PEYO AND THE SMURFS (SCHTROUMPF)

The father of the Smurfs Pierre Culliford, better known under the name Peyo, was born in June 1928 in Brussels, Belgium. His mother was Belgian and loved fine arts; his father was English, born and raised in Brussels.

While studying at the Academy Of Fine Arts in 1945, the then 17-year old worked part-time at an animation studio. One year later, he worked as an illustrator, writing and drawing some comic strips which he already signed as Peyo, short for his first name Pierrot. Being an enthusiastic story-teller since childhood, he made his passion his profession and in 1946 created the medieval world of Page John, followed by the adventures of the young indian Pied-Tendre and the antics of the cheeky cat Poussy. In 1952 he decided to work as a professional cartoonist and quit his job as illustrator.

The Smurfs first appeared as side characters in the story "The flute with the six holes." Back then; they still looked like emaciated little gnomes. The story with the adorable blue goblins was so successful that Peyo decided to make them main characters in their own comic strips.

These fable creatures were called "Stroumpf." This name was created during a vacation of Peyo and his friend Franquin. They came up with the idea of replacing every verb and noun, that they couldn't think of at that moment, with "stroumpf" which means as much as "whatchamacallit." One of the cutest Smurf characteristics was born - the (stroumpf) Smurf language!

From now on, the triumph of the Smurfs could not be stopped. In many countries kids grew up with the Smurf comic books (In Germany, Smurfs had their first appearance in the mid '60s in the "Fix & Foxi" comic books), the lovable Smurf figurines populated every kid's room, and from candy wrappings to bike bells, the little blue gnomes were everywhere. In 1977, the hit song "The Smurfsong" by Father Abraham triggered a Smurf wave in Germany.

The 250 cartoons, produced by the Hanna-Barbara Studios (Flintstones, tec.), aired worldwide plus the movie "The Smurfs and the magic flute" finally made the Smurfs popular enough to be mentioned in a sentence along with Mickey Mouse or Snoopy. Techno smash hits like "Schlumpfen-Cowboy-Joe" are proof that Smurfs are still trendy today.

After Peyo's death in 1992, his son continued his father's lifework. One year prior to his death, Peyo had opened up the "Walibi-Smurf" theme park, his legacy to all Smurf fans.

Credit to Mushroom Village