"Bubble, Bubble, Smurfs In Trouble" is a Season 2 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.
Characters[]
- Scaredy Smurf
- Papa Smurf
- Water Sprite
- Hefty Smurf
- Handy Smurf
- Brainy Smurf
- Bigmouth
- Gargamel
- Azrael
- Jokey Smurf
Synopsis[]
Scaredy can hide into unbreakable bubbles with a magic wand he received from a water sprite.
Plot Summary[]
Scaredy is out in the forest, collecting special mushrooms for Papa Smurf and wondering why he has to be the Smurf doing this particular job, as he finds much of the forest scary for him to venture in. In the meantime, a water sprite is busy sprinkling around dew with his magic wand, deciding to take a rest and do his dew-dropping later. Scaredy runs into the water sprite when he pulls the cap of the mushroom the water sprite was sleeping near, and this makes the water sprite so fearful that he cast himself inside a bubble that he could not escape from, seeing that he dropped his wand.
He calls out for Scaredy to help get him out of the bubble, and Scaredy bravely approaches, trying to puncture it. The water sprite says that nothing can break the bubble except for his magic wand. Scaredy tries it, and soon the bubble vanishes, freeing the water sprite and making him so grateful for his rescuer that he would do anything within his power. Scaredy asks if he could borrow the bubble wand, and the water sprite says that he will let him use it only if he promises to return it by dusk. After the water sprite dives into the pond, Scaredy tests out the bubble wand and finds out how durable it is, seeing that nothing can get him as long as he is inside the bubble.
Scaredy takes the wand to the village, where he shows his fellow Smurfs how durable the bubbles are and that nothing can break them except the magic wand. Hefty's fists and biting doesn't do the trick, neither does Handy's hammer and nail. Brainy tries out being inside a bubble and finds out that he doesn't like being trapped in one, so he calls for help. As Papa Smurf hears the cry and responds to it, Scaredy lets Brainy out of the bubble. Jokey then offers one of his surprises to Scaredy, but he responds by placing the surprise inside a bubble and giving it back to Jokey, where he sees the explosion of the surprise contained within the bubble.
Scaredy starts to feel confident about himself, thinking that now may be the time to change his name, when he runs into Papa Smurf. He is worried that someone might be trapped inside one of Scaredy's bubbles. Scaredy tries to convince Papa Smurf there's nothing to worry about because he can easily use the magic wand to get himself out of the bubble. But Papa Smurf asks Scaredy what would happen if he was inside the bubble and the magic wand was outside it. As Scaredy now realizes the danger he could put himself and others in, Papa Smurf says that he should return the wand to its rightful owner. Scaredy tries to convince Papa Smurf that the bubbles are safe, but then he doesn't notice that Jokey delivered him the bubble still containing the explosion until he uses the wand to pop it and it explodes.
As the Smurfs go into the forest to look for the owner of the wand, they soon run into Bigmouth, who is rampaging through the forest in search of food. The Smurfs run and hide, but Scaredy refuses to do so, even taunting the ogre as he comes closer. This makes Bigmouth mad enough to want to pound Scaredy, but as Bigmouth drives his fist down toward the Smurf, he puts himself inside the bubble and causes the ogre to pound himself in the face twice, with Scaredy mocking him. Bigmouth gets tired of the mockery and picks up the bubble containing Scaredy, bouncing it around like a ball and throwing it. As the Smurfs run to chase and catch Scaredy, Gargamel overhears Bigmouth's laughter and goes to investigate.
Soon, the ogre kicks Scaredy high into a tree, where he uses the magic wand to escape the bubble, though now he falls from the tree and drops the wand. But before he could get a hold of it, Gargamel takes the wand and casts Scaredy inside a bubble, saying that it is the ultimate Smurf trap. Papa Smurf now has his little Smurfs following him to Gargamel's hovel in order to rescue Scaredy.
At the hovel, Gargamel leaves Azrael in charge of watching over the captive Smurf while he goes to capture Smurfs but scolds him when he sees that the cat is about to use his claws. Out in the forest, the Smurfs try to distract Gargamel by popping in and out of view while the wizard futilely tries to use the bubble wand on them, allowing Papa Smurf to sneaky quietly by. In the meantime, Scaredy realizes that Azrael can't get him as long as he is inside the bubble and so taunts the cat to attack him. The cat pounces on the bubble and causes it to bounce outside with Azrael chasing after it. Papa Smurf sees that Scaredy has escaped and so goes after the bouncing bubble.
Scaredy continues to bounce away, though he now bounces straight back to Bigmouth, who sees that his Smurf ball has returned. Then Gargamel shows up and humbly asks if he could have the Smurf ball, to which Bigmouth says no. Gargamel decides to put Bigmouth in a bubble, and so the magic wand traps Bigmouth inside one, causing him to lose Scaredy as he bounces into Gargamel's sack. He realizes that one Smurf is better than none at all, and so takes him back home. Papa Smurf then tells his little Smurfs to gather up some strong sticks, for he has a plan.
As Gargamel prepares to cook Scaredy, the Smurfs use the sticks to cause Bigmouth to roll down an incline straight toward Gargamel's hovel, where he bursts straight through the door. The Smurfs follow right after Bigmouth and enter the hovel to free a grateful Scaredy from the bubble. As they leave, Gargamel frees himself from being pinned to the wall by Bigmouth inside a bubble and tries to capture the Smurfs, but Papa Smurf has the wand and uses it to cast Gargamel and Azrael inside bubbles while he frees Bigmouth from being trapped inside his. Happy to be released, Bigmouth now has two bubble balls to play with!
By dusk, the Smurfs find the water sprite and Scaredy returns the wand to its rightful owner, who is very glad to have it back and Scaredy is glad to be rid of it. The water sprite then sees Bigmouth playing with Gargamel and Azrael trapped inside bubbles, bouncing them like balls, and thinks that he should free them. Papa Smurf asks the water sprite for the favor of not releasing Gargamel and Azrael from their bubbles until Bigmouth is through playing ball, which the water sprite accepts, watching as the evil wizard and his cat now suffer being the ogre's playthings.
Trivia[]
- Many DVD releases carry the syndicated Smurfs Adventures repackaging of this episode, as opposed to the rest of the episodes, which were uncut, although this episode has also used the modified intro and credits for foreign markets.
- One of the few episodes to be animated at Hanna-Barbera Australia, albeit uncredited.
- This is Bigmouth's only appearance in Season 2.
- This is the first episode outside of the Johan And Peewit series in which no background Smurfs appear.
Goofs[]
- An art mistake appears in the episode: for a brief moment, Gargamel and Azrael appear in Papa Smurf's laboratory instead of his own.
- Bigmouth has pupils that are the same color of his skin for the entire episode.
- When the Smurfs meet up with the water sprite, Handy has no suspenders.