# The Smurfs (film)
**The Smurfs** is a 2011 American live-action/computer-animated family comedy in which the tiny blue Smurfs are chased out of their magical medieval village by the wizard Gargamel and land in present-day New York City. Produced by [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) and [Sony Pictures Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-animation) and directed by Raja Gosnell, it was the characters' first 3D feature and their first screen adventure set in the real world.[1](https://www.sonypicturesanimation.com/projects/films/smurfs) • [2](https://www.smurf.com/en/timeline) • [3](https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3058155/1/200386570_Aug2019.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 29, 2011 (wide, United States), in 3D and 2D; rated PG for mild rude humor and action[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The) |
| Director / producer | Raja Gosnell; produced by Jordan Kerner[1](https://www.sonypicturesanimation.com/projects/films/smurfs) |
| Studios | Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, with the Kerner Entertainment Company[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The) |
| Budget / box office | $110,000,000 production budget; $563,749,323 worldwide ($142,614,158 domestic, $421,135,165 international)[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The) |
| Running time | 103 minutes[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 30 from 22 critics ("Generally Unfavorable"); 21 percent on Rotten Tomatoes[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-smurfs/) • [6](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/animation-movies/smurfs-lands-seriously-low-rotten-tomatoes-score-with-critics-calling-it-one-of-the-worst-childrens-movies-but-its-still-the-second-highest-rated-in-the-franchise/) |
| Audience response | A- CinemaScore on opening weekend[7](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/Box-Office-Smurf-Wrapup-Cowboys-and-Aliens-Gets-Smurfed/) |
| Franchise role | First of three Sony films (2011, 2013, 2017); followed by a Paramount reboot in 2025[8](https://www.peyo.company/en/brands/the-smurfs) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
The film sends six Smurfs through a magical portal into Manhattan. After Clumsy Smurf (voiced by [Anton Yelchin](https://www.edgepedia.org/anton-yelchin)) accidentally leads Gargamel and his cat Azrael to the village, the Blue Moon creates a vortex that pulls Clumsy, Papa ([Jonathan Winters](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-winters)), Gutsy ([Alan Cumming](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-cumming)), Grouchy (George Lopez), Brainy (Fred Armisen), and Smurfette (Katy Perry) into Central Park, with the wizard and cat tumbling in after them.[9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-smurfs) Just "three apples high" and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way home before Gargamel tracks them down.[1](https://www.sonypicturesanimation.com/projects/films/smurfs)
[In New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-new-york) they take shelter with a married couple, advertising executive Patrick Winslow ([Neil Patrick Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-patrick-harris)) and his wife Grace ([Jayma Mays](https://www.edgepedia.org/jayma-mays)); Sofía Vergara plays Patrick's boss Odile Anjelou. Hank Azaria plays Gargamel in live action.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-smurfs/) The screenplay leans on the characters' verbal quirk of substituting "smurf" for almost any word, and the Smurfs joke about the personality-named brothers left behind in the village.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/24/the-smurfs-review) • [9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-smurfs)
### Place in the franchise
The 2011 film was the Smurfs' first 3D cinema adaptation and their first return to theaters since the 1975 Belgian animated feature *The Smurfs and the Magic Flute* (itself based on the 1958 Johan and Peewit comic in which Peyo first introduced the characters).[2](https://www.smurf.com/en/timeline) • [17](https://filecache.vporoom.com/mr5vpo_ble/180316/download/dossier_presse_2017_en_smurfs.pdf) Its commercial success produced *The Smurfs 2* in 2013, also a live-action hybrid, and the fully animated *Smurfs: The Lost Village* in 2017, all from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation; the three Sony films together earned more than $1.1 billion at the box office.[8](https://www.peyo.company/en/brands/the-smurfs) [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) then took over the franchise, releasing a reboot titled *Smurfs* in July 2025, directed by Chris Miller with Rihanna as [Smurfette](https://www.edgepedia.org/smurfette) and [John Goodman](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-goodman) as Papa Smurf.[8](https://www.peyo.company/en/brands/the-smurfs) • [18](https://www.paramount.com/movies/smurfs) That reboot, like the 2011 film, sits at 21 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, tied for second highest in the series behind *The Lost Village* at 41 percent.[6](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/animation-movies/smurfs-lands-seriously-low-rotten-tomatoes-score-with-critics-calling-it-one-of-the-worst-childrens-movies-but-its-still-the-second-highest-rated-in-the-franchise/)
## Production
**Development.** Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation announced Raja Gosnell, previously the director of *Scooby-Doo* and *Beverly Hills Chihuahua*, as director in July 2009, with Jordan Kerner producing and a script by J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, and [Audrey Wells](https://www.edgepedia.org/audrey-wells). The announcement planned a December 17, 2010 release in 3D and 2D formats, later shifted to July 2011.[11](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2009/07_09/07082009_Raja_Gosnell_Smurfs.html) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The) Kerner's company had been developing the project for seven years by that point.[11](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2009/07_09/07082009_Raja_Gosnell_Smurfs.html) The rights situation ran through the Culliford family: Lafig Belgium, controlled by Peyo's daughter Véronique Culliford, owns the rights to produce audiovisual works based on the Smurf universe.[11](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2009/07_09/07082009_Raja_Gosnell_Smurfs.html)
**Visual effects.** [Sony Pictures Imageworks](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-imageworks) handled the bulk of the animation, including the Smurfs themselves. Tippett Studio worked on key sequences, including Gargamel's arrival, the Azrael and Smurfette chase, and the hairball scene; for the photorealistic Azrael, four trained cats performed simple movements on set while Tippett executed face replacements and fully CG doubles for complex performances.[12](https://www.postmagazine.com/Publications/Post-Magazine/2011/July-1-2011/VFX-for-Films.aspx) • [13](https://www.tippett.com/portfolio/the-smurfs/) Legend3D converted the film to stereo, taking Imageworks' CG renders of the Smurfs and scaling the New York environments around them so that the roughly 9-inch characters would not appear 9 feet tall.[14](https://legend3d.com/film/smurfs/) The film is listed as a 3D post-production conversion.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The)
## Release and box office
The film opened wide in the United States on July 29, 2011, earning $35,611,637 on opening weekend, about 25 percent of its eventual $142.6 million domestic gross. [International business](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-business) dominated: 74.7 percent of the worldwide total came from 82 markets, including $39.4 million in China, $32.8 million in Brazil, and $29.4 million in Germany.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The) • [15](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0472181/) In its opening contest, *Cowboys & Aliens* led Saturday while *The Smurfs* slipped only 5 percent, and the film's A- CinemaScore positioned it to become Sony's top-grossing release of 2011 to date.[7](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/Box-Office-Smurf-Wrapup-Cowboys-and-Aliens-Gets-Smurfed/) A Sony promotional deck later described it as the highest-grossing CGI/live-action hybrid of 2011, at over $560 million worldwide.[16](https://www.wikileaks.org/sony/docs/01/Sales/MP_SALES/Materiais/Trailer%20Strategy/Promotional%20package/2012-2014/Smurfs%20-%20pitch%20deck.pdf) In Spain, where a promotional campaign tied to the film drew crowds to a newly promoted Smurf Village tourist site, the film opened at number one with just over three million euros.[3](https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3058155/1/200386570_Aug2019.pdf) [Home video](https://www.edgepedia.org/home-video) followed on December 2, 2011, with estimated domestic disc sales of $53.7 million.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The)
## Reception
Critics were largely negative. Metacritic recorded a score of 30 from 22 reviews, with 1 positive, 10 mixed, and 11 negative; its user score stood at 4.5 from 302 ratings.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-smurfs/) Rotten Tomatoes lists 21 percent.[6](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/animation-movies/smurfs-lands-seriously-low-rotten-tomatoes-score-with-critics-calling-it-one-of-the-worst-childrens-movies-but-its-still-the-second-highest-rated-in-the-franchise/) The Guardian's Catherine Shoard called it "enough noise and neon to distract under eights for an hour and a half," while a San Francisco Chronicle review credited Neil Patrick Harris's "honest effort in a thankless role."[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/24/the-smurfs-review) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-smurfs/) Common Sense Media's review found the adaptation disappointing for adults, noting many visible product placements and potty-type humor, but positive messages about cooperation, teamwork, and family togetherness.[9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-smurfs)
## References
1. [THE SMURFS, Sony Pictures Animation](https://www.sonypicturesanimation.com/projects/films/smurfs)
2. [Timeline, The Smurfs official site](https://www.smurf.com/en/timeline)
3. [Liverpool University repository thesis citing the 2011 release and Spanish opening](https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3058155/1/200386570_Aug2019.pdf)
4. [The Smurfs (2011), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Smurfs-The)
5. [The Smurfs Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-smurfs/)
6. [Smurfs lands seriously low Rotten Tomatoes score, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/animation-movies/smurfs-lands-seriously-low-rotten-tomatoes-score-with-critics-calling-it-one-of-the-worst-childrens-movies-but-its-still-the-second-highest-rated-in-the-franchise/)
7. [Box Office Smurf Wrapup, Rotten Tomatoes Editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/Box-Office-Smurf-Wrapup-Cowboys-and-Aliens-Gets-Smurfed/)
8. [The Smurfs, Peyo Company](https://www.peyo.company/en/brands/the-smurfs)
9. [The Smurfs Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-smurfs)
10. [The Smurfs review, The Guardian (24 July 2011)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/24/the-smurfs-review)
11. [Raja Gosnell To Direct "Smurfs", Sony Pictures press release (8 July 2009)](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2009/07_09/07082009_Raja_Gosnell_Smurfs.html)
12. [VFX for Films, Post Magazine (July 2011)](https://www.postmagazine.com/Publications/Post-Magazine/2011/July-1-2011/VFX-for-Films.aspx)
13. [The Smurfs, Tippett Studio](https://www.tippett.com/portfolio/the-smurfs/)
14. [The Smurfs, Legend3D](https://legend3d.com/film/smurfs/)
15. [The Smurfs (2011), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0472181/)
16. [Box Office Smurfcess, Sony promotional deck](https://www.wikileaks.org/sony/docs/01/Sales/MP_SALES/Materiais/Trailer%20Strategy/Promotional%20package/2012-2014/Smurfs%20-%20pitch%20deck.pdf)
17. [A chronology of Peyo's work, press kit (2017)](https://filecache.vporoom.com/mr5vpo_ble/180316/download/dossier_presse_2017_en_smurfs.pdf)
18. [Smurfs, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramount.com/movies/smurfs)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Television-, game-, and toy-derived film entries › Toy and merchandise adaptations*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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