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"Baby's First Word" is a Season 5 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters

Synopsis

Baby Smurf is going to say his first word the next night, but he's captured by Gargamel.

Plot Summary

540 - Baby Farmer
Fertilizer!
540 - Baby Jokey
Surprise!
540 - Baby Brainy
Gobbledygook!

It is a beautiful day in the Smurf Forest, and the Smurfs are busy raking up leaves in the Blue Clearing in preparation for the First Word Ceremony which Baby Smurf will undergo the following night when the moon creates a magical effect on the mushroom that the baby Smurf sits upon. Smurfette is so excited because she has heard that a baby Smurf's first word can give a glimpse of that child's future, though Papa Smurf says that it's only a small peek. Papa Smurf reminisces about the First Word Ceremonies that his other little Smurfs went through: that with Farmer Smurf his first word was "fertilizer", with Jokey his first word was "surprise" (before he gave Papa Smurf one of his exploding presents), and with Brainy his first word was "gobbledygook". However, his remembrances were cut short by Brainy telling Papa Smurf that Baby Smurf is gone along with the rock that he put the infant upon. Farmer sees that the "rock" has made tracks, which Papa Smurf sees that they need to follow.

Meanwhile, Gargamel is waiting on a branch hanging over the River Smurf, wearing a helmet with a pair of earphones that he says will help him find and catch the Smurfs. He warns his cat Azrael to be quiet as a mouse, for his earphones are rather sensitive to noise, as the cat's meow almost made Gargamel lose his balance. Soon he hears Baby's babbling as he on his "rock" (which is actually a turtle) is being carried into the river but is suddenly snatched to safety by Smurfette as she and the other Smurfs reach the infant just in time. Smurfette tells Baby that they will meet his turtle the following day when he takes his bath, a clue to the overhearing Gargamel that now he can follow the Smurfs. But at that point he hears a painfully out-of-tune singer crooning through the forest, which makes Gargamel lose his balance and fall into the river.

The Smurfs see and hear that this is Peewit who is galloping through the forest on the back of his trusty goat Biquette, who is actually seeking out the Smurfs for their help. The king has requested for Peewit to put on a puppet show for his visiting nephew, and his marionettes have seen better days, as he shows them to the Smurfs. Tailor says it's going to take more than a new set of clothes to make the marionettes look as good as new, so Handy and Farmer also offer to help fix them up for the young jester. Peewit is so glad for the Smurfs' help that he offers to give them a live performance of his singing in their village. The Smurflings say that they have never been inside a king's palace before, so Peewit also offers to bring them along so they can see one for themselves. Papa Smurf allows the Smurflings to go with Peewit on the following day, just as long as they keep out of sight and return to the village before midnight. Peewit promises Papa Smurf that the Smurflings will be under his protective wings, which is before he gets knocked off his mount by a tree branch that he doesn't look out for.

Out by the River Smurf, as Brainy and Smurfette watch over Baby Smurf, Brainy tries to get Baby to say "intellectual" in the hopes that Baby will become one just like Brainy, then he tries to get him to say "genius". Smurfette tells Brainy that Baby Smurf's first word will be his own special word no matter what Brainy says. As she picks up Baby to bathe him, neither she nor Brainy notice that Gargamel is swimming towards them underwater while wearing a turtle shell as a disguise. Then suddenly, Gargamel rises out of the water to take Baby away. Smurfette and Brainy plead with Gargamel to take them instead, but Gargamel wants them to tell the other Smurfs to surrender themselves onto him or else it's "bye bye, Baby".

Gargamel takes Baby Smurf home to his castle and places him inside a cage, knowing that since the Smurfs care so much for the blue infant, they are willing to do anything for him. Soon he hears Papa Smurf calling out to him through a megaphone, offering to surrender themselves. Gargamel goes out to meet the Smurfs and to capture them them, telling Azrael to keep watch over Baby as he collects his prize. However, Papa Smurf tells Gargamel that if all the Smurfs go into the cage, there would be no Smurf left to take care of Baby, and so Papa Smurf must be given time to decide who among the Smurfs can remain free as Baby Smurf's caretaker. Gargamel allows Papa Smurf to have until midnight to decide who that Smurf will be and for the others to be his captives or else Baby will become a midnight snack. Papa Smurf tells his little Smurfs that this will buy them a little time until he can figure out how to rescue themselves and Baby. But as Gargamel goes back inside and gets Baby out of Azrael's mouth, he sees that Baby has accidentally mixed some chemicals together that produced an explosion in his laboratory.

Meanwhile, at the king's castle inside his throne room, the king and the visiting queen both deal with the restless nephew, who is waiting for the show to start. Peewit is ready to bring his marionettes on the stage when he sees that Biquette has gotten a little hungry and is eating the marionettes. Seeing how ruined his performance toys are now, Peewit can't see how he will able to put on a show until the Smurflings offer to take the marionettes' place on stage. Soon Peewit introduces the show to the three royals, who sit and watch the Smurflings as they fumble through a typical damsel-in-distress story while trying to act like marionettes, which turns into a disaster. The queen thinks that the story and the performance are lousy, but the nephew is enthralled by the comedy. Unfortunately he likes the "marionettes" so much that he demands to have them. Peewit refuses to part with the "marionettes", but the visiting queen demands a commoner like Peewit hand over his marionettes to her princely son. The king reluctantly says Peewit must comply, promising through a whisper that he will make it up to him after his bratty nephew and sister are out of his kingdom by getting Peewit some more lifelike marionettes to compensate for his loss. Although Peewit's marionette problem is solved, he has a more serious issue on hand: Peewit has to rescue the Smurflings from the nephew as he rides back home with his mother in their royal carriage.

In Gargamel's castle, the evil wizard is having a hard time trying to pacify Baby while he is waiting for the Smurfs to make up their minds as to who would be Baby's caretaker. He goes through various diaper changes and takes some of Azrael's milk in order to feed Baby, but it's only through playing pattycake that he manages to keep Baby happy and entertained. Unfortunately, Gargamel's hourglass indicates that it's only noon, so he has twelve more hours of having to take care of Baby in order to get his hands on the Smurfs. Back in the village, Miner has brought a cart full of pickaxes so that the Smurfs can make their own entrance into Gargamel's castle to rescue Baby. As the Smurfs work on making a tunnel, Handy calculates that they will reach the inside of the house just before midnight, which to Papa Smurf is cutting it a bit close.

Within the last hour before midnight, Gargamel has finally gotten Baby Smurf to sleep, exhausted from the hours of having to entertain the infant, but glad to see that any minute the Smurfs will soon be his. As he rests in his rocking chair, Papa Smurf, Jokey, and Hefty break through the floor of the castle, and they quietly sneak in to try getting Baby out of the hands of Gargamel. But Gargamel awakens and finds that the Smurfs are in his house trying to rescue Baby themselves, so he sends Azrael to chase after them. At the same time, Peewit waits on top of a tree to hitch a ride on the carriage so he can get the Smurflings out of the nephew's hands. He uses his marionette string to lower three of the Smurflings into the carriage to rescue Slouchy, but no sooner do they get inside to move the nephew's arms, Peewit gets knocked off the tree, and the nephew awakens to see that his "marionettes" have come to life and are now escaping. He cries out to his mother about his toys being stolen, but the mother, who is drowsy from sleep, simply figures her son is throwing yet another temper tantrum and remarks he will have to take better care of his friends.

With the Smurflings safe in his possession, Peewit tells them that he will have to take a short cut through Gargamel's place so they can hear Baby Smurf's first word on time. But then they hear Gargamel's laughter, meaning that the evil wizard has the Smurfs right where he wants them. Papa Smurf and a few others are in a cage, and Gargamel is demanding for the others to give themselves up, which means that the Smurfs will have to pick straws to see which one will stay to become Baby Smurf's caretaker. As Peewit and the Smurflings watch, Grouchy is the Smurf who picks the short straw, so he is elected to be the caretaker while the others go inside the cage. However, Gargamel goes back on his promise to let one Smurf go free with Baby, so he decides to take Grouchy as well as Baby with him.

Baby'sFirstWord

Fortunately, not all is lost for the Smurfs, as Peewit and the Smurflings come up with a plan. They appear out in the open near the bushes to attract Gargamel's attention, saying that they are willing to give themselves up if he sets Grouchy and Baby free. Papa Smurf tells them not to do it, but Gargamel accepts the offer and opens the cage so that the Smurflings can enter carrying strings behind their back so they can tie them to the bars of the cage. Gargamel rejoices in that the Smurfs are finally his, until Peewit gets Biquette to ride off and the cage gets dragged away from the castle, leaving Gargamel frustrated that his Smurfs are getting away. Papa Smurf tells Grouchy to get Baby to the Blue Clearing as fast as possible, for it is almost midnight.

As Peewit successfully eludes Gargamel by having Biquette jump over a ravine that the evil wizard falls into, Grouchy gets Baby to the Blue Clearing just in time as a moonbeam from the moon strikes Baby sitting on the mushroom and the first word Grouchy hears Baby say is "Gargamel" -- a name that Grouchy despises. The other Smurfs reach the clearing just in time to hear Baby repeat his first word, which makes the other Smurfs wonder what it means. Papa Smurf says that it's an indication that Baby Smurf will someday grow to be a great leader of the Smurfs, and that his first word proves it since a great leader must also recognize a great enemy.

Trivia

  • Many foreign DVD releases carry the syndicated Smurfs Adventures repackaging of this episode (along with using the modified Season 1 intro with the "Smurfy Way" theme song and credits), as opposed to most of the episodes which remained uncut. However, a 2004 Slavic DVD, containing the episode in Croatian and Slovenian, uses an uncut foreign print (albeit with no English track).
  • The king Peewit is in service to in this episode is a completely different character than The King and resides in a completely different castle. There is no mention as to why Peewit has switched services, although it could have been possible Peewit had become such a reputable entertainer he was requested to perform in another kingdom.
  • This is one of the many episodes in which Papa Smurf is shown with a brown beard in the past.
  • There are 100 Smurfs in the cage, plus Baby on Gargamel’s shoulder, plus Grouchy who got the short straw, plus four Smurflings. This makes 106 Smurfs in total (though Nat thinks Gargamel miscounted).
  • This is the third time Peewit appears without Johan.
    • Peewit also interacts with the Smurflings in this episode. This also doesn't count as a Johan And Peewit episode, as Johan does not appear.
  • This is the second time Peewit helped the Smurfs defeat Gargamel, and he mentions Gargamel's name, indicating that he is aware of the wizard despite them not interacting directly. The first was "Handy's Kite", in which Johan appeared, and also never mentioned the names of Gargamel and Lord Balthazar.
  • From the events of "Once In A Blue Moon", two years have passed since the arrival of Baby in the series.
  • The Turkish video uses the title that English videos would normally use.

Goofs

  • Peewit on Biquette drags the cage with the Smurfs, running away from Gargamel. In a sequence when they jump over the ravine, the cage is empty. The cage is also empty in a scene where Gargamel carries it inside his hovel, although it is supposed to be full of Smurfs.
  • When Smurfette holds Baby, his hands are missing.
  • Various times when Gargamel holds Baby in his fist, Baby looks like an adult Smurf.
  • Gargamel's window is open, notwithstanding Brainy’s claim that "Gargamel has his entire hovel sealed shut".
  • In a scene when Gargamel is about to find out that Baby stinks and needs a diaper change, Gargamel holds the crying Baby Smurf on his palm. When he brings his palm closer to his nose to smell it, Baby has white pants like adult Smurfs.

Videos

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