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"The Prince And The Hopper" is a Season 6 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

After finding a prince that was turned into a frog, Smurfette, Sassette, and Poet travel to his castle to return him into his true form.

Plot Summary[]

The peaceful serenity of the Smurf Forest is disrupted by a pack of galloping horses with soldiers riding upon them, causing the wildlife to scatter. One of the riders is a sorcerer who tells three of the soldiers to search the east end of the forest while he and the others search the west. Their orders are to capture frogs in order to find a frog possessed by a "demon", which makes one of the soldiers think that the sorcerer is out of his mind. However, it doesn't deter another of the three soldiers from starting the job.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Smurfette takes the Smurflings out for a day of picking daisies, telling them not to pick the ones that are too big or too small. Slouchy couldn't tell which daisy is which, while Snappy and Sassette grumble about not having any excitement on their trip. Nat sees the frogs hopping around in the river and asks if there would be time for them to take a swim. Smurfette says that after picking daisies, they're going to busy making floral arrangements with them. Sassette's attention is then diverted to a frog hiding among the grasses, who gasps at the little Smurfling spotting him and then hops away with her chasing after him. Smurfette scolds at Sassette, saying that it isn't very ladylike, but Sassette is having too much fun chasing after the frog who then hops up onto a tree branch, hanging onto a leaf for safety. Sassette has Nat speak to the frog to show him that they mean no harm. To their surprise, the frog talks back, telling them to stay away, before he falls down to the ground.

Soon, Smurfette and the Smurflings see humans nearby, looking for frogs and capturing them and putting them in sacks. The frog tells the Smurfs that the humans are looking for him and that he needs to get away from them. He tries to hop away, but he gets the attention of his pursuers who then trap him behind a big rock. They see that he is the "demon frog" when he tries to speak and tell them that he is no demon, but they respond only by drawing swords, ready to make frog's legs out of him. Smurfette and the Smurflings come to the talking frog's rescue by releasing the frogs that the humans already captured, allowing the talking frog to escape with the Smurfs on the back of Feathers as they fly off to the Smurf Village. The talking frog finally tells his rescuers that he is a prince, which makes Smurfette sigh with wonder and the Smurflings think they have heard this story before. Smurfette thinks it's a story that Papa Smurf should hear and so she encourages Feathers to fly to the village.

At that location, Brainy and Clumsy help Poet carries a stack of parchment sheets to Poet's house, with Poet saying that soon he will be embarking on writing an epic novel, though the only thing he needs now is a subject big enough to write about. Brainy tries to offer Poet himself as the big enough subject for his novel, but soon every Smurf's attention is drawn to the visitor Smurfette has brought into the village: a talking frog who is really a prince. He introduces himself as Prince Theodore, who lives in a beautiful castle on the far side of the forest, or at least did until Morlock the court magician called him into his chambers and tricked the young royal into looking at a frog so that the magician could transform both frog and prince into each other's appearances. Morlock planned on taking control of the prince's kingdom through his pawn, but the prince escaped from the castle in search for help. To make matters worse, that very night is supposed to be the night when Prince Theodore was going to be married. Papa Smurf says he will look through his books to see if he can find a way to reverse the spell placed on the prince. In the meantime, Smurfette offers the royal a place to stay in the village, while Poet looks on and finally decides that he has a subject to write his story about.

Soon, as Papa Smurf is busy looking through his books about frog princes, Smurfette is busy treating the frog prince like royalty: having Handy build him a throne to sit on, having Tailor sew him a robe to wear, and having the Smurflings bring him a stool to rest his feet on, among other things. Prince Theodore appreciates all the effort Smurfette has put into giving him a royal welcome. Poet, in the meantime, shows up with about the first half of his novel of the frog prince already written, which astounds Prince Theodore with how fast the village muse has worked. All Poet needs now is how to make the story have a happy ending, and Papa Smurf shows up with a solution as to how: the frog prince spell can only be reversed by a kiss from one who loves him the most. Prince Theodore says that the only one who does love him the most would be Lady Jasmine, his fiancée, who unfortunately is residing in his castle which is under heavy guard by Morlock. Smurfette says they could fly him into the castle on Feathers so he would get his kiss. Papa Smurf warns Theodore that he must receive his kiss soon, or else Morlock's spell would cause the prince to lose his voice and then he would be all frog forever.

Soon, Smurfette, Sassette, and Poet are escorting Theodore back to the palace with Feathers flying them there. Poet sees the castle, and Sassette notices how decorated the castle's walls are. Theodore points out that the decorations are for a wedding...and it's his wedding, which means they've got to get him back into a prince soon before the wedding takes place.

Inside the castle, Lady Jasmine is talking to Madame Lavinia (the marriage broker who was originally paid to marry Gargamel to Andria in "Wedding Bells For Gargamel"), commenting on how everything looks so lovely for her marriage to the prince. Madame Lavinia tells Morlock that the prince has been actually rather peculiar lately, and Morlock simply tells her that it's only wedding nerves, that he's "just a little jumpy". He then sees the fake Prince Theodore at the door of the banquet hall and calls him forth to bring a bouquet of flowers to give to the young lady. Madame Lavinia notices how strange the prince sounds, and Morlock just says he's got "a frog in his throat". As Lady Jasmine goes to put the flowers in a vase, Lavinia asks the prince what he thinks of the food for the wedding, but the fake prince is too distracted with a fly he wants to catch with his tongue and says "yum, yum" as he hops off after it.

The scene in the banquet hall doesn't go unnoticed by the Smurfs and the real Prince Theodore, who are now watching Morlock, and Lavinia go their separate ways from the rafters. They decide to follow after Lady Jasmine so that he could explain to her his situation and then he would get his kiss. On their way to her chambers, Poet notices how terrible Jasmine sings as she sings "Here Comes The Bride", though Theodore just simply adores the sound of her voice. The Smurfs wait outside as the real prince goes in alone to try explaining himself, but soon they hear objects being thrown and breaking as Theodore is chased out of the room, going back into hiding behind a tapestry with the Smurfs. They watch as Morlock and Lavinia show up outside Jasmine's door and she tells them there was a frog in her room, that she just can't stand frogs. While Lavinia tries to calm the young lady down, Morlock calls for one of his guards, telling them that there's not supposed to be any frogs in the castle and to look for this frog that managed to get inside.

While Lavinia sees that Jasmine gets her beauty rest after explaining that she has a lifelong fear of frogs, the Smurfs and Theodore watch until the marriage broker leaves, having placed a cloth over the young lady's eyes. Then Theodore hops down and tells Jasmine not to open her eyes while he tells her what has happened to him. Jasmine is in total disbelief with what she hears and thinks that his being turned into a frog is all a joke, but he tries to assure her that it is not a joke by having her open her eyes to look at him. The moment she does, though, she screams as all she sees is a frog, and then faints back to sleep. Theodore tries to wake her up so that she could kiss him, but suddenly Morlock enters the room and finds the real Theodore in Jasmine's bedchamber, ready to capture the royal as there are no windows in the room for him to jump out of. Smurfette, Poet, and Sassette push one of the sheets onto Morlock to blind him while they and Theodore escape from the room. Morlock and the guards give chase, but the four succeed in eluding them by hiding inside a suit of armor in the hallway.

Soon, Lavinia is escorting Jasmine down the same hallway, with the young lady telling the marriage broker that she has dreamed of her beloved prince being turned into a frog. They also see the fake Prince Theodore passing by them, hopping like a frog after a fly, which makes Lavinia seem not surprised by what Jasmine had "dreamed". Theodore sees that there's going to be a problem trying to convince Jasmine that he is truly turned into a frog, and Sassette thinks that they themselves should tell Lady Jasmine what has happened. Smurfette tells the young Smurfling about Papa Smurf's warning of not revealing themselves to humans, but when Sassette reminds her that Jasmine "flips her smurf" every time she even sees him, all Smurfette could say is that "the one who loves him the most" hates him the most. In their private snooping of Jasmine's talk with Lavinia as she prepares herself for the wedding, Smurfette and Sassette see that the young lady truly doesn't love Theodore at all, that she's only marrying him for the money. This makes it important for the two Smurfs to warn Prince Theodore about Lady Jasmine.

However, just as Smurfette and Sassette are about to tell Theodore the truth they discovered, Poet warns them about footsteps, and so they remain quiet inside the suit of armor and watch as one of Morlock's guards escorts Jasmine to the wedding hall. Theodore thinks he may have one more chance for a kiss from her, and so he distracts Jasmine by saying he wanted to get one peek at her before the wedding and tells her to close her eyes while he gives her one little kiss. Jasmine closes her eyes and Theodore briefly peeks out of the armor to give her a kiss, but afterward sees that the kiss has no effect. Soon Morlock appears and finds the young lady standing near the suit of armor, telling them the prince is waiting for them inside the hall. The guard says that the prince is actually inside the suit of armor, and after the guard leaves with Jasmine, Morlock reaches inside the armor and grabs the frog prince, throwing him inside a dungeon that he can't escape from. Theodore notices as he speaks to Morlock that he's starting to lose his voice, which means that soon the frog transformation spell will be permanent, and he will remain as a frog forever.

Fortunately, the three Smurfs have sneaked their way into the dungeon with the key, hoping to break the prince out before the transformation is complete. While the wedding ceremony proceeds, Poet and Sassette manage to unlock the door, but Theodore is now no longer able to speak. Smurfette tells the prince not to worry, because they will take good care of him, and gives him a kiss. Suddenly, the kiss turns Prince Theodore back into a human, which reveals that Smurfette is the one who loves him the most. At the same time, when Lady Jasmine gives the fake Prince Theodore a kiss at the ceremony, he turns back into a frog, scaring the prospective newlywed and causing Morlock to make a run for it until the real Prince Theodore catches up to him and calls for the guards to capture him.

Later on that night, as the Smurfs are preparing to return home, Prince Theodore is grateful for the Smurfs' help in restoring his kingdom. He has called the wedding off, though he couldn't understand what Lady Jasmine was saying because she was too busy washing her lips. Theodore only wishes that Smurfette was a human, but Smurfette tells him that he will find the right woman to marry someday. Poet is eager to get back to the village so he can finish off his novel, and so they have made their goodbyes.

Trivia[]

  • The episode title is a play on the classic story title, The Prince And The Pauper.
  • The first of two episodes featuring the character Prince Theodore as well as his nemesis Morlock. They both appear again in "Gargamel's New Job".
  • In the syndicated version of the episode, the entire soundtrack was in 2x higher than usual in pitch octave.
  • This episode shares some similarities to the fairytale of The Frog Prince.

Videos[]

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