The Smurfs Halloween Special   Starring (voice): Don Messick, Paul Winchell, Danny Goldman, Lucille Bliss, June Foray and Michael Bell Fabulous Films / Arrow Films RRP: £5.99 FHED2969 Certificate: U Available 01 October 2012

Now don’t ask me why, but the Smurfs have remained successful for the past thirty years as generations have come to love their genitally challenged lifestyles, so much so that awareness of them has seeped into the zeitgeist leading to references in almost all types of contemporary media; leading to a major movie last year (2012).

As well as the long running show Hanna-Barbera also produced a number of specials, including The Smurfs Halloween Special (1983), now released - with a number of other Halloween related episodes - on a single DVD.

For those of you who have luckily lived under a rock, the Smurfs are a race of small blue creatures, originally created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. The show fitted natural into the stable of show's created by Hanna-Barbera. This DVD consists of six shows, of variable length, which takes aspects of the supernatural, stripped of all its threat and then sent against the Smurfs. The Smurfs all live in the same village, constantly in conflict with the human, Gargamel. The Smurfs, themselves, all have the same surname, "Smurf", and a first name which is more indicative of their role in the village, in much the same way as the seven dwarfs.

The disc contains Scary Smurf (13 min, 13 sec), All Hallows Eve (22 min, 44 sec), Monster Smurf (12 min, 50 sec), Things that go Smurf in the Night (12 min, 48 sec), Lure of the Orb (22 min, 32 sec) and Poltersmurf (13 min, 03 sec).

The show is presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio, with a Dolby 2.0 audio track. The disc contains no extra material. The style of the animation shows its age, with noticeable grain in the picture, but little in the way of evident damage and the colours remain strong.

The shows are bright and unchallenging, perfect for the little ones in the house. Its message is generally positive and even the aspects of the supernatural have been so watered down that not even a three year old is likely to be frightened, but with the bright colours and exaggerated vocal acting they may well be entertained.

6

Charles Packer