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"Lumbering Smurfs" is a Season 3 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Can the Smurfs stop the lumberjacks from cutting down the whole forest?

Plot Summary[]

As the story begins, the Smurfs are out in the forest collecting smurfberries from a patch of smurfberry bushes, with Greedy eating as many as he puts into the basket, when they hear the sound of an axe cutting a tree that suddenly falls. They look and see that there are humans in the Smurf Forest cutting down trees, which means that they must warn Papa Smurf about what's happening. Brainy, who is present with Papa Smurf when he hears word of this news, doesn't understand why humans would be cutting down their forest as it is protected by King Gerard. Papa Smurf says that they must warn King Gerard at once, and while Smurfette, Brainy, and Grouchy hitch a ride on the back of Feathers in order to get to King Gerard's castle, Papa Smurf takes the other Smurfs into the forest to see what they can do to stop the tree cutters.

The Smurfs overhear the conversation between the tree cutter team overseer and his subordinate Ludwig, saying that the river will be perfect for delivering the trees down to the mill. Ludwig is rather fearful that King Gerard will find out what they are doing and suggests going elsewhere, but the overseer refuses to consider that, saying that the trees in the king's forest are forest and with them he will make a fortune. Ludwig also shares his concern of the rumor that the forest is enchanted, but the overseer doesn't want to hear about it, saying that the only difference between one forest and another is that the other forest will make him rich before ordering Ludwig to get back to work and that he wants the entire forest cleared by the following day. The Smurfs realize that they don't have much time to wait for King Gerard's response, so they must act quickly or else both they and the animals will lose their home.

While the Smurfs distract the tree cutters by losing their horses and letting them run free long enough to try hiding their tools, Smurfette, Brainy, and Grouchy arrive at King Gerard's castle where they look for the young ruler to inform him about what's going on. Inside the castle, they encounter Clockwork Smurf, who tells the three Smurfs that King Gerard has gone on a holiday and left Clockwork behind because he feared seawater would cause his friend to rust. Brainy decides that they should leave a message for King Gerard to read upon his return about the situation in his forest. After the message is written and left upon the king's throne, Brainy asks Clockwork to come along and offer a hand.

Back in the forest, the Smurfs are having difficulty trying to drag the tools out of sight and are barely able to move them more than a few feet when Hefty and Clumsy return with word that the tree cutters have retrieved their horses and are on their way back. Papa Smurf suggests hiding the tools with leaves in the hopes that the tree cutters will not be able to find them. But after the Smurfs hide and watch the tree cutters return, their supervisor finds out that their tools have been hidden and tells his employees to get back to work.

Hefty sees that Smurfette, Brainy, and Grouchy have returned with hopefully good news from King Gerard. Unfortunately, they find out from the three Smurfs that King Gerard has taken a holiday, so it's less likely that he will be able to return in time to stop the tree cutters. Brainy, telling the other Smurfs, that he has left the king a clear message is even less encouraging news. Papa Smurf says that the only thing they can do now is prepare for the worst and evacuate the village, though with Clockwork available, the village leader decides to use him as well as Brainy and Hefty to try slowing the tree cutters down.

The Smurfs begin packing as ordered. Smurfette tells Baby Smurf how sad this is. Greedy packs up all his bakery but eats a couple cupcakes to lighten the load. Painter carries all his painting supplies, saying that leaving their village is tragic. Jokey carries a lot of joke presents until he trips on a pebble, making all the presents explode all over Painter, much to Jokey's amusement. Handy packs up all his tools in a wagon until Greedy places one cupcake on the wagon, causing the whole wagon to collapse.

As the overseer continues to push his team to work harder before night falls, Clockwork removes the head of Ludwig's axe and causes him to hit the tree with a bladeless axe, making him vibrate. Three Smurfs pull the ladder out from under a worker sawing off a branch, causing him to grab onto the branch for dear life. Clockwork and Hefty loose the holding pegs of a pile of logs and cause them to roll down a hill, chasing the tree cutters up a tree to escape the avalanche. Most of the workers see that the forest is haunted by ghosts, but the overseer refuses to believe it and tells his team that they will have work through the night to make up for lost time.

Papa Smurf overhears this and thinks that he knows of a way that he can get rid of the tree cutters for good. As the rest of the village is preparing for their departure from their home in the forest, Papa Smurf returns with a plan that requires all the string the Smurfs can find as well as leaves, paint, brushes, and wood. Later on, as the tree cutters work into the night, Ludwig and his fellow workers get spooked by shiny glowing spirits with eerie voices telling him and the tree cutters to leave the forest for good. They quickly drop what they were doing and run for their lives, but the overseer isn't buying that his workers are seeing ghosts until he sees a ghostly tree approaching him. He tries to run for safety but ends up running into one of the ghosts which he tries tearing to pieces to get it off him, only to find himself kneeling before King Gerard, who has arrived to see what the tree cutters were doing. He orders for the overseer and his work team to be banished from his forest, but not before they replant a tree for everyone they have chopped down.

With the tree cutters gone, the Smurfs come out from hiding behind their ghostly disguises to thank King Gerard for his timely arrival. The king says he would have gotten to the forest much sooner if it weren't for not being able to clearly read the letter he received from Brainy. King Gerard thanks the Smurfs for helping him protect the forest, and Brainy tries to assure the king that as long as there are Smurfs in the forest, the trees in it will continue to stand forever -- though the tree that Brainy leans his hand on ends up falling.

Trivia[]

  • Some DVD releases of The Smurfs: Just Smurfy 3 and The Smurfs: Complete Season 3 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.
  • In the syndicated version, after Boss Naught tells Ludwig "Don't be ridiculous!", a scene cuts out him saying "The only difference between this forest and another forest is that this one'll make me rich!". Another cuts a whole scene where the Smurfs are packing during the evacuation.

Goofs[]

Lumbering Smurfs Goof
  • When Papa conducts a plan to stop the tree cutters for good (and says he needs Clockwork's help), Smurfette's mouth disappears.

Videos[]

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