduced, although it is unclear how she was created. Thierry Culliford, the son of Peyo and current head of the Studio Peyo, announced in 2008 that more female Smurfs would be introduced in the stories. Smurfette has more delicate features than the other Smurfs, she has long blonde wavy hair, longer eyelashes, and wears a white dress and white high heels. She is the love interest of almost every Smurf. Those voicing her include Céline Monsarrat and Lucille Bliss. Smurfette is voiced by pop singer Katy Perry in the 2011 film version, and its 2013 sequel and voiced by Melissa Sturm in The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol.

Original introduction

The adventure of the Smurfette first started in Spirou magazine in 1966. She was made by Gargamel as a means to sow unrest in the Smurf village. When this was discovered, Papa Smurf transformed her into a "real" Smurf, altering her appearance at the same time. She still was perceived as a source of problems between the Smurfs, and at the end of this story, she left the Smurf village, thus restoring the status quo of the community. She made the occasional on-off appearance, but when the animated TV series of the Smurfs was introduced in the 1980s, she was featured as a permanent character, appearing in stories in which she was not included in the original source comics. Thus, the comics also started to feature her as a permanent character.

Creation and conception

Hal Erickson said in Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1949-1993 that the reintroduction of Smurfette as a permanent character in the animated series was "bowing to merchandising dictates" in order to "appeal to little girl toy consumers." Jeffery P. Dennis, author of the journal article "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons," said that the inclusion of Smurfette in the cartoon version of The Smurfs was likely to serve as an object of heterosexual desire for the other Smurfs and to end speculation arguing that the Smurfs were gay. In a response to Dennis's statements, Martin Goodman of Animation World Network, said that Dennis had not taken into account Erickson's comments about merchandising. Goodman further argued that capturing the young female audience would increase ratings, so the networks were more likely trying to pander to young girls than trying to defuse gay rumors; Smurfette was the most frequently merchandised of the Smurfs.

Fictional biography

Comics

Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel as a way of vengeance against the Smurfs, whom he despises. On page 5 of the comic, while searching for the most terrible way to make the Smurfs suffer, and after deciding that setting the whole forest on fire or casting a spell that makes “vines choke all vegetation and life” were not “cruel enough”, Gargamel declares, “No, I want something else! A fearsome spell that makes them beg for mercy!! A horrible curse… Oh! Yes… I’VE GOT IT! I’m going to send them a SMURFETTE!” After using several material components to create a Smurfette statuette, Gargamel searches for the incantation to magically animate the clay figurine he just modelled. He reads the following formula from his spell-book, to give the statuette “a feminine nature”:

“A spring of flirtatiousness… A solid layer of non-objectivity… three crocodile tears… a bird-brain… powder of viper’s tongue… a carat of sneakiness… a handful of anger… a dash of lying tissue, transparent of course… a bushel of greediness… a quart of bad faith… one thimbleful of recklessness… a stroke of pride… pint of envy… some zest of sensitivity… a bit of foolishness and a bit of cunning, lots of volatility and lots of obstinacy… a candle burned at both ends…” At the end of this text the reader is directed to a footnote stating: “This text is the sole responsibility of the author of the spell-book “Magicae Formulae,” Beelzebub Editions.”

Once Smurfette’s creation is completed, Gargamel sends Smurfette to the Smurf village in order to infiltrate them and create chaos in their community.

At first, the Smurfette created by Gargamel was designed following the Smurf male model, with the only variations of long black hair and a dress instead of pants. In the comic where she first appears, Gargamel’s Smurfette is perceived by the other Smurfs as annoying, ugly, useless, and unattractive. The Smurfs all hate her and the comic even illustrates at one point a Smurf dreaming that he choked her. To get rid of her, the Smurfs enact a prank to make Smurfette believe that she has gained weight (by rigging a scale, placing in a misshapen mirror, and making her listen to some nasty talk).

The prank results in Smurfette crying alone on her bed in complete despair. She tells Papa Smurf, who came to look after her: “I’m too fat! And I’m ugly! My hair looks just terrible! My complexion’s awful! Nothing looks good on me! I WANT TO DIE!!!” The following illustration shows Papa Smurf thinking: “There’s nothing wrong with her! I should smurf something to cheer her up!” However, this text was changed in the English translation from the original French version where Papa Smurf was instead thinking: “It’s true that she is not very pretty! ... We should smurf something for her!”

The subsequent action is the same in both English and French versions of the comic; Papa Smurf decides to help Smurfette, and performs a “plastic smurfery” on her (which was later changed in the English version to a “smurfification”). This operation changes Smurfette’s physical appearance from black hair to long wavy blond hair, from a male Smurf nose to smaller nose, from short to long eyelashes, from a plain white dress to a shorter ornate dress, and from male Smurf shoes to high heels. As soon as Papa Smurf finally shows transformed Smurfette to the other Smurfs, they are all portrayed as falling instantly in love with her.

However, the Smurfs soon start arguing against each other to know who will dance with her first. Smurfette can't stand the Smurfs fighting each other for her anymore, and she decides to leave the village indefinitely. In a note she leaves behind, she writes that she might “come back one day.”

Her influence could still be used for positive actions. When Hefty Smurf tried to organize the Olympic Smurfs, the other Smurfs showed no interest. But when it was later announced that the winner would get a kiss from the Smurfette this produced a mad rush for the signing-in office.

Cartoon series

The Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the Smurfs, introduced in 1981, had her as an actual Gargamel spy and saboteur who intentionally tries to disrupt life in the village. She was magically created from blue clay, "sugar and spice but nothing nice, crocodile tears, half a pack of lies, a chatter of a magpie, and the hardest stone for her heart". She is found in the forest by Hefty Smurf (The Smurfs, season 1 volume 1, "The Smurfette").

Working for Gargamel, Smurfette makes several failed attempts to defeat the Smurfs. In the dam incident, she used a slice of cake to lure Greedy Smurf into opening it. When Greedy tried to close the dam again, Smurfette yanked it back. Greedy soon caught on, all the tugging eventually threw Smurfette off balance and she promptly fell into the river. While Greedy hammered the dam back down, Papa Smurf rescued Smurfette and sent her to Smurf court.

With the entire village angrily aware of her treachery, Smurfette finally admitted her slavery to Gargamel and tearfully offered to submit the Smurfs' judgement. The Smurfs' kindness to Smurfette caused her to want nothing else than to be a real Smurf, so Papa Smurf absolved her of her guilt and offered to try to free her by making her a real Smurf. Papa Smurf magically undid some of Gargamel's spells, and consequently turned Smurfette into a more beautiful creature. Her hair grew and became blonde. Her dress became frillier. As a final touch, her shoes turned into high-heel pumps. Of course, everyone now loved her and actually fought to do trivial favors for her such as walking her home.

When Gargamel made contact with her again, he was alarmed by the changes in her visage and realized that Papa Smurf had undone his control of her. He managed to placate her and manipulated her into luring the Smurfs into a trap. The trap was successful with the entire community captured and Smurfette was aghast at her unwitting role in it. However, she was then able to spectacularly undo her mistake by disguising herself as the masked "Lone Smurf" to lure away Gargamel and Azrael on a chase that both allowed her to incapacitate the villains and to free the Smurfs. At the conclusion of the story, any doubts of the Smurfs of Smurfette's loyalty were resolved and she was made a welcome permanent member of their village. She quickly rose through the ranks and would sometimes be left in charge of the Smurf Village while Papa Smurf was away. One of the show's beloved running gags was Smurfette hugging and kissing Papa Smurf, and Smurfette reprimanding Brainy.

Smurfette's original artificial nature arose again in the sequel episode, "Smurfette Unmade." In this story, Gargamel tells his apprentice Scruple (who was an added character by this time) about how he regrets creating her, he comments on how bad is that Gargamel can't turn her evil again, and he remembers there is a way. They kidnap her and prepare a spell which initially doesn't seem to work and the Smurfs take her home. When Scruple turns on the next page of Gargamel's spell book, the bad guys realize the spell is complete but its effects won't become apparent until the next full moon's midnight, which happened to be that very night. The effects includes Smurfette changing back to her original appearance and malicious personality before she could consult Papa Smurf on the matter. Thus changed into her original form, Smurfette manages to hide by concealing her black hair with a wig (in spite of her clothes and shoes being a dead giveaway) but the Smurfs eventually learn the truth when she arranges for the Smurfs to be captured. Papa Smurf said he can't repeat the spell that had initially turned her good. However, just as Gargamel is about to get Baby Smurf to test his gold making potion (over Smurfette's objection), Smurfette's conscience rebels and she changes back into blond-haired Smurfette. Gargamel and Scruple attempt to capture her to prevent themselves from losing again but Smurfette destroys the potions and sends the Smurfs' arch enemies into a tree. They all return home with Papa Smurf guessing that Smurfette's Smurf nature is too strong to ever be fully removed.

Film

In the 2011 film The Smurfs, Smurfette is voiced by singer Katy Perry, who also reprised her role for the 2013 sequel The Smurfs 2. In The Smurfs 2, Smurfette is the main Smurf protagonist.

The Smurfette Principle

Smurfette became the popular example of a trope that was soon baptized with her name by Katha Pollitt. Smurfette, like many female characters in TV and movies, is the only female in an all male cast, thus, "The Smurfette Principle". Other such characters include: Miss Piggy in The Muppets, Princess Lea in Star Wars or Penny in the Big Bang Theory. Academics have pointed out that this lone female character is normally a stereotype of femininity and the object of desire, offering a very limited depiction of women. Also, it under represents women since they are half the population and it establishes the male as the norm and the female as the exception.

See also

• List of characters in The Smurfs