UN Bombs Smurf Village

[Toastburner B]

Hey...it's true. Nothing left but little broken mushroom houses.

But, don't worry, they did it for a reason.

Originally Posted by The Age

THE people of Belgium are reeling at the first adults-only episode of The Smurfs, in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes.

The short but chilling film is the work of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, and is to be broadcast on national television next week as a campaign advertisement.

The animation was approved by the family of the Smurfs' late creator, "Peyo".

Belgian TV viewers had a preview of the 25-second film last week, when it was shown on the main evening news. Reactions ranged from approval to shock and, in the case of small children who saw it by accident, wailing terror.

UNICEF and the family company IMPS, which controls rights to the Smurfs, have stipulated that it is not to be broadcast before 9pm.

The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing hand-in-hand around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter by and rabbits gambol about their village until, without warning, bombs rain from the sky.

Smurfs scatter and run before being felled by blast waves and explosions. The final scene shows a scorched Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably.

The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."

It is intended as the keystone of a fund-raising drive by UNICEF's Belgian arm to raise $A163,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi.

UNICEF Belgium spokesman Philippe Henon said his agency had set out to shock, after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers. "It's controversial," he said. "We have never done something like this before, but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited."

Belgium prides itself on being the home of some of the world's most famous cartoon characters, from Tintin to Lucky Luke and the Smurfs.

The advertising agency behind the campaign decided the best way to convey the impact of war on children was to tap into the earliest, happiest memories of Belgian television viewers. They chose the Smurfs, who first appeared in a Belgian comic in 1958.

A moment of silence for the smurfs, please.

[Archbio]

'Chilling' is the right word.

For some reason I automatically began to question the plausibility of planes and boms existing in the (medieval) world the smurfs inhabit. Then I thought that they couldn't possibly find the hidden village.

It might just be a way of coping

[TheSpacePope]

DAMN YOU GARGAMEL
YOU FINALLY DID IT

does it make you feel good
tell me does it
*removes gargamel's toes

[Hyperdragoon]

Force is the only thing a despot like papa smurf understands.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

And Unicefs the one that freakin released this arent they the guys with the orange trick or treat boxes.

[Arlia Janet]

Force is the only thing a despot like papa smurf understands.

I hereby grant you the "Best Post Ever" award.

I laughed when I saw then, but then I started to think about it for a while. This is a bit over the top. If one of my little cousins or some other young kid saw this, it would FREAK them out. It's like the protestors when I was an undergrad who would have pictures of aborted fetuses in front of a clinic that was across the street from a children's hospital. I have no problem with people getting their message across, but how they do it can go too far.

[TheBlindMime]

Its a good thing UNICEF didn't disrupt the lives of children with war, you know by maybe making a childs cartoon into a snuff film or anything like that, because that would be wrong.

Just wrong.

Also good family guy reference Hyperdragoon.

[TheSpacePope]

just so everyone knows, there were survivors. hefty smurf and smurfette
ironicly enough hefty, after years of steroid abuse, was unable to impregnate smurfette. It's a sad day for all

[Krylo]

Everyone knows that the smurfs are dirty communist bastards, and the UN was right to get rid of the red threat while they still could. Now if they had bombed the snorkels I might have to raise a voice of protest.

Seriously, though, to those worried about the children--It's not going to be aired after 9pm. Most kids young enough to be terrified by this are in bed by 9pm. Further, I'd imagine some warnings would flash before it would play, and I highly doubt they'd air it during like... happy-fun-cartoon-hour. It's a political cartoon, so it'll probably be on things like CNN.

Yes, some kids will see it and they'll be all "OMFG! NOOOES! NOT BRAINY! NOOOT BRAINY!" ...well, ok, they'll probably be happy about Brainy getting it... but I digress.

Some children may see it, but most won't, and those that do fall into the same category of kids who get to see things like Sealab 2021 and play GTA:SA. You know, the kids with stupid parents.

...And even if EVERY child saw this and had the worst 10 seconds of their lives, I'd say it's worth it to get money to help ex-children soldiers learn to live normal lives.

Really, let's prioritize people.

We should be "OMG! They made children KILL and watch their friends die in war, and people won't donate to get the kids help without THIS!?"

Not: "OMG! THEY KILLED SMURFETTE! Now where can I find a tiny blue woman to smurf my brains out!?"

Plus, that movie made me laugh, and NOTHING that makes me laugh can be bad. Ever.

Edit: Link straight to the movie for people who, like me, don't like waiting for buffering and would rather just download the whole thing in one go and then watch it: http://x6.putfile.com/videos/d4-28208544643.wmv

[synkr0nized]

From another forum concerning this article, I wrote the following (I may be making no point, but I didn't feel like typing it again):

Originally Posted by synkr0nized

The short film doesn't even convey the proper message. Consider this snippet from the article:

If the purpose is to raise money to rehabilitate "former child sodliers in Burundi," then why present the only child of the Smurfs surrounded by death and left alone? I admit, I'm not familiar with the situation, but I would not expect children soldiers were all orphans of bombed villages. Wouldn't a more appopriate message be to depict the Smurfs going to war and enlisting Baby Smurf? Instead, there are two messages: the short film's message of war destroying families and communities, thus harshly affecting the younger generations; and Unicef's message that comes as a side-effect of getting the audience's attention.

They truly are fishing for knee-jerk reactions with this. That's my issue with it, not the use of the Smurfs [as any cartoon could have probably been used -- though the show has ties to Belgium, as inidcated].