The Smurfs really don't need introducing as there really just that well known of a group characters however what alot of people might not know is that there comic book characters. With the characters first appearing in books since 1958 with the story called "The Flute with Six Holes" from the comic book Johan And Peewit with the characters becoming more and more popular thanks to there nineteen eighty one TV series of the exact same name and it's an episode from that show that i'm going to e talking about today ad so then join me as I review what is technically the first episode of the show with the episode in question being called simply just "The Astrosmurf" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Dreamy Smurf announces his plans to fly of a another planet all of The Smurfs try to help him achieve his goal. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as it was a rather simple plot which is something that is oddly fitting for The Smurfs as characters as they don't really demand a deep dark and completed plot just give them something simple and let the character show through in the episodes plot something which wouldn't be able to happen if the plot of the episode was a deep , dark and completed plot ad because it's not any of those things the plot of this episode is also charming as well as being really rather entertaining and as well as being also really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Danny Goldman as Brainy Smurf . William Callaway as Clumsy Smurf and Lucille Bliss as Smurfette. Also starring in this episode is Hamilton Camp as Greedy Smurf , the great June Foray as Jokey Smurf , the great Paul Winchell as Gargamel , Michael Bell as Handy Smurf , Lazy Smurf and Grouchy Smurf , Ronnie Schell as Dreamy Smurf and the great Don Messick as Azrael and Papa Smurf.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With alot of this episodes actors turning in some really solid performances which given that this shows voice cast is made up of a bunch of really good voice actors that really isn't all that surprising as alot of them really do know how to turn in a good performance which is something that all do in this very episode even if it is hard to tell which smurf is which alot of the time with the acting in this episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so good that all the episodes cast have to do is just the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally.
Doing the animation for this episode is Dong Seo Animation , Luk Film , Sam Young Animation and Take One. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation thats actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as it was the kind of quality animation that you'd expect to find in an early nineteen eighties animated show but at the same time the animation in this episode is alot better then the animation that you'd expect to see in alot of other Hanna-Barbera properties with that being because there not actually doing the animation for this series there just producing the show but it is still something thats worth mentioning as we see in other things that they've done they can do quality animation when they have the budget to really do so.
This episode is technically the first episode of the show as while it was indeed the first episode to air it wasn't the first episode to be produced with that honor going to The Smurfette. Which does make it hard to tell what the first episode of the show is actually meant to be as Smurfette not only appears in this episode but also plays a pretty big role in the episodes plot where as The Smurfette episode of the show is her introductory episode while it is hard to tell why the choice was made to make this one the first episode as it could be anything down from this episode being the first one finished out of the two episodes to this one having the much more stronger storyline it does seem odd that they have a character that technically hasn't been introduced yet and have her introductory episode appear much more later on in the first seasons run and while this doesn't really effect anything it does seem weird that this is something that would be done when it makes more sense for the The Smurfette episode to still be the leading episode in this shows first ever season.
The episode does go to great lengths to show you just how kind The Smurfs themselves are as characters. As they go out of their way to making Dreamy's dream come true which is something that they really didn't have to do and yet by doing that it shows that there all really good friends with each other but on the flip side of that is the fact that by having all of The Smurfs act pretty much the same it makes it hard to tell which smurf is which as all of the good speak the same with this being something that could have been fixed by having some of The Smurfs actively not take part in the plan to make Dreamy's dram come true but that would again have the knock of effect of making them not appear to be very good people and as a result of that all of them are pretty much forced into it just to make them all appear as a good people which is what The Smurfs are at there core as there the kind of people that we all wish to be instead of being the people that we actually are.
Despite being the franchises main villain Gargamel himself really doesn't have a whole lot to do in the episode. With the character really only appearing in a very small handful of scenes none of which are connected to the main plot of the film are there just to give The Smurfs an antagonist all of which feels like a really cheap way to use him as the start of the episode feels like that it's setting him up to be a main threat in the episode and then he does nothing but following The Smurfs around and that's really it which really isn't all that threatening of a thing for him to be doing as he acts more threatening to The Smurfs in not only later episodes but also in alot of the movies as well all while still being his lovable comedic self whereas in this episode he doesn't come across as being a credible threat to The Smurfs as he messes up alot of the time which wouldn't be an issue if this episode was a few episodes into the series run but it's not it's the first episode and as a result of that is the fact that the makers really had to make him seem like a more credible threat to The Smurfs very existence.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty two minuets and forty seven seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard for cartoons that were airing in the eighties and while this episode really doesn't have alot there interms of plot to really cover that large amount of running time the episode really doesn't feel like that it was being padded out alot of the time as while yes the scenes with Gargamel could be seen as padding given that this was the shows first episode they also had to introduce him somehow and at least in this episode it does leave room for quite alot of improvement given how his character should have been handled and while yes it would have been great if the episode had a much more stronger plot line that fit this episodes running time by doing that they would take away that cozy feeling that just oozes out of this show but I will admit that this show really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is comedy that means that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As the show does make use of slapstick comedy alot of which is partially funny but at the same time tho alot of the slapstick really isn't that funny as none of it looks painful as it just looks really tame which does make sense given that this show is aimed at little kids but at the same time tho it still needs to be really all that funny and yet the slapstick that's in this episode really isn't being animated to be all that funny for the most part as when we do get a really funny slapstick moment it really is a funny moment out of it in this episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this episode was a really solid debut episode to start of this show as it gives you a good example of what alot of the characters are like and what the status quo for the show will be like moving forward but at the same time tho it would have been nice if this episode had a really much more stronger plot line tho in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official, The Smurfs fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the great the official Arrowverse fandom wiki page simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode and are really of course on the official Arrowverse fandom wiki page are really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.