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"The Smurflings' Unsmurfy Friend" is a Season 7 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters

Synopsis

The Smurflings befriend a prankster Woodsprite with some unsmurfy tricks up his sleeve.

Plot Summary

Starting in the forest, Gargamel is seen collecting honey from a beehive, dressed in protective clothes, with Azrael watching. He talks to the bees about their honey being useful in his latest scheme to capture the Smurfs. His apprentice, Scruple, relaxes nearby under a tree as he works; he questions the integrity of this "new plan" and his master insists "it's a honey of an idea, you lazy lunkhead!" He then proceeds to explain how his sticky traps will catch the Smurfs like flies.

At that moment in the bushes behind Gargamel, a Woodsprite pushes back a few branches and spots the humans. He chuckles and rubs his hands together, telling himself that they are just perfect for a prank. Indeed, as Gargamel speaks with Scruple further, he proceeds cut a hole in his pants with a pair of scissors followed by a summoned paintbrush - with this, he applies some honey at the cut sight and rushes back into the bushes while Scruple tries to unstick Azrael from Gargamel's hand. He grumbles, "Don't get a bee in your bonnet, Gargy," and the Woodsprite (still in hiding) whispers, "That's not exactly where he's gonna get it." He tosses a little red ball at the beehive above, angering the bees who then go after the humans since they have their honey. Gargamel and Scruple jump into a nearby pond to avoid being stung; the Woodsprite laughs at the sight of it and walks away feeling satisfied with his work.

Meanwhile, the Smurflings are riding in a cart being pulled by Puppy whose running is encouraged by an Azrael puppet on a string. Snappy gives Sassette the reins, but suddenly a bucket lands on Puppy’s head. Alarmed, he runs into a tree stump, sending the Smurflings into the pond below. When they surface, they hear the Woodsprite laughing and ask who he is. He reveals himself as Ripple before momentarily disappearing from sight. He returns to get his hat which Sassette picks up; not amused by his prank on them, he reconciles by giving her flowers. Forgiving him, they invite him to come to the village.

In the village, he spots Hefty lifting weights in his house and decides to prank him, so he tells the Smurflings to watch through the window while he sneaks inside. He hides under a floorboard and tickles the Smurf’s foot with a feather, causing him to drop the barbell and laugh. Then he appears outside again and leads the Smurflings away except for Slouchy who doesn’t think his sense of humor is all that humorous. He realizes that the barbell is rolling towards Baby Smurf, so he acts quickly to stop it. Then he catches up with his friends who are listening to Harmony play his trumpet. Ripple, annoyed by it, tosses the red ball and it gets stuck in the horn. He leads his friends away as he tells them “He’ll blow his blue block off” before he can play another note.

Harmony blows as hard as possible and manages to dislodge the ball, but it smashes Smurfette’s vase. She goes to Papa Smurf for help, and he assures her that the glue he’s making to mend his old book covers will work just as well on her vase. They leave his lab to gather the pieces, giving Ripple the chance to enter; he starts combining chemicals as a joke, and just when Papa Smurf and Smurfette return, he jumps out the window to oversee the results. When Papa mixes two chemicals together, it explodes.

At first the Smurflings take the blame for the mess, but Slouchy confirms their innocence by presenting Ripple as the true culprit. They explain that they let him into the village because he can do “all kinds of smurfy tricks” and they wanted everyone to meet him. Papa Smurf warns them about Woodsprites being unsafe creatures: “Their thoughtless pranks are a constant danger to everyone in the forest!” Offended, Ripple promptly leaves.

Later that night, he comes across Gargamel again and decides to prank him, but he finds it more fun when he has an audience, so he returns to the village to convince the Smurflings to join him. All but Slouchy agree, so they set up a tripwire which Gargamel activates – a tree branch whacks him and he crashes into a tree. Azrael spots the pranksters and chases them, but Ripple escapes by hiding in a hollow log; the Smurflings, however, are caught by Gargamel and taken to his hovel. Worried about their safety, Ripple rushes back to the village for help.

In the hovel, Gargamel and Scruple tend to the Smurflings as they sit in a tiny cauldron in a cage covered in a special “Smurf Marinade” as Gargamel calls it. Suddenly they are made aware of Ripple’s presence; Scruple recognizes him from earlier that morning and goes after him with a net. The Woodsprite creates a distraction for the humans long enough to let the captive Smurflings escape when their cage is knocked over. Just as they reach the window, though, Ripple is captured and the Smurflings realize they can’t leave him because he saved them first. Slouchy catches Gargamel’s attention: the wizard runs to the window only to slip and fall in the spilt marinade on the floor, thus freeing Ripple from his grip.

Having escaped successfully, he and the Smurflings make their way back to the village. The next day, Papa Smurf congratulates him for saving the Smurflings and learning that there are other ways to impress people besides pranks (which Ripple confesses was all he knew how to do). To demonstrate, he bestows gifts to Smurfette, Papa Smurf, and Brainy. Brainy’s gift – a feather quill pen – squirts his face, but Ripple assures him that it’s filled with disappearing ink. Papa confirms that “You can’t take all the sprite out of a Woodsprite,” and the episode concludes with every Smurf laughing.

Trivia

  • Despite being a known prankster like Ripple, Jokey does not appear in this episode, meaning he has never interacted with Ripple.
  • This is another episode where Slouchy does not agree with the other Smurflings' ideas.

Goofs

  • There is an animation error in this episode: at the scene where Smurfette is standing next to a window with her vase, her legs seem to be right inside the windowsill while the vase is suspended in the air.

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