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"Lure Of The Orb" is a Season 6 episode from the 1980s Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Poet, Painter, Harmony, Handy, and Farmer use an orb that Poet got from a witch to get inspiration and energy, but they become addicted to its power and they can't live without it.

Plot Summary[]

PrincessAlli

Allura in her beautiful form presents Poet with a magic orb.

Every Smurf is busy getting ready for the Spring Day Pageant. Besides several Smurfs seen putting up decorations, Handy is busy building a stage, Painter is doing a portrait of the hundred Smurfs, and Farmer is working on getting the seeds planted in time for the festival. Smurfette tells Papa Smurf that they want to make it the smurfiest pageant of all time, to which he chuckles, telling Smurfette that the pageant is only a few days away and that he hopes they would have everything they have set out to do done in time.

In his house, Poet is busy trying to compose his latest poem for the Spring Day Pageant and he wants to make it his best work. Unfortunately, Tailor has to interrupt him with taking measurements for clothes, Harmony has to practice his horn outside Poet's window, and Jokey has to set off explosions a few houses over. Poet then decides to go off into the forest in the hopes that he would find some peace and quiet to complete his work with. But the forest with all its ambient sounds provides no solace to Poet, and ultimately, he finds himself crumpling up papers as nothing is inspiring him to write any further.

Meanwhile, an evil witch watches Poet from behind some tall grasses and realizes that he is just the person she is looking for. Transforming herself into a beautiful woman, the witch introduces herself to Poet as Allura the enchantress and, after hearing Poet describe his dilemma, offers him a magic orb that she says can lift spirits and inspire the uninspired with magic power simply by holding it in his hands. Poet gives the orb a try and soon he finds the oddest form of inspired words for his poem coming from the top of his head. Allura tells him to take the orb with him back to the village in case he would ever need its power of inspiration. Feeling that his friends could also make use of the orb, Poet takes Allura up on the offer and thanks her for the orb, telling her he hopes they would meet again someday. After Poet departs, Allura changes back to her real form, saying she is sure they will as she lets out an evil laugh.

Poet10

Poet sure got a lot of work done

That night at supper, some of the Smurfs feel all tuckered out from all the work they have to do in preparation for the pageant when Handy wonders where Poet is. They find him inside his house writing pages of poetry, and Hefty comments that he looks tired and needs to take a break. Poet says that he doesn't need to because he has all the energy he needs and shows them the magic orb from which he gets the energy. Smurfette and Hefty tell Poet that he should be careful using magic to change the way he feels. Poet tells them that with the orb he has done more work in a day than he has ever done in a whole month. A few Smurfs find themselves attracted to the orb and also want to have more energy to do more in a day, given the tasks they already have at hand. Poet allows them to touch the orb and feel its power coursing through them.

The next day, Papa Smurf and Greedy are coming back to the village after picking smurfberries when they see Farmer working in his fields like crazy, going so fast that it's making Greedy tired just looking at him. Painter is also working like mad on his portrait of a hundred Smurfs, which Papa Smurf can see looks rather bizarre and haphazard compared to the artist's normal style of work. Harmony is busy conducting some Smurf musicians in playing their instruments to a form of music just as equally bizarre and haphazard in style. Hefty tries to tell Papa Smurf about an orb that Poet has above the loud cacophony of orchestrated sound, which Papa Smurf can barely hear.

Inside Poet's house, the village muse is looking really worn out from all the writing he has done when Handy and Farmer drag themselves in, also looking worn out and in need of touching the orb. Then Papa Smurf rushes in and takes the orb away, saying that its magic must be having a terrible effect on his little Smurfs and that he must keep it away from them for their own good. This leaves Poet, Painter, Handy, Harmony, and Farmer wondering what they're going to do now without the orb. Handy says if Papa Smurf tells them they are not to touch the orb, they are to do as he says. However, during the night when Papa Smurf is sleeping, Handy creeps into his bedroom and swaps out the magic orb for an empty identical case. Meanwhile, Allura watches through the orb in her residence the five Smurfs touching the orb, saying that they think they have the orb when in fact the orb has them, and soon she will have them as well.

The next day, Jokey and Smurfette are coming into the village from picking a bouquet of flowers when they notice Farmer riding through the village on Puppy, sowing seeds all around. Harmony is having the musicians play really loud and really fast with hardly any notes to follow. Painter is busy splashing all sorts of colors onto his canvas. And Handy has built a rather haphazard-looking stage with the accent on "hazard" as Hefty ends up falling through the floor while inspecting the work.

Hefty begins to suspect something seriously wrong with Handy as he goes off toward Poet's house, where Farmer, Painter, and Harmony also gather. He sees that Poet has the orb again and they have been using it behind Papa Smurf's back. As they notice that the orb's glow is weakening and begin to wonder what they will do once it loses its power, Hefty grabs it and tosses it into the fire to destroy it. Papa Smurf then comes in with the empty case and realizes for himself that those Smurfs were using the orb again. He tells them that it's for the best that Hefty destroyed the orb, for its magic had them lying and stealing and acting very unsmurfy. Handy tells Papa Smurf that they need its magic, but Hefty tells him that it's all in their heads, and Papa Smurf agrees with Hefty on this. He tells his little Smurfs that they still have plenty to do for the pageant and that they must all get back to work. But Harmony feels so tired and worn down he isn't sure he could do much of anything.

Mean princess

The real form of Allura watches her slaves work.

The five Smurfs go out into the forest to find Allura, and when they do, they tell her that the magic orb was broken. Poet asks if they could have another one to use, and Allura offers them the one that she has in her residence. Although Farmer was hesitant at first, he joins the other four in following Allura through a snowy mountain path that leads to her place, until they reach the entrance and Farmer decides he is better off going back to the village. Allura takes them inside where they see a bigger orb resting on a stand. Quickly they rush to touch it, and again they feel inspired and energized to do their work. But no sooner after they leave, the feeling wears off very fast and they head back inside, only to find that Allura is an evil witch who was using the orb to entrance them and have them work as her servants in exchange for touching the orb. She uses her magic to make chains appear on all four Smurfs to make sure they don't escape even if they could want to escape.

Back in the village, Hefty is busy working on the stage when Smurfette asks about Handy. Hefty tells her that a search party is busy looking for him and the others when Farmer arrives to tell him that those other Smurfs may be in trouble right now. Hefty goes with Farmer to where he has last been with those Smurfs.

In Allura's residence, the four Smurfs who are busy scrubbing the floor of the orb's chamber are trying to fight the urge to touch the orb, with the witch telling them that they are not strong enough. Meanwhile, Hefty and Farmer have reached its entrance with Hefty going inside to rescue the other Smurfs and Farmer staying put outside to keep himself away from the orb. As the four other Smurfs are near the point of giving in to the orb's power, Hefty charges in, saying they could be strong with his help. Allura notices the intruder as he releases the four captive Smurfs from their chains and attempts to lead them out only to have Poet rush back in to touch the orb. Hefty races in to stop Poet but is grabbed by Allura, saying that once she has Hefty touch the orb, he will feel the same as the others. Poet overhears this and decides to use the mop to dislodge the orb from its stand to break it. Allura curses Hefty and Poet as they leave her residence, saying they haven't seen the last of her.

Allura Gets A Surprise

Allura isn't the only one who can play tricks on people!

Allura The Frog

A fitting fate for Allura in the foreign market version of this episode.

Back in the village, Poet reads a sample of his work during the time he used the orb and finds himself aghast at how odd it sounded, not sounding like anything that came from him. Painter and Farmer also share the same sense of shock and dismay of what came from their use of the orb. Papa Smurf tells him and the other four Smurfs who used the orb that friends can only look after them so much, and in the end, nothing can replace their own abilities. From that Poet was inspired to write his new poem for the pageant, and even though Smurfette reminds him that it starts in an hour, he is able to pull off a creative miracle just in time. However, Allura shows up again to offer him a new orb that he could use, but Poet learned his lesson and resisted the urge to use such addicting power, finding confidence in his own abilities again. Jokey and Clumsy come to get Poet because the pageant is ready to start, and Allura offers Clumsy the magic orb, which he turns down. Jokey offers Allura something of his own that she could have -- one of his "surprises"!

Quotes[]

"Tailor, what do you think? It's all coming together, no?"
"Gosh, it's all running together, if you ask me."

- Painter and Tailor commenting on the new painting being created.

Trivia[]

  • Brainy does not appear in this episode.
  • This episode was made in support of then-First Lady Nancy Reagan's anti-drug campaign. According to an Emmy consideration ad from 1987, she thanked the crew for "taking a stand" with the program.
  • The episode's story is an analogy of the effects of drug abuse, with the magic orb being what the TV Tropes website calls a Fantastic Drug or a G-Rated Drug. The Smurfs would later appear in a related crossover cartoon special, "Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue", which dealt with the effects of real-life drug abuse.
  • The scene with Harmony having the Smurfs speed up the music playing while he was under the influence of the magic orb may be a reference to a similar scene in the 1936 anti-drug film Reefer Madness, where a woman under the influence of cannabis is coerced by a man affected by the same drug to play faster on the piano.
  • In foreign airings of the episode, an alternate scene appears where Papa Smurf sprinkles magic powder on Jokey's surprise, which then turns Allura into a frog when she opens it. Also, Poet, Painter, Farmer, and Harmony have chains on their legs as they are held prisoners inside Allura's lair, which Hefty breaks them free from. The foreign version is the one that currently appears on the Smurfs' official English YouTube channel.
  • There is a goof in the American version where Allura retains her blond hair despite being in her true form.
  • This episode almost got the series cancelled due to Hanna-Barbera going against Peyo's wishes. Thankfully, Delporte got Peyo to wise up and production resumed as normal.
    • Ironically, the episode had an official audiobook produced by IMPS and distributed for Amazon for the Audible in 2022.
  • This episode uses a similar theme to "Scooby Dude" from A Pup Named Scooby Doo, "Prescription for Disaster" from The Littles, "To Eat or Not to Eat" from Arthur, and "Alone Again" from Jem.
  • The background music when Papa Smurf shows the now-clean Smurfs their work while under the influence of the orb was also used in "Baby's First Christmas".

Goofs[]

  • In the beginning, there is what appears to be Slouchy putting up decorations with Sassette, but he does not have his shirt.
  • When Papa Smurf tells the other Smurfs to get back to work, Painter's coat is white while his tie is black.
  • When Farmer says, "I've got seeds to plant", he speaks without moving his mouth.

Videos[]

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