UniSmurf
And now for some older news that will one day wind up in the historical trivia books in the “Completely Random” section:
It's just another smurfy day in Smurf Village. The perpertually perky blue beings frolic around the fire, holding hands and singing that "tra-la-la-la-la-la" tune as bluebirds flutter by and rabbits hop around.
A regular Smurftopia.
But then the bombs come.
Hundreds of them raining down from warplanes in the sky, wiping out the mushroom-shaped abodes. Amid the fiery explosions, Smurfette is killed. Papa Smurf disappears. As the smoke clears, only an orphaned Baby Smurf remains, sobbing among the corpses.
But…But who would do such a horrible thing like this?
No, this is not some pipe dream of Gargamel. The Smurfocide was instead perpetuated by the United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF.
But why? Why, I tell you?
UNICEF's Belgian office is using the Smurfs as the centerpiece of a new fundraising initiative to shock viewers into donating money to help children in war-torn regions. The agency also hopes to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Burundi.
"The idea of using familiar, reassuring childhood icons in a decidedly dangerous context was intended to bring home to the public the horrendous nature of this theft of children's rights," says UNICEF's Gaelle Buasson.
How dare they do this to the Smurfs. DAMN YOU UNICEEEEFFFFF!
"We could have shown real-live images of children wounded in Iraq, Palestine or other places. But we refused this option because they would not respect the dignity and rights of the depicted children...So we decided to use 'fictive' cartoon images."
Dubbed the first adults-only version of The Smurfs, UNICEF's 30-second 'toon ends with the tagline: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."
After coming up with the idea for the Smurfogeddon, UNICEF obtained permission to create the short from IMPS, which took over control of the critters after the death of their creator, the Belgian cartoonist Peyo. The clip was previewed on Belgian TV last week during evening newscasts.
According to London's Daily Telegraph, the spot evoked mixed emotions from viewers--including shock from children who accidentally caught the spot.
You’re damn right about mixed emotions. I can’t for the life of me figure out if this news is just sad or very funny in a dark, dark way. Oh yeah, and kids watching this… It’s reasons like this I bask in our censorship programs.
But the clip received a thumbs up from the official Smurf fan club. "I think it will wake up some people. It is so un-Smurf-like, it might get people to think," a spokesman told the Telegraph.
Fans are usually the kind of people who get up and bear arms when their childhood heroes are pissed all over by “the man.” I should know. Been there, done that. 20 bucks says this guy’s membership at the Smurf fan club ceases to exist.
Julie Lamoureux, account director for Publicis, the ad agency that created the campaign, says the original concept included even more graphic imagery of weapons of mass Smurfstruction.
"We wanted something that was real war--Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head--but they said no," she told the Telegraph.
Well at least it wasn’t THAT bad.
The clip will begin airing regularly next week in Belgium, but only after 9 p.m., and run through April. UNICEF says response has been so strong that the short could soon be seen in Europe, Latin America and Australia with the stipulations that it must air after 7 p.m. local time, it can only be aired with information explaining the clip, and it cannot be put on the Internet. There are no current plans to broadcast the clip in the U.S.
For Stateside fans, and those who prefer their Smurfs intact, a 3-D, CGI-animated Smurfs feature film will bow in theaters in 2008. The extravaganza from Paramount's Nickelodeon Movies will be the first in a planned trilogy.
Off Topic Note: Even as a person who was never so much a fan of the Smurfs but respects them nonetheless as a cultural icon, I’d just like to say that I prefer my Smurfs intact on 2D animation cels drawn on the animation tables of the Hanna-Barbera company, not on computers in the company that made movies like “Rugrats Go Wild.” Trust me, if Nickelodeon sucks enough to make straight to video sequels like “Charlotte’s Web 2,” then do we need a Smurf movie with gallons of slime, burp and fart humor and poorly written songs? I don’t think so, but we can probably expect that from them.
Unfortunately, this is the best copy of the video I could come up with so far:
http://video.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_master/versie2/nieuws/details/051004Unicef/N_051004_unicef_oorlogskinderen-20051004-132858-HB.wmv
Warning: 40 seconds into the video and you can see the Ad in Belgian after looking at a group of kids who have had their limbs blown off. That, and it’s only at less than one frame a second. Once again: sick or darkly funny? I report, you decide.
It's just another smurfy day in Smurf Village. The perpertually perky blue beings frolic around the fire, holding hands and singing that "tra-la-la-la-la-la" tune as bluebirds flutter by and rabbits hop around.
A regular Smurftopia.
But then the bombs come.
Hundreds of them raining down from warplanes in the sky, wiping out the mushroom-shaped abodes. Amid the fiery explosions, Smurfette is killed. Papa Smurf disappears. As the smoke clears, only an orphaned Baby Smurf remains, sobbing among the corpses.
But…But who would do such a horrible thing like this?
No, this is not some pipe dream of Gargamel. The Smurfocide was instead perpetuated by the United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF.
But why? Why, I tell you?
UNICEF's Belgian office is using the Smurfs as the centerpiece of a new fundraising initiative to shock viewers into donating money to help children in war-torn regions. The agency also hopes to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Burundi.
"The idea of using familiar, reassuring childhood icons in a decidedly dangerous context was intended to bring home to the public the horrendous nature of this theft of children's rights," says UNICEF's Gaelle Buasson.
How dare they do this to the Smurfs. DAMN YOU UNICEEEEFFFFF!
"We could have shown real-live images of children wounded in Iraq, Palestine or other places. But we refused this option because they would not respect the dignity and rights of the depicted children...So we decided to use 'fictive' cartoon images."
Dubbed the first adults-only version of The Smurfs, UNICEF's 30-second 'toon ends with the tagline: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."
After coming up with the idea for the Smurfogeddon, UNICEF obtained permission to create the short from IMPS, which took over control of the critters after the death of their creator, the Belgian cartoonist Peyo. The clip was previewed on Belgian TV last week during evening newscasts.
According to London's Daily Telegraph, the spot evoked mixed emotions from viewers--including shock from children who accidentally caught the spot.
You’re damn right about mixed emotions. I can’t for the life of me figure out if this news is just sad or very funny in a dark, dark way. Oh yeah, and kids watching this… It’s reasons like this I bask in our censorship programs.
But the clip received a thumbs up from the official Smurf fan club. "I think it will wake up some people. It is so un-Smurf-like, it might get people to think," a spokesman told the Telegraph.
Fans are usually the kind of people who get up and bear arms when their childhood heroes are pissed all over by “the man.” I should know. Been there, done that. 20 bucks says this guy’s membership at the Smurf fan club ceases to exist.
Julie Lamoureux, account director for Publicis, the ad agency that created the campaign, says the original concept included even more graphic imagery of weapons of mass Smurfstruction.
"We wanted something that was real war--Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head--but they said no," she told the Telegraph.
Well at least it wasn’t THAT bad.
The clip will begin airing regularly next week in Belgium, but only after 9 p.m., and run through April. UNICEF says response has been so strong that the short could soon be seen in Europe, Latin America and Australia with the stipulations that it must air after 7 p.m. local time, it can only be aired with information explaining the clip, and it cannot be put on the Internet. There are no current plans to broadcast the clip in the U.S.
For Stateside fans, and those who prefer their Smurfs intact, a 3-D, CGI-animated Smurfs feature film will bow in theaters in 2008. The extravaganza from Paramount's Nickelodeon Movies will be the first in a planned trilogy.
Off Topic Note: Even as a person who was never so much a fan of the Smurfs but respects them nonetheless as a cultural icon, I’d just like to say that I prefer my Smurfs intact on 2D animation cels drawn on the animation tables of the Hanna-Barbera company, not on computers in the company that made movies like “Rugrats Go Wild.” Trust me, if Nickelodeon sucks enough to make straight to video sequels like “Charlotte’s Web 2,” then do we need a Smurf movie with gallons of slime, burp and fart humor and poorly written songs? I don’t think so, but we can probably expect that from them.
Unfortunately, this is the best copy of the video I could come up with so far:
http://video.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_master/versie2/nieuws/details/051004Unicef/N_051004_unicef_oorlogskinderen-20051004-132858-HB.wmv
Warning: 40 seconds into the video and you can see the Ad in Belgian after looking at a group of kids who have had their limbs blown off. That, and it’s only at less than one frame a second. Once again: sick or darkly funny? I report, you decide.
posted by Jaimetud at 2:56 PM
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