MIPTV has announced the Smurf-tastic news that International Merchandising, Promotion and Services SA (IMPS) will be presenting their brand new The Smurfs animated series during this year’s Partner Content Showcases, taking place as part of Digital MIPTV on Friday 9 April and Monday 12 April and on catch up until 14 May!
Based on the iconic property and in partnership with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS, The Smurfs is a brand-new original CG-animated TV series following Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy, Hefty, Clumsy and others, on all-new adventures, packed with humor, heart and high-stakes action. The series is set to premiere on Nickelodeon in the U.S. in October 2021, and is slated to roll-out on Nickelodeon channels and programming blocks shortly after.
In a press release, MIPTV said: "IMPS presents their brand new Smurfs TV Series. Two seasons of 52 episodes of 11 minutes each have already been snapped up by Nickelodeon and although several free-to-air partners are on board, IMPS is still looking for TV channels to hop on, especially from Asia and Latin America."
The Smurfs is produced by Belgium's Peyo Productions and France's Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel. It is being directed by William Renaud (Calimero, Casper’s Scare School, A Kind of Magic) and written by Peter Saisselin (Sonic Boom, ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks) and Amy Serafin (Sonic Boom, Alvin!!! And the Chipmunks).
In addition to the content partnership, ViacomCBS Consumer Products (VCP) will manage consumer products licensing for The Smurfs property across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia. VCP will seek new merchandising and promotional partners in select categories and territories for The Smurfs classic brand, in addition to a new product line for the new animated series The Smurfs, spanning categories including toys, stationery, apparel and accessories, home, consumer packaged goods and more, to launch at retail in 2022.
MIPTV is the annual spring market for the international television industry, now in its 58th year. Digital MIPTV 2021 will take place exclusively online from 12-16 April, bringing together global distributors, producers, buyers and commissioners of drama, doc, kids, factual and formats programming for a curated week of personalised business meetings, exclusive market intelligence, conference sessions and global networking. MIPTV is traditionally the biggest global week in unscripted television and this year features MIPDoc and MIPFormats within the main market. MIPTV is organized by Reed Exhibitions. For more information, visit www.miptv.com.
Created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Peyo, pen name of Pierre Culliford (1928-1992), the Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs) evolved from secondary comic characters in Peyo's Johan and Peewit (French: Johan et Pirlouit) comic series and spinning off into their own series the following year, in which they became the small centerpieces of the massive franchise that skyrocketed to global fame with the 1981 launch of The Smurfs (Smurfs' Adventures) Saturday morning cartoon series, which, produced by Hanna-Barbera aired new episodes on NBC until 1989, running for more than 250 episodes and several specials over nine seasons. It would eventually manifest in live-action CG-animation hybrid splendor on the big screen. The 2011 feature film of the same name and its 2013 sequel, The Smurfs 2 were produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Columbia Pictures. Hank Azaria and Neil Patrick Harris starred in live-action roles, with voiceovers by Anton Yelchin, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry (famously providing the voice of Smurfette), Jayma Mays, and George Lopez. A fully CG-animated standalone movie, The Smurfs: Lost Village was released in April 2017, featuring the voices of Demi Lovato, Rainn Wilson, Ellie Kemper, Julia Roberts and Mandy Patinkin. The Smurfs have also featured in two shorts.
