"Chip Off The Old Smurfs" is a Season 3 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.
Characters[]
- Baby Smurf
- Papa Smurf
- Brainy Smurf
- Gargamel
- Azrael
- Locusts
- Smurfette
- Painter Smurf
- Clumsy Smurf
- Greedy Smurf
- Harmony Smurf
- Handy Smurf
- Poet Smurf
- Feathers
- Hefty Smurf (Does not speak)
- Unnamed Smurfs
Synopsis[]
Everybody wants Baby Smurf to be like them while Gargamel invades the forest with the plant-eating insects that duplicates.
Plot Summary[]
So many future interests... which one shall Baby Smurf pick?
One day in the Smurf Village, Smurfette was painting her door red while watching after Baby Smurf, who himself is watching Smurfette work. She hears her tea kettle whistle from inside her house and tells the infant Smurf that she will be right back. While she tends to her tea kettle, Baby Smurf helps himself to the paintbrush and starts applying some color to the side of Smurfette's house, which makes her upset when she returns and sees what he has done. Painter Smurf, however, sees the mess on the wall and considers it a masteurpiesa, wondering who created it. As soon as he finds out that it was Baby Smurf who did that, Painter picks him up and carries him off, saying that he's going to be a great painter.
Meanwhile, Papa Smurf is taking a peaceful walk in the forest, singing the Smurf song, when he hears the voice of Gargamel nearby and decides to go see what the evil wizard is up to. He is out in the forest with his cat Azrael, carrying a net and telling his pet that today marks the beginning of the end of the Smurfs. He sees what he is after and catches it in his net -- a locust feasting on a leaf, which Gargamel intends to use against the Smurfs. Papa Smurf safely watches this from the safety of a tree branch, saying to himself that Gargamel never gives up.
Back in the village, Handy is busy with Baby Smurf building a rudimentary machine using parts from Handy's workshop when Painter sees what Baby Smurf is doing and interrupts it, saying that it's time for Baby to start his painting lessons. Handy counters this by saying that Baby is going to be a great engineer, and when Poet pays a visit and hears Baby's rhythmic babbling, he throws his two cents in and says that Baby is going to be a great poet.
Out in the forest, Gargamel sprinkles four different types of magic dust on his captured locust, saying the words "ipso... facto... locust... maxo". Soon the single locust turns into two locusts, and then into four, and then it multiples from there into a swarm. Gargamel says that it works, and as he watches the swarm fly off and devour the vegetation of the forest, leaving only barren trees behind, he says that if the forest is destroyed, so also are the Smurfs. Meanwhile, Papa Smurf wonders what Gargamel would do with a single locust until he sees the swarm coming and warns his animal friends to save themselves while he races to the village, only to find his path blocked by the swarm. He is stuck in the center, wondering how he is going to get out to warn his little Smurfs, when Feathers bravely flies in and takes Papa Smurf away so he could return to the village.
Back in the village, Clumsy watches Baby Smurf as he is in Greedy's kitchen, with the village cook saying that he always knew Baby would make a wonderful chef, although the only thing Baby makes is a mess with the ingredients. Outside the kitchen, Baby Smurf plays with a funnel and makes a noise with it that to Harmony's ears sounds like beautiful music, thinking that Baby Smurf is going to be a musical genius. As Clumsy wonders why everybody thinks that Baby Smurf is a genius, Baby proves that he has talent by playing a masterful tune with Harmony's horn. As Handy and Painter show up to argue about what Baby Smurf is going to grow up being, Smurfette shows up to take Baby away to feed him his dinner, saying that without it he isn't going to grow up at all.
Then Brainy shows up and offers to be the one to feed Baby Smurf, which Smurfette gladly allows him to do. Instead, Brainy takes him inside Papa Smurf's laboratory where he feels that his job is to feed Baby Smurf's mind so that he can grow up to become an intellectual like Brainy. As Brainy starts looking through his books for the right one to read with Clumsy holding the books, Baby Smurf finds himself distracted by the bottles of potions sitting on Papa Smurf's table and removes the labels from each bottle. After Brainy blows the dust off the final book he has, causing Clumsy to sneeze and drop the stack of books he was holding onto, Brainy soon sees what Baby Smurf has done and now worries about how Papa Smurf will know which chemical is which.
But then with Papa Smurf's arrival in the village, there is a much bigger problem for the Smurfs to worry about: a large swarm of locusts is heading for the village, and he must immediately prepare something in order to stop the swarm. He goes into his laboratory and starts mixing a formula, with Brainy handing him the bottles that have their labels swapped after he had put them back on the bottles before Papa Smurf arrived. Upon its completion, Papa Smurf has the catapult wheeled out so that they could launch a bucket of the formula into the swarm, hoping that it would cause the swarm to shrink, but unfortunately the formula doesn't work after it was launched. Papa Smurf wonders where he went wrong and goes back into the laboratory to try again when Brainy confesses that the formula didn't work because Baby had removed all the labels and he placed them back all on the wrong bottles. Papa Smurf realizes that he will have to go through each of the bottles to find the right ingredients for the formula.
As Brainy sees the swarm of locusts coming closer and closer to the village, Papa Smurf manages to find the necessary ingredients and mix them together for one more try. Handy launches the bucket with the second formula preparation into the swarm, and soon the Smurfs see that the swarm has been greatly reduced and getting fewer in number as it moves away from the village with the Smurfs cheering. Meanwhile, Gargamel is out in the devastated forest gloating about the victory he will have over the Smurfs now that they have no berries to eat and no place to hide when he finds himself hearing that the swarm is getting quieter. He soon sees that there are now fewer locusts than before and says that this is Papa Smurf's fault, but soon he's got locust problems of his own as they now start devouring his robe and even pester Azrael.
Baby knows what he wants to be... the next Papa Smurf!
Back in the village, Smurfette is glad that Papa Smurf is able to save his little Smurfs from the locust swarm but is now sad because most of the forest is gone. Papa Smurf tells Smurfette not to worry, because it will all be restored with the next rain. Soon enough, the Smurfs see that the forest is back to being healthy again as the rain comes down, and while Papa Smurf is glad that he was able to predict that happening, he says that even he cannot predict what Baby Smurf's future role is going to be, so his little Smurfs must all be patient. As he calls forth a dance to celebrate the restoration of the forest, Brainy asks Papa Smurf for his forgiveness for messing up things in his laboratory, and Papa Smurf forgives him, saying that it should teach a lesson that none of us are as smart as we think we are. But when Brainy asks whether Papa Smurf thinks that Baby Smurf will become an intellectual, this question irritates Papa Smurf to the point of telling Brainy to go out there and dance.
As the Smurfs continue dancing, Baby Smurf is in Papa Smurf's laboratory, secretly exhibiting his magical abilities as he swaps around the labels of the potions.
Trivia[]
- The 1990s international English restoration of this episode (and thus most dubs and DVD releases, like The Smurfs: Just Smurfy 3 and The Smurfs: Complete Season 3) is the syndicated Smurfs Adventures repackaging, as opposed to the rest of the episodes, which were uncut. However, the modified intro and credits for foreign markets are still present.
- The cut portions in the syndicated version of this episode include:
- A black fadeout and fade-in that occurs after Painter walks inside Handy's workshop, leading to a noticeable skip in the background music when cut.
- The entire scene involving Clumsy and Baby at Greedy's kitchen.
- Azrael laughing at Gargamel's struggle with the locusts before being attacked by one himself.
- In France, this episode was part of a theatrical compilation film about Baby Smurf in 1984. The other episodes included were "Once In A Blue Moon" and "The Smurfic Games".
Goofs[]
- When Brainy and Clumsy go to Papa Smurf's lab, Baby moves his mouth as if happily babbling while he's heard crying.
- While holding Baby after Brainy handed him over in a panic, Clumsy's torso is layered above his head.
- After Papa rushes into the village, Painter is seen wearing an average Smurf hat.
Videos[]
