‘We couldn’t believe, when we looked into it, that it had been so long since Smurfs were here in North America,’ says Irwin. The Cartoon Network has continued airing the show in off-peak time slots, but otherwise the Smurfs have been on commercial hold in the U.S. Smurfs took North America by storm, then faded in a peaceful exit after an extraordinarily lucrative run. in September 1981 when NBC began airing the first of 256 episodes it had ordered from Hanna-Barbera. Throughout Europe Smurfs are as popular today and as prominent in European toy stores and promotional tie-ins as they ever were.īy contrast, Smurfs have virtually disappeared from the North American market. The happy tales from Smurf village made their way into comics and story books across Europe, and its first animated film in 1975. The Smurf phenomenon began in Europe in 1958 as a comic strip. ‘This (articulated limbs) had never been done with Smurfs, and we became very excited about the notion of bringing them back,’ says Irwin. In addition, Toy Island had created a line of accessories and playsets related to these new Smurfs.
Smurfs village toy series#
Toy Island, which also manufactures RoboCop and Rupert the Bear products among others, had created a series of Smurf spin-offs featuring molded plastic Smurf characters with articulated arms and legs.
Toy Island had approached Irwin last summer to see whether Irwin was interested in providing North American marketing support for a new line of Smurf toys. The idea of a Smurfs revival in North America developed out of talks between Irwin and Toy Island, a Hong Kong-based toy-maker. ‘We believe the timing is perfect for a relaunch of the Smurfs,’ says Irwin senior vice president Scott Irwin. Irwin, the toy-maker whose current line-up includes the master licence for products derived from such successful kids television series as ReBoot is about to bring the Smurfs back to life in North American toy stores, backed by a full-scale national television advertising and promotional campaign. Mention the name ‘Smurfs’ to a North American, and the likely reaction would be the summoning of a rather distant memory of white-capped, elfin creatures who merrily went about their business in some kind of fairy tale village.īut while the recollection today among many might be little more than that, the memory is most decidedly still there, a brand image that remains alive and, even more importantly for Toronto-based Irwin Toy, continues to carry with it a very positive association.
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