Papa Smurf (original French name Grand Schtroumpf) is one of the main characters of the Smurfs comic book series and the Smurfs cartoon show, who has appeared on the show throughout its entire run. His first appearance as a character in any visual media is in the original comic book story of "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute". His role is that of the practical village leader and the father figure of 100 or so young Smurfs, using his wisdom and his knowledge of magic and science to protect them from various forms of dangers that exist in the Smurf forest. He is identified by his red Smurf hat and pants and by a shortly-trimmed white beard and moustache. Papa Smurf always tries to get everyone to do the right thing. He'll even go out of his way to help Gargamel and Azrael much to the annoyance of the other Smurfs.

His character was voiced by Don Messick in the cartoon show, by Mike Reynolds in the animated version of "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute", by Jonathan Winters in the 2011 Smurfs movie, and by Jack Angel in The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol video feature.

Relationships with other Smurfs

Papa Smurf generally refers to the Smurfs who are much younger than he is as "my little Smurfs", even though most of them are physically young adults. He is generally pleased when he sees them working and interacting with each other peaceably and doing what they are supposed to do.

However, he does at times take issue with Lazy's slothfulness, Jokey's prankish behavior, Brainy's endless talking, and Clumsy's klutziness, among other things his little Smurfs do which try his patience. Despite having to deal with their personalities, Papa Smurf loves his little Smurfs to the point where he will do everything in his power to protect them from evil beings that want to do harm unto them, and he will also protect his little Smurfs from themselves whenever disputes and situations arise.

Papa Smurf was responsible for transforming Smurfette from a creation of Gargamel into a real Smurf, though the method for doing so varied depending on the media: in the comic books, Papa Smurf used "plastic smurfery", while in the cartoon show and the 2011 Smurfs movie, he used magic. Though in only one episode, "Romeo And Smurfette", Papa Smurf had expressed some amorous interest in Smurfette, this was never followed up on from that point onward. It is generally assumed that their relationship has been mostly father/daughter. In "Papa's Wedding Day" he had fallen in love with Flowerbell the woodnymph, whom he thought genuinely loved him and made him feel young again, but his heart was broken when he realized she was just using him to have Lord Balthazar capture him in exchange for her freedom. Nevertheless, he learned a valuable lesson that a person is only as old as they think they are, and the best way to stay young is to appreciate and enjoy what one has in their lives.

Papa Smurf has a father/daughter relationship with Sassette, who calls him "Pappy", whom he also transformed into a real Smurf through the same method used on Smurfette in the cartoon show. The other Smurflings view him as the other Smurfs do since they are de-aged Smurfs.

Papa Smurf was the son of Grandpa Smurf, who had left behind his son in order to explore the world and search for the purest samples of the four primal elements to restore the Long Life Stone, as apparently did Nanny Smurf when she went out into the forest to find more yarn (though in the episode "Lost Smurf" they acted as if they had never met before). Grandpa Smurf serves as an adviser to Papa Smurf, having more knowledge of the world than even Papa Smurf and also having more wisdom, while Nanny has a more matronly role towards the village leader.

Papa Smurf has a few friends among the humans, which include Sir Johan, Peewit, Homnibus, King Gerard, and Malchior. In fact, he first met Johan and Peewit in the original comic book story (and its animated adaptation) "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute" when they sought the Smurfs' help in retrieving a magic flute that the Smurfs were also looking for that fell into the hands of a thief named Matthew McCreep, and assisted in his eventual capture, with Papa Smurf serving as a translator to the humans for whatever the Smurfs spoke to him in Smurf. However, knowing the evil nature that lies within the hearts of humans, he often warns the Smurfs not to act like them. Regardless of the evil that Gargamel commits against him or his little Smurfs, Papa Smurf refuses to return evil in kind unto his adversary and will even show mercy unto the wizard whenever he is imperiled by a situation that no one else can get him out of, showing his little Smurfs the virtue of kindness even unto those that don't deserve it.

In the movie

In the 2011 Smurfs movie, Papa Smurf is one of the few Smurfs that traveled through time to modern-day New York City. Prior to this, during the Blue Moon Festival, Papa Smurf had seen in a vision Clumsy Smurf seemingly failing to catch a dragon wand and all his little Smurfs captured in cages by Gargamel. As Papa Smurf wanted to prevent Clumsy from fulfilling this vision, he had him stay behind with Grace Winslow in the Winslows' apartment during their stay in New York City while he and the other Smurfs went with Patrick Winslow in search of a "stargazer". While the other Smurfs were mostly annoying and unhelpful with Patrick's line of work, Papa Smurf helps him find confidence in himself as a father and a husband. It was during the Smurfs' search for both a "stargazer" in FAO Schwarz and a blue moon incantation in Mr. Wong's Mystical Emporium that they encountered Gargamel, the second time where Papa Smurf was captured and strapped into a Smurf exfoliator machine that the evil wizard intends to use to extract Smurf essence from all the Smurfs. Smurfette and the other Smurfs rescued Papa Smurf from captivity, and Clumsy Smurf ended up defying what the vision foretold Papa Smurf by catching the dragon wand, blasting Gargamel with it and sending him flying into a pile of garbage bags. Near the end of the movie, Papa Smurf shows Clumsy how proud he is of him.

Papa Smurf also appears in the animated feature The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, who notices along with some of his little Smurfs that Grouchy refuses to take part in Christmas. Hoping to remedy the situation, he comes up with a formula that penetrates Grouchy and gets him to see the error of his ways through being visited by the three Smurfs of Christmas. Through the Smurf of Christmas Present, Grouchy sees that Papa Smurf has personally handcrafted every Smurf's new hat as a Christmas present, with his hope that Grouchy would be able to accept the one he has made for him despite his hate for getting the same Christmas present every year instead of a hang glider. As it turns out, Papa Smurf has made Grouchy's hat specifically for gliding.

Papa Smurf is scheduled to appear in The Smurfs 2 as a main character.

Trivia

• He is referred to as "The Great Smurf" in some non-English translations of the Smurf comic books.
• Papa Smurf's birthday in the comic books is usually indicated by the presence of chanterelles growing in the Smurf Forest.
• For as long as he could remember, Papa Smurf has admired the great wizard Merlin, as seen in "The Smurfs of the Round Table".
• Papa Smurf, along with Brainy Smurf and Hefty Smurf, appeared in the 1990 drug prevention video, Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue.
• In the 2011 movie, Papa Smurf is admittedly a coffee drinker.
• Papa Smurf was mentioned in the 2002 live action Scooby-Doo movie by Velma. Coincidentally, Raja Gosnell directed the two Scooby-Doo films and has now directed the new Smurfs film.
• In the Duck Dodgers episode "The Green Loontern", Duck sarcastically refers to Ganthet the Green Lantern Corps Guardian as Papa Smurf when he comes to his defense as being a Green Lantern.
• Papa Smurf's visual similarity to Santa Claus has been referenced a few times: once by a human boy named William in "The Smurfs Christmas Special", once by Sassette (though purely by accident) in the cartoon special "'Tis The Season To Be Smurfy", and once by Patrick Winslow in the 2011 Smurfs movie. In the box cover design for the VHS release of "Baby's First Christmas" and for The Smurfs Holiday Celebration, Papa Smurf purposely dresses like Santa.
• In a one-page comic book gag, Papa Smurf had presumably dressed like one of the regular Smurfs while the other Smurfs dressed like Papa Smurf, which seems to suggest that in comic book and cartoon show interpretations of the character, Papa Smurf would be indistinguishable from the other Smurfs without the beard. The 2011 Smurfs movie makes Papa Smurf more visibly older by adding wrinkles to his face.

See also

• Grandpa Swoof