It was later discovered that these had been produced without adhering to the necessary quality standards so they were deemed possibly unsafe. The lead paint scare was brought about by a group of people in the marketing department of National Benzole who decided to outsource some smurf figurines to be made in Hong Kong instead of Europe, just four or five different lines. This was a parody of "The Smurf Song" by Father Abraham and the Smurfs, a worldwide hit single. įor a while advertisers used Smurfs to promote Renault, National Benzole, and BP garages and-in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand at least-the figurines were given away when petrol (gasoline) was purchased.Ī scare story that claimed Smurf figurines used leaded paint circulated in Britain in the 1970s, leading Jonathan King to release a single, "Lick a Smurp for Christmas (All Fall Down)" under the name of Father Abraphart and the Smurps. The first of these figurines were made as a promotion for Kellogg's, but were afterwards sold separately. In the 1970s, smurfs were also produced by rival German company Bully. In 1969, five more smurfs followed: Moon Smurf, Winter Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Guitar Smurf, and Papa Smurf. In 1966, Spy Smurf, Angry Smurf, and Drummer Smurf appeared. In 1965, Schleich, a German company, made the first truly mass-produced PVC Smurf collectible figurines (the first three being Normal Smurf, Gold Smurf and Convict Smurf (complete with black-and-white striped prisoner's outfit). Those were only for sale in French- and Dutch-speaking countries. The first one was a series of three figurines, 5 centimetres (about 2 inches) tall, of Papa Smurf, Normal and Angry, followed in the next decade by some larger figurines. Figurines ĭupuis, editor of the Smurf comics, first produced smurf figurines in 1959. In 2020, ViacomCBS (later renamed Paramount Global in 2022) partnered with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS (the worldwide licensors for The Smurfs) to manage licensing rights to the Smurfs in several territories, as part of a deal that will also see the company's Nickelodeon channel air the IMPS-produced animated Smurfs series. In 2008, Smurfs merchandising generated about 5 to 12 million euro in Europe alone, while the total figure after fifty years worldwide is about $5 billion. With the popularity of the Smurfs came a wide range of toys and spin-off products and use of the Smurfs in merchandising. It became well-known worldwide with the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series in the 1980s. The Smurfs is a Belgian comic book series created by Peyo in 1958.
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