This year mark's the 50th anniversary of The Smurfs....and let me tell ya, that Smurfette only looks better with age! (I'd sure like to SMURF her in the SMURF, while SMURFING on the SMURF!)

I spent waaaay too many saturday mornings parked in front of the tv watching these 3-apple high critters singng, dancing, foiling Gargamel's evil plans and taking in the wisdom of the all-knowing Papa Smurf.   I loved them all...except Brainy Smurf...he was a dork-stick.   I also spent a few hours wandering the woods around our house stomping on mushrooms and listening for tiny screams!  Yup, kids CAN be so cruel.

As well as a birthday tour set to hit European cities such as Brussels, Paris and Berlin..the family of Peyo (the dude that created them) announced recently a host of Smurf-related projects in the works, including a new feature-length, 3-D animated film, art exhibits, the introduction of new comic books and a remastered release of the 1980s TV series.

Now, there have been several theories and conspiracies regarding the smurfs...underlying racism, bigotry, polygamy, anti-semitism etc...but I never bought into it.  C'mon...they're happy and they're blue and they're cute.   I grew up with them and I never took anything away from it except an hour of fun and adventure and story-telling.

However, remember this UNICEF ad from 2005? 

It was designed to highlight the plight of children in warring African nations....Do you think world organizations should really use loveable cartoon characters to send political messages?

 Cause I just don't know if I'm ready to see Jabber Jaw telling me about the plight of hunting for Shark-Tail soup..