Dawn of the Smurfs

The Smurfs hits theaters this weekend. I could write an entire post decrying the bastardization of a cherished cartoon... but I'll restrain myself.


Instead, I'll pass along a little zombie tidbit that you may or may not know. It's not exactly breaking news --- but if you haven't seen it before, it's interesting:

In 1963, five years BEFORE George Romero established the zombie genre with Night of the Living Dead, a French writer named Pierre Culliford published a story about a small village in which a citizen is bitten by a mysterious exotic fly. The bite turns the victim's skin deathly black and drives him insane; like a mad animal, he attacks and bites the other citizens of the village, infecting them with the same horrible virus. The plague spreads as the vicious attacks mount, neighbors biting neighbors. Soon the village's few survivors are trapped in their homes, fighting off the "infected"...

Okay, you've probably guessed by now: I'm talking about the original comic series, The Smurfs.

The story was called "The Black Smurfs" (later changed to "The Purple Smurfs" to avoid accusations of racism) and it did, indeed, premiere in 1963 --- an eerie precursor to the zombie apocalypse we all know and love. True, the plot is a little more Danny Boyle than George Romero (I almost titled this blog "28 Smurfs Later"), but that's just nitpicking.

So what does this mean? Was Romero a Smurfs fan? George is looking a little "Papa Smurfish" these days with his nice white beard. Hmmmm...

Nah, that's not it.

I think the truth here is that good zombie fiction taps into very real fears we've all had since the day we were born. Some are more primal, like the fear of being eaten or the fear of being outnumbered. And some are very human, like the fear of seeing our loved ones change, act differently toward us, turn against us --- not love us anymore. Through evolution, these anxieties are embedded in us all, and whether you're talking to kids or adults, it's not surprising that different artists will find similar ways to broadcast our common nightmares.

Have a Smurfy weekend, everyone!

P.S. Less than a month left in the contest to win your name as a character in The Return Man!

Enjoyed this blog? Find more at www.hirethereturnman.com/blog