"Jokey's Shadow" is a Season 4 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.
Characters[]
- Jokey Smurf
- Jokey's Shadow
- Mother Nature
- Papa Smurf
- Brainy Smurf
- Handy Smurf
- Hefty Smurf
- Clumsy Smurf
- Greedy Smurf
- Smurfette
- Tailor Smurf
- Grouchy Smurf
- Owl
- Harmony Smurf (Does not speak)
- Father Time (Mentioned only)
- Azrael (Mentioned only)
- Unnamed Smurfs
Synopsis[]
A powder from Mother Nature makes Jokey's shadow come to life.
Plot Summary[]
It is a breezy cold winter day in the Smurf Village, and the Smurfs are all gathered in Papa Smurf's house as he tells a scary story to entertain his little Smurfs. As Papa Smurf gets to the part in the story where the protagonist feels a large hairy paw on his shoulder, Jokey yells out a warning, and his fellow Smurfs see a shadow of Azrael cast upon a wall, making them all duck for cover. Jokey laughs and reveals that the shadow of Azrael was nothing more than himself casting the form's shadow with his hands. The other Smurfs sigh with relief, and Brainy tries to confidently affirm that he wasn't scared all along when he hears a sound outside Papa Smurf's house that makes him shudder. Papa Smurf answers the door and finds out that it's Mother Nature's pet owl with a message for the village leader to go see her at once.
In her cottage, Papa Smurf sees that Mother Nature is laid up in bed with a cold, and she needs his help because the following day she's supposed to make the trees bud for spring or else there will be no leaves. Papa Smurf is willing to lend a hand, so Mother Nature hands him a bottle of enchanted pollen that he must take to the topmost branches of the Great Oak Tree and say, "Barren branches, bud anew, grow leaves and shoots and blossoms too" before pouring out over the tree. She warns Papa Smurf to be careful with the pollen because it is very powerful and that it must be cast before the following day's sunset. Papa Smurf promises that he will get it done the first thing in the morning.
Upon Papa Smurf's return to the village, he asks Handy for help in getting the task of sprinkling the enchanted pollen over the Great Oak Tree done, which he is eager to offer. Meanwhile, Jokey is busy assembling one of his "surprises" when the reel of ribbon comes out empty. He then remembers that the message Papa Smurf received from Mother Nature had a ribbon attached to it, so he goes over into his house to get the ribbon from the message. As he pulls the ribbon off, though, he knocks over the bottle full of enchanted pollen and pours its contents over his own shadow, which separates from Jokey the moment he sets the bottle back upright and leaves the house. The shadow now snickers as it is preparing to do something mischievous.
Soon, after the shadow leaves Papa Smurf's house and hides around it, Papa Smurf goes inside to get the bottle of enchanted pollen while Brainy assures the village leader that he will take care of things while Papa Smurf is gone. Jokey approaches Papa Smurf with a "surprise" present he is so eager for the village leader to open, but Papa Smurf hands it off to Brainy instead, who is left alone to open it only to get the usual explosion. Then Jokey's shadow throws a snowball at Brainy's head, chuckling afterward as he flees, making Brainy think it was Jokey.
The shadow goes out playing other kinds of pranks, such as switching a log among those Hefty and Clumsy were splitting with an explosive dud, causing Greedy to trip and fall into the smurfberry cake he was carrying, and painting Tailor's door black to make Smurfette think it was open so that she would be knocked on her seat while carrying her dresses to his shop. Greedy and Smurfette both suspect that it was Jokey, who inadvertently show up just to see what his shadow has done, and although he laughs at the mishaps, he confesses that it really wasn't him doing any of the pranks. However, the shadow plays Jokey's "surprise" prank right back him, which makes him wonder what's going on.
Meanwhile, out in the forest, Handy hoists Papa Smurf up to the highest branches of the Great Oak Tree with rope, where he is ready to fulfill his promise to Mother Nature. He recites the incantation, "Barren branches, bud anew; grow leaves and shoots and blossoms too", and turns the bottle over to empty out its contents, but he finds out that the pollen is all gone. Papa Smurf suspects that something is wrong and has Handy lower him down to the ground. They must find out where the magic pollen is before sunset or else, they will have a disaster on their hands.
Back in the village, Jokey has Harmony summon everybody around a platform to find out who's responsible for playing one of his pranks back at him. While he is busy speaking, Smurfette notices that Jokey doesn't have a shadow, and Brainy tells Jokey the very same thing, which he turns around and notices. Jokey now suspects that his shadow was behind all the pranks being played, which is confirmed when one of Greedy's pies that was stolen is flung right into Jokey's face. They all see the animated shadow and give chase after it, running past Papa Smurf and Handy as they return to the village in order to find the missing pollen. Smurfette reports to Papa Smurf about what has happened, and Papa Smurf realizes that it must be the pollen that made Jokey's shadow come to life, so he orders his little Smurfs to go after that shadow and get it before sunset.
As the Smurfs spread out over the village to find the shadow, Clumsy and Brainy mistake Papa Smurf for the shadow when they see his silhouette through a window curtain and pounce upon him. Meanwhile, Jokey's shadow was hiding behind Grouchy, passing himself off as Grouchy's shadow until he departs, but then he comes face to face with his true owner who gives chase after him. Jokey pursues his shadow out into the forest, where he has the shadow cornered by a rock wall. Jokey's shadow taunts his owner to punch him, but as the shadow dodges and causes Jokey to punch the rock wall, the punch also knocks loose a rock from the top of the rock wall to land on top of the shadow's head, knocking him out cold.
The other Smurfs come out and take Jokey's shadow to the top of the Great Oak Tree, where Papa Smurf recites the incantation and has the shadow wrung out of all its contained pollen. The tree and all the surrounding trees suddenly spring to life with new buds as the Smurfs cheer, but Jokey is saddened to see that his shadow is now separated from him, and not in the best shape. Tailor promises Jokey that he will repair his shadow and make it look as good as new.
Sometime later, Papa Smurf watches as the warm weather makes the snow melt and the new greenery appear in the forest, indicating that spring is finally here. Mother Nature appears, back to full health, and checking to see how things are when she hears Jokey yelping in pain. Papa Smurf explains that it is Tailor sewing Jokey's shadow back on, an incident that Papa Smurf will only say is a minor mishap. Then Jokey comes out with his shadow now attached to him good as new, although when Jokey's back is turned, his shadow does display a mischievous spirit of its own.
Trivia[]
- This story was adapted into the comic book story "The Shadow Of The Smurf Apprentice".
- The episode's name in the title card for the international restoration is misspelled as 'Jockey's Shadow'.