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"Smurfing In Sign Language" is a Season 3 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Gargamel magically makes Poet mute, so Laconia, the mute wood elf, teaches him the wonders of sign language.

Plot Summary[]

Papa Smurf and his little Smurfs witness the first cuckoo cooing on the tree branches, signifying that it is now spring, and with the coming of spring Papa Smurf announces that there will be a Rite Of Spring Festival that day where there will be dancing, music, and poetry. As the other Smurfs cheer, Papa Smurf tells Poet that he has a special job: in accordance with the Smurf Almanac, he must compose a very special poem about spring and recite it before the rest of the Smurfs before sunset. Poet assures Papa Smurf that it will be the smurfiest poem yet, to which the cuckoo coos again.

In Gargamel's lair, the evil wizard has concocted a potion that he intends to use against the Smurfs that he calls "sweet silence". Attaching the bottle of the potion to a bellows, he goes out into the forest to test it out and finds a cuckoo on a tree branch that he sprays the potion on. Soon the cuckoo is rendered totally mute, indicating that the potion works. Now Gargamel needs to find the Smurfs, whom he can't wait to not hear.

At that moment, Poet is busy reciting the verses he has written so far on his parchment when Gargamel shows up behind him, saying that those will be the last words anyone will hear. As Poet runs, Gargamel sprays his "sweet silence" on him, and he is also rendered mute. The evil wizard laughs as he and Azrael chase after Poet, with Gargamel saying that the Smurf can't even cry for help. But then the mute cuckoo distracts and attacks Gargamel, and Poet manages to elude Azrael by ducking into a tree hole. The evil wizard curses the cuckoo for letting the Smurf get away.

Upon his arrival to the village, Poet tries to tell his fellow Smurfs what had happened in the forest, but no sounds are coming from his mouth. They are left puzzled as to what he is trying to say to them when he finally makes facial expressions that clue them in to who he saw: Gargamel and Azrael. In Papa Smurf's laboratory, the cuckoo lands at his window and gets the village leader to see that he has no song to sing. As Papa Smurf wonders what has happened, Smurfette comes in with Poet and her fellow Smurfs to tell Papa Smurf that Gargamel had done something to Poet. Papa Smurf sees that Poet also has no sounds coming from his mouth.

After examining Poet's mouth, Papa Smurf ascertains that Gargamel must also be behind the soundless cuckoo. He says that he will find out what kind of spell was used on both Poet and the cuckoo so that he can restore their voices. But Smurfette wonders how Poet is going to recite the Rite Of Spring Festival poem without his voice. Papa Smurf tells Smurfette to have no fear, for he knows someone who can teach Poet how to communicate without a voice. He writes a letter to his friend Laconia the wood elf and tells the cuckoo to deliver this message to her immediately.

Sign For Smurf

The Smurfs learn the sign for "smurf".

Meanwhile, as the Smurfs wait for Laconia's response, Smurfette looks at Poet and feels sympathy for him because he feels left out of his fellow Smurfs' conversations by not being able to communicate like he normally does. Then they see a blond-haired, green-garbed wood elf arriving on a stork, and they cheer as they find out that this is Papa Smurf's friend Laconia. The Smurfs are surprised to find out that Laconia, like Poet is now, is rather silent, to which Papa Smurf explains that she was born mute, but she has discovered a way to communicate to others through what is called sign language. Laconia shows a few examples of words that she can express through sign language, like butterfly, bird, and cat, but what Brainy wants to know is how one is able to communicate the word "smurf" in sign language. Laconia ponders this for a moment, and then makes a hand signal by placing both hands over her head in the form of a Smurf hat, which ends up becoming the sign for "smurf".

After a few more examples were shown of translating Smurf names into sign language, Papa Smurf takes Poet and Laconia out into the forest where Poet could learn in private how to translate his poem into sign language so he could recite it in sign language. However, no sooner do they start with the lesson that Gargamel interrupts it with his presence. Papa Smurf and Poet duck into the bushes while Laconia ends up captured in Gargamel's net. The evil wizard tries to Laconia to reveal the location of the Smurf Village, but Laconia tries to tell the wizard that she cannot speak. He interprets it as that she won't reveal the village's location, and so brings her to his laboratory where he will force the information out of her.

Papa Smurf, Poet, and the soundless cuckoo follow Gargamel until they reach the outskirts of his hovel. The village leader sees that they need a distraction to get Azrael away from the door so that they could enter and rescue Laconia. The cuckoo takes to the air and then swoops down to swipe at the cat, causing him to chase after her. Poet and Papa Smurf scoot up to the window and watch as Gargamel brews up something in his cauldron that he says will give Laconia the ability to speak so that she will reveal where the Smurf Village is. Laconia sternly shakes her head in refusal, communicating that she won't, so Gargamel places the cauldron underneath her cage, saying that she'll warm up to the idea sooner or later.

Gargamel says that for the incantation to work, it must be spoken out loud. As he begins to recite it, though, Papa Smurf and Poet use the "sweet silence" bellows to spray it upon Gargamel, rendering him also mute. Papa Smurf tells Gargamel that he now knows what it's like to not have a voice, and that if he harms either Papa Smurf or Poet, there will be no one to recite the incantation. He offers to recite it, but only if Gargamel sets Laconia free first. The evil wizard complies by releasing Laconia from her cage, and then with the soundless cuckoo gathered with the four, Papa Smurf recites the incantation, and with the first recital, Poet's voice is restored; with the second recital, the cuckoo's song is restored; with the third recital, Gargamel's voice is restored.

Papa Smurf is about to recite the incantation to give Laconia a speaking voice when the wood elf sees Azrael coming in through the window and signals to the Smurfs. They hear Azrael and duck out of the way as the cat charges toward the cauldron and knocks it over, spilling the formula onto the pages of the spell book and permanently blotting out the text so that the incantation cannot be recited again. However, Gargamel takes advantage of his restored voice by telling Azrael to go after them, and as the two Smurfs, Laconia, and the cuckoo flee, the evil wizard chases after them with his "sweet silence" until they end up trapped on the other end of a log in the middle of a murky pond. Gargamel gloats that he has them right where he wants them when the cuckoo flies around him and causes him to fall off the log, right into the pond.

At the Smurf Theater, as the Smurfs wait for Poet's Rite Of Spring Festival poem recital, Papa Smurf thanks Laconia for saving his life, but expresses his regret that he couldn't save the formula that would have given her a voice. Laconia tells him not to feel bad, that she's happy with being just the way she is. Then Poet takes to the stage and announces that he will recite the poem using both Smurf language and sign language, and after the recital, the Smurfs cheer, and Poet thanks Laconia for her help, signing to her that he loves her too.

Trivia[]

  • This is the first episode in which Laconia appears as a recurring character.

Videos[]

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