The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (2011) -
This was Charles Dickens told by The Smurfs as only they can, with joy and colour and cheerful music. It was a short film that kids will enjoy and parents shouldn't object to sitting through.
Obviously the story tracks along the same lines as any 'A Christmas Carol' interpretation as it followed Grouchy Smurf (George Lopez), who didn't want to take part in Christmas. He had three visions that showed him why the festive celebration was so special and the rest went as you would expect.
I do have to add that I've started to get frustrated that with so many of these seasonal films and certainly the children's ones, they all seem to suggest that it's not okay, especially during the festive season, to be sad or grumpy and usually because the sad person hadn't considered how it affected the other people too. That's not really the right message for mental health these days and those issues can easily start at a young age, which these ideas won't help.
In general though I did like it as a quick watch and as a seasonal booster. I also thought that Hank Azaria worked much better as a voiceover for Gargamel rather than filmed in real life as he was in 'The Smurfs' (2011) and 'The Smurfs 2' (2013).
And I did like the use of both styles of animation, with the more traditional looking style used to show Grouchy's visions. It reminded me of the older cartoons that I watched when I was a child.
635.77/1000.
This was Charles Dickens told by The Smurfs as only they can, with joy and colour and cheerful music. It was a short film that kids will enjoy and parents shouldn't object to sitting through.
Obviously the story tracks along the same lines as any 'A Christmas Carol' interpretation as it followed Grouchy Smurf (George Lopez), who didn't want to take part in Christmas. He had three visions that showed him why the festive celebration was so special and the rest went as you would expect.
I do have to add that I've started to get frustrated that with so many of these seasonal films and certainly the children's ones, they all seem to suggest that it's not okay, especially during the festive season, to be sad or grumpy and usually because the sad person hadn't considered how it affected the other people too. That's not really the right message for mental health these days and those issues can easily start at a young age, which these ideas won't help.
In general though I did like it as a quick watch and as a seasonal booster. I also thought that Hank Azaria worked much better as a voiceover for Gargamel rather than filmed in real life as he was in 'The Smurfs' (2011) and 'The Smurfs 2' (2013).
And I did like the use of both styles of animation, with the more traditional looking style used to show Grouchy's visions. It reminded me of the older cartoons that I watched when I was a child.
635.77/1000.