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"Gargamel's Second Childhood" is a Season 7 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Gargamel switches ages with Scruple and befriends the Smurflings.

Plot Summary[]

Big Scruple And Little Gargamel

Scruple gives Gargamel a taste of both age and role reversal.

In Gargamel's castle, Scruple is helping his master get in shape for chasing after Smurfs by having him run on a treadmill which the young apprentice is cranking up. Scruple laughs at Gargamel, saying that he couldn't even catch the pupil's grandmother. Gargamel tells Scruple to make the treadmill go faster, which he does, only he makes it go so fast that Gargamel can barely stay on the treadmill long before he gets thrown off it. Scruple sees how pathetic his master has become and says that he's too old for catching Smurfs, that he should be spending his declining years teaching the young apprentice how to be a great sorcerer. Gargamel fusses that if he were only ten years younger, he would be in a better shape for catching Smurfs, and then his own words give him an idea. He looks through the spell books to find a rejuvenating formula, saying that he will really give the Smurfs a run for their lives as he laughs.

Meanwhile in the Smurf Village, the Smurfs are busy working on creating jars of smurfberry jam using Handy's jam-making machine with Greedy taste-testing various jars. However, the Smurflings are wondering when the grown-up Smurfs are going to have any time to play with them. Papa Smurf tells the Smurflings to be patient, because soon they will all have fun celebrating at the Smurfberry Jam-boree. The Smurflings sigh as they see that the jam-making process is going to take forever. Snappy decides to speed things up by throwing one of the switches on the jam-making machine, but this causes the machine to go so out of control that Handy has to shut the machine off. He looks at the young Smurfling as if demanding an explanation, and all he can say is that he just wanted to help before Sassette has him join the other Smurflings in heading off into the forest with Puppy.

Soon, Gargamel has his rejuvenation formula all finished and wrapped up in a cloth, saying once he pulls both ends of it, he will have a new young body instead of an old flabby one, though Scruple says he will still have his old flabby mind. The evil wizard tries to pull both ends of the cloth but finds that he doesn't have the strength to do it, so he has his pupil pull one end of the cloth while he pulls the other. Suddenly the cloth rips and there is an explosion which knocks both Gargamel and Scruple on their seats and causes them both to switch ages -- Gargamel is now a young child and Scruple is now an adult. Gargamel is so angry at his once-young apprentice that he starts barking orders, but Scruple grabs his once-old master by the collar of his robe and says from now on he will be working for him.

Out in the forest, the Smurflings are trying to decide what kind of game they could play together when Puppy comes with a stick, suggesting a game of fetch. Nat reluctantly goes along with Puppy's suggestion and throws the stick out for Puppy to fetch, only for the stick to hit Gargamel (who is now wearing Scruple's clothes) as he is out collecting ingredients for his new master. Puppy sniffs the shoes of this young person and senses who he really is, chasing the young troublemaker up a tree for safety. The Smurflings go over to where Puppy is and sees the young boy in the tree, not having any idea who he is. Gargamel introduces himself as Swellfellow, and that he was just looking for someone to play with. Snappy says that he was looking for someone to play with as well, and though Slouchy gives a word of caution about Papa Smurf warning them not to play with strange humans, Snappy and the other Smurflings are willing to give the young boy the benefit of a doubt, not knowing that the young boy in question is really Gargamel.

Soon, the Smurflings are having fun with their new friend as he plays horsey with them, getting exhausted as he realizes that he can't escape with the Smurflings while Puppy is watching over him. Then Snappy gets Swellfellow to ride faster by kicking his side with a spur on his right foot, which he does until they hear Greedy ringing the dinner bell, telling the Smurflings that it's time to come home. The Smurflings tell their new friend that they will come again the following morning. Swellfellow offers to come along with them, saying that he would love to meet their friends, but Snappy says they're not much fun to be around with just now, and Puppy growls at the young boy to keep him from following after the Smurflings as they head off into the bushes toward the village. Gargamel now wonders how he's going to get rid of Puppy so that he could get his hands on the Smurflings, but just then Scruple appears wearing Gargamel's robe, asking where the stinkweed is he sent his young apprentice out for. When Gargamel fails in his attempt to answer the question, Scruple pulls him by the ear and says he will help refresh the young boy's memory after he makes his dinner.

By the following morning, the Smurflings are ready to go out into the forest to meet Swellfellow, but Puppy growls his suspicions of the young boy as if warning his young masters not to play with him. Sassette tells Puppy that if he can't play nice, then they will leave him at home, which makes Puppy whimper. The Smurflings go over to where the Smurfs are still preparing jam, with Papa Smurf and Handy saying that they should have the jam finished soon and they will have plenty of time to play with the Smurflings. The Smurflings, however, say that they are going out into the forest to play with their new friend, though Papa Smurf tells them to be back by noon for the start of the Smurfberry Jam-boree, which Jokey says will be jam-packed with fun. The Smurflings react as if wanting to come back to the village was the last thing they wanted to do that day as they head off into the forest, which leaves Papa Smurf wondering about them.

In the forest, the Smurflings meet up with Swellfellow and tell him that they won't have much time to play because they are going to have a party soon in their village. Swellfellow seems very excited about the party and begs for them to take him along so he can attend it. Slouchy seems very concerned, but Snappy and Nat think that any friend of the Smurflings is a friend of the Smurfs and so the other three allow him to come, which makes Puppy very angry. For the time being, though, Swellfellow decides that they should play hide-and-go-seek, and so as the Smurflings go and hide, the young boy that is Gargamel pulls out a bag of magic powder and casts a sleeping spell on Puppy to get him out of the way so that he can go after the Smurfs without hindrance.

Back in the village, the grown-up Smurfs are having fun at the Smurfberry Jam-boree with Hefty enjoying a muffin with smurfberry jam spread on top of it. Jokey asks where the Smurflings are, and Hefty says that Papa Smurf is out looking for them at that moment. Jokey says he has a little surprise for them, but the Smurflings bring a surprise of their own to the party in the form of a young boy that seems somewhat familiar to the grown-up Smurfs as they get a look at their party guest. The boy pulls out a bag of magic powder and sprinkles it on all the Smurfs present, causing them to all fall asleep. Papa Smurf arrives to see the trouble the young boy has caused, only to suddenly become the boy's captive along with the other Smurfs.

Really Old Gargamel

Gargamel is now double his age and much less threatening.

In Gargamel's castle, the Smurfs awaken to find themselves in a cage and the young boy actually being Gargamel preparing a formula, saying that if he hurries, he will leave his home both young and rich. But Scruple shows up at the door saying that if anyone's going to be rich, it's going to be him. He threatens his new apprentice with a visit to the woodshed in order to get him to start making the gold, with which he intends to buy a lot of things, even toys that he never had. However, Gargamel secretly prepares the rejuvenation formula so that he can return to his proper age again, which Papa Smurf notices, though he says Gargamel will never succeed that way. Gargamel catches wind of Papa Smurf's mutterings and demands to know what he is talking about. Papa Smurf tells Gargamel that in order for the spell to be reversed, he has to double the ingredients, which he does before he wraps up the formula in a cloth. Scruple wonders what Gargamel is doing as he sees the young boy pulling on both ends of the cloth and grabs one end while Gargamel pulls on the other. The cloth rips and there is another explosion that knocks the cage of Smurfs off the table, opening it so that they could escape with Puppy scaring off Azrael while Gargamel deals with the fact that he has now turned into a shriveled old man while Scruple has become a ankle-biting little infant.

Back in the village, the Smurflings are glad to have Puppy around as their best friend, and Puppy reciprocates their feelings with a friendly lick that slobbers them, leaving Snappy to say that there is such a thing as being too friendly.

Trivia[]

Tattoos On Both Arms

Hefty noticeably has his tattoo on both arms in this episode.

  • Hefty is seen in one shot with his heart tattoo appearing on both arms at the same time.
  • This is the second time in the series where Gargamel turns into an elderly person due to formula purposes. The first was "Smurf Van Winkle".
  • When Gargamel and Scruple switch ages with each other, Rob Paulsen voices Kid Gargamel while Paul Winchell voices Adult Scruple. But at the end of the episode where Gargamel is two times his adult age and Scruple is reduced to an infant; their voice actors change back to normal.
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