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"Phantom Bagpiper" is a Season 9 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Smurfette helps a bagpipe playing ghost retrieve his stolen pony from his evil neighbor by becoming a horse jockey in a race against the neighbor.

Plot Summary[]

PhantomBagpiper

Who is this lonely musician perched high upon a tower, playing the music of the Highlands?

The Smurfs are still in Scotland as the story begins, and right now they are getting tired as they have been walking all day with Papa Smurf wanting them to get as far away from Angus McGarg as they can. The Smurfs complain that they're hungry, and Papa Smurf tells them that they'll stop as soon as they find a campsite. The village leader sees an abandoned stable that he says they can stay for the night so that they can get some sleep. Unfortunately, Greedy tells them that they don't have anything to eat, which makes the other Smurfs complain again. Smurfette sees a castle high upon a hill and says that maybe whoever lives up there could offer them something to eat. But as they all look up at the castle, Brainy could see that the place looks like it's in ruins. Hefty decides that they should check the castle, but when Smurfette voices her fears about going up there, Hefty takes Brainy with him, and Smurfette and Smoogle follow safely behind. Brainy feels like he should stay with Papa Smurf and help him with whatever he needs to do, but Papa Smurf says that he's quite all right and sends the four of them on their way.

As the three Smurfs and Smoogle approach one of the doors to the castle, they shudder in fear as they hear the sound of bagpipes playing. Brainy asks if one of them is playing the bagpipes, and Smurfette says none of them are as she huddles close to Smoogle. Then Smurfette screams as she sees the shadow of what appears to be demons, and when Brainy sees the same shadow for himself, he and Hefty make a run for it. But Smurfette doesn't run, and soon Brainy and Hefty stop running as they hear Smurfette talking like she has nothing to fear. The two Smurfs turn around and see that the "demons" Smurfette is talking to are actually ponies, but they are still fearful of the ponies and warn Smurfette to be careful. The ponies scamper back into the castle, and Smurfette scolds Hefty and Brainy for scaring them away.

The three Smurfs and Smoogle approach the main door and knock to see if anybody is home. Brainy doesn't hear an answer and starts to head back down the hill, but Smurfette stops him, saying that there must be someone living in the castle because they could hear bagpipes. As the Smurfs call out to whoever may be behind the door, a bagpipe appears floating in the air high on one of the castle's towers, appearing to play music by itself, until a Scottish man appears on the tower playing the instrument. He looks down at the Smurfs and says he'll teach the trespassers not to mess with Laird Milton McKilty. He transports himself down inside the castle and catches the attention of the Smurfs as they bravely enter in search of the bagpipe player, accusing them of stealing from McKilty's ponies. The Smurfs protest that they're not out to steal anyone's ponies, but McKilty refuses to believe this and turns himself invisible save for his hat, gloves, mustache, and shoes. The Smurfs see that they're now dealing with a ghost and quickly flee to leave the castle, with the ghost laughing at them and saying that will teach them.

The three Smurfs and Smoogle rejoin the others at the campsite, with Smurfette complaining about the ghost accusing them of being pony poachers while Greedy has supper all ready for them to eat. Meanwhile, while the Smurfs all sit around the campfire, Milton McKilty is glad to see that his ponies Scotty and Cassie are safe and sound, yet he is worried about his nefarious neighbor Frugal McDougal trying to steal them away. His bagpipe materializes and he goes about playing them again while the ponies dance to his tune, but as he does so, Frugal is with his servant complaining about not getting his hands on McKilty's ponies. His servant tells his master that the only way McKilty's ponies can become his is if the ponies were straying on his property. Frugal then tells his servant to find a way so that the ponies do stray on his property, laughing at the thought of owning the ponies at long last.

The next day, as Smurfette goes with Snappy and Sassette to pick berries for their next meal, Smurfette's mind is too focused on the ponies in the castle to bother helping. And as she looks out into the field after she hears a whinnying sound, she sees that there is a pony in the field that does not look like any of the ponies she saw earlier. In fact, the gray pony that seems to be wearing glasses is going after the two ponies that she did see and are now galloping away from the gray pony. Smurfette says that she's going to get to the bottom of this, but as she turns to walk off, she falls off the stone fence and lands in the basket of berries laying on the ground, splattering Greedy with berry juice.

The gray pony runs the two ponies close to a cart which Frugal McDougal is standing next to, and with the ponies coming increasingly closer, he activates a powerful magnet with which he intends to use to capture the ponies. One of the two ponies, Scotty, scampers off before the other, Cassie, is being dragged by the magnet's pull on her horseshoes, and the gray pony by the metal filings in his teeth. Frugal laughs as he sees that he has captured Cassie and tells the horse that it's too bad her brother didn't stray on the land as well. He then tells the gray pony, who is actually his servant, to stick with him, because Frugal McDougal always gets what he's after.

Near a brook by the castle, Smurfette investigates hoof prints left on the ground and wonders where a horse like one of McKilty's ponies would be when she hears somebody sobbing nearby. It turns out to be the ghost of Milton McKilty, and as he fully appears before Smurfette when she comes close to him and his pony Scotty, he confesses that ghosts aren't supposed to cry, but he couldn't help how he was feeling right then and there. Smurfette asks the ghost if he should be scaring her off now, and McKilty says he only did so because he thought she was trying to steal one of the ponies, and now somebody has. The ghost tells Smurfette that his neighbor Frugal McDougal has lured Cassie into his property, and anything that strays into another person's property becomes that other person's property. Smurfette sees this as being very unsmurfy and says they should go over to McDougal's house and demand to give that pony back, but McKilty says that a rule of ghosts is that they cannot stray far from their own property. Smurfette decides to take the ghost to Papa Smurf to see what he can do to help.

Meanwhile, the Smurfs are getting ready for their next meal when Brainy sees that Milton McKilty has arrived, and he and all the other Smurfs run off in fright at the sight of the ghost. Smurfette tells them not to be afraid as she introduces her friend to the Smurfs, who seems to have parts of himself fading in and out. Papa Smurf tells the ghost to make himself comfortable, and after McKilty tells the Smurfs everything that has happened, Hefty seems raring to give Frugal McDougal a good talking to with his fists. Clumsy and Painter also want to join Hefty in confronting McDougal, and so Papa Smurf has the three of them head to McDougal's house while Smurfette takes care of Scotty as McKilty takes a rest. McKilty seems to agree with this idea and heads back to his castle to get his rest as the Smurfs wave him goodbye.

At the McDougal residence, Hefty, Clumsy, and Painter watch as Frugal's relatives pay him a visit as well as admission to see the horse that he had "rightfully claimed" as his own. Cassie isn't very happy to be put up as a show pony and pulls the rug out from under Frugal's feet quite literally. His cousin asks if Frugal's too old to be "horsing around", and Frugal goes to show off his horse racing trophy collection, saying that there isn't a man alive that can beat him in a horse race, which is how he had made his fortune. Then Cassie chews through the ropes and starts racing for the door, which gives the three Smurfs the opportunity to jump inside and try to help Cassie escape. However, Frugal's got his dog blocking the way out, which makes the horse stop and duck, tripping up Frugal and catapulting him right onto his dog, who spills the net of coins right onto the floor. The three Smurfs try to calm Cassie down so they can get her out of McDougal's house, but the dog drops the net on Clumsy and Painter, and Hefty is too terrified of the dog to do anything but run and get help.

After Hefty returns to the Smurfs to tell what had happened, Papa Smurf says that there must be a way to bargain with McDougal so that they can get Cassie and the Smurfs back home again. Hefty says that there is a way, that he remembers McDougal saying that he would give his entire fortune away to anyone that can beat him in a horse race. Snappy says that the Smurfs don't have anything that they can offer McDougal, but Papa Smurf says that they do as he looks toward Smurfette and Scotty. McKilty agrees that the only way they can get Cassie back is to challenge McDougal to a race, with Scotty as the prize. Smurfette fears that if they lose, then McDougal gets to keep Scotty as well. But McKilty does not want to hear about losing, because he's going to choose the best jockey for his horse, which makes the Smurfs cheer, and while McKilty's doing that, Papa Smurf says that he will issue a formal challenge to McDougal.

Soon, McKilty has the Smurfs line up so that they can be chosen in turn who will be the best jockey for Scotty. As the male Smurfs fight over who's going to be first, Smurfette sneaks her way right to the head of the line and says that she's going to be the one. The male Smurfs don't think highly of the idea of a girl jockey and so Hefty picks up Smurfette and puts her at the end of the line where he hopes she will be shown up after he proves to be the best jockey. Snappy goes before Hefty and gives it a try, but soon gets bucked off and thrown into the bushes. Then Hefty gives it a go and rides well until Scotty gives him a hurl. Brainy takes his turn and gets thrown right into the water before the horse even moves. Greedy tries to grease the wheels a bit by giving Scotty a carrot cookie to eat, but the bribery doesn't pay off as he gets thrown off. After a few more tries with the male Smurfs making fools of themselves, Smurfette says it's now her turn. The male Smurfs say that it will give them a good laugh, and Greedy calls out to the Smurflings to get ready to catch her. But with a gentle talking to Scotty, she proves that she's got what it takes to be a horse jockey. She proved this even when McKilty gets the horse up to speed by playing the bagpipe.

Then Papa Smurf returns and tells his little Smurfs that, after McDougal stopped laughing when he found out that they were going to offer Scotty as the prize, he was very eager to accept. Snappy sees why McDougal is so eager to accept, as the human horse jockey now shows off his own steed, a very big racing horse that looks like it's going to win the race no matter what. The Smurfs cheer as Smurfette makes her way to the starting flags with Scotty, ready to win the race for Cassie's freedom as well as Clumsy's and Painter's. McDougal tells Smurfette that it's just one lap around the meadow and says that he doesn't want his new steed to get tired out. Smurfette tells McDougal that she and Scotty have every chance of winning, as long as her opponent runs a fair race. With Smurfette's back turned and no one else looking, McDougal pours a cup of honey on the back of her hair, hoping to cause something that will make him a sure winner.

Soon the race starts, and McDougal and his steed quickly charge out onto the course, leaving Smurfette and Scotty choking on dust before they're able to get going. But just after she and Scotty get themselves galloping, a bee comes along and starts harassing Smurfette, attracted to the honey in her hair. Smurfette gets so distracted by the bee that she struggles to maintain her grip on the horse's bridle so she could stay in the race. The Smurfs could see that Smurfette and Scotty are so far behind McDougal and his steed, there's no chance of her ever winning. Then Greedy and Snappy remember that Scotty could run twice as fast with McKilty's bagpipe playing, and suddenly they have an idea. Hefty tells Smoogle that they can use a bagpipe right about now, and then Smoogle runs out alongside Smurfette and starts imitating the sound of a bagpipe. This puts some speed into the young horse as he now charges ahead and passes by McDougal.

Smurfette takes the lead for a bit as they turn a corner, but McDougal soon catches up to her and starts thrusting a punching bag stick toward her to try knocking her off Scotty. Smoogle then starts up the bagpipe music, and Scotty runs like the wind, leaving McDougal ranting and raving until he gets knocked off his steed by not looking out for a tree branch when his arm was raised up with the punching bag stick. But he is not out of the race yet as the tree branch just spins him around and catapults him back onto his horse, which is now racing nose to nose against Scotty. Smurfette tells Scotty to do it for Cassie, and so the horse gives it all he's got to make it across the finish line, with the Smurfs cheering for her victory.

Frugal McDougal is so upset that he lost a horse race to Smurfette that he accuses her of cheating and decides to go back on his word and declare Scotty his property. Frugal's relatives are so disgusted with how unsportsmanlike his behavior has become that they start pelting him with tomatoes and pies, eventually making him realize that it's better to honor his word and thus had Cassie and the two Smurfs set free. Soon Milton McKilty hears the Smurfs singing as they return both horses back to him, feeling so grateful for their efforts that he invites them all to his castle for "a spirit-raising celebration", which makes the Smurfs cheer as they all follow after him.

Trivia[]

  • This is the second and last episode that takes place in Scotland, which chronologically takes place after "Hefty Sees A Serpent".
    • Papa Smurf mentions Angus McGarg, who appears in the previous episode, making this clear evidence.
  • Milton McKilty and one of the McDougal relatives are voiced by Alan Young, sounding like Scrooge McDuck from Duck Tales.
  • Grouchy, Lazy, Vanity, Handy, Jokey, and Wild do not appear in this episode.

Videos[]

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