The Smurfs (2008 film)

The Smurfs is a 2008 computer-animated adventure musical comedy film directed by Carlos Saldanha, produced by Lori Forte, Chris Wedge, Andrew Kosove and Saldanha and written by Jim Hecht and Gerry Swallow based on a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. Based on the characters of the same name by Peyo, it stars the voices of Cameron Diaz, Ed Asner, Freddie Highmore, Mike Myers, Ewan McGregor, Frank Welker, and more.

The idea of a film adaptation to the Smurfs franchise was first conceived in 2000 by Nickelodeon Movies, who had been planning to acquire the IP for film production with Paramount Pictures. However, due to budget constraints and several other projects in the works, Nickelodeon ended up not acquiring the name and, instead, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the IP for film production. The process of both storyboard and animation lasted from September 19, 2004 until March 25, 2008.

An international co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom, the film was produced by 20th Century Fox Animation, Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Regency Enterprises and Alcon Entertainment, with Sony Pictures Imageworks providing animation services.

Premiering at the Regency Village Theater on June 28, 2008, The Smurfs was released theatrically on July 4, 2008 by 20th Century Fox and internationally on July 12, 2008 by Warner Bros. Pictures, and later released in Australia and New Zealand on July 29, 2008 by Roadshow Entertainment. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, voice cast (particularly Diaz, Asner and Highmore, with Diaz's performance receiving critical acclaim), visual effects, musical score by John Powell and Christopher Lennertz, directorial by Carlos Saldanha, humor, and gave praise for being reliable to the source material. It was a box office success, grossing over $596.4 million worldwide on its budget of $90-130 million.

Two sequels were followed, with The Smurfs 2: The Secrets of Smurfette (2010) and The Smurfs 3: The Magical Truth (2013). It became one of the highest-grossing animated film franchises of all time.

Plot
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Cast
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Development
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Casting
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Animation and visual effects
When the film was originally proposed as a 2D animation, the animation was to be provided by Rough Draft Studios. However, when the plans switched to a CGI film, the animation was switched to Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Post-production
Post-production sound work was held at Skywalker Sound at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, Nicasio, California.

Music
"Main article: The Smurfs: Music from the Motion Picture"The score for the film was composed by British film composer John Powell and American film composer Christopher Lennertz. The soundtrack album was released on July 4, 2008, coinciding with the film's release, through Atlantic Records, and its score album was released through Varèse Sarabande on July 7, 2008.

The song Voice of an Angel by LeAnn Rimes received 8x certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards.

Release
The Smurfs held its official premiere at the Regency Village Theater on June 28, 2008. It was theatrically released on July 4, 2008 in the United States by 20th Century Fox, on July 12, 2008 internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures, and on July 29, 2008 in Australia and New Zealand by Roadshow Entertainment. The film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for some mild rude humor and peril.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 117 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. Its critical consensus reads: "The first proper adaptation to the beloved blue creatures, with Cameron Diaz's magnificent performances and its impressive animation, it makes The Smurfs an enjoyable family film." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film an average grade "A" on its scale of A+ to F.

Box office
The Smurfs opened with $27.1 million in the United States and Canada and made $55.6 million in its opening weekend, later making $68.5 million in its first week, peaking at #1 at the domestic box office. The film made $154.8 million in the United States and Canada and $441.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $596.4 million on its production budget of $90-130 million.

The film broke several box office records, becoming the seventh-highest grossing film of 2008 and the third-highest grossing animated film of 2008, both records behind Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Accolades
The Smurfs received numerous awards and nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, winning three, including Best Animated Feature, becoming only the fifth non-Disney/Pixar film to receive an Oscar. The song, Voice of an Angel by LeAnn Rimes, received critical acclaim by professional music critics and received an Oscar for Best Original Song.

Cameron Diaz's performance of Smurfette in the film received critical acclaim, and lead to her winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. Other nominations include the British Academy Film Awards, the Annie Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards, the Kids' Choice Awards and the Golden Globe Awards.

Trivia
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