Smurfs Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Smurfs Wiki

1981 TV Show Icon

"The Smurfs' Time Capsule" is a Season 3 episode from the Smurfs cartoon show.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

The Smurfs must solve a riddle from the time capsule to defeat the evil druids.

Plot Summary[]

Smurfs Time Capsule

One morning in the Smurf Village, a group of Smurfs notice Papa Smurf heading off into the forest, muttering to himself that something should happen soon if it's to happen at all. It makes them curious to find out, as they have seen Papa Smurf going off into the forest like that every single morning for the past week. They quietly follow after him as he heads toward a big boulder and hide behind a bush to watch him talk to the boulder, calling it "Paladore" for some reason. As the Smurfs wonder why he's talking to the boulder, the morning rays cause the boulder to produce a face, making them believe that it's turning into a monster. Hefty dives in to rescue Papa Smurf, but instead of scolding them, the village leader simply tells them that the boulder is simply a piece of Paladore, an old wizard who taught Papa Smurf everything he knew about magic, and now he's come back to give Papa Smurf a message. Paladore proceeds to tell Papa Smurf that the druids are returning with the moonrise that very night and that he must "dig for the riddle at the Altar Of Light".

As the face fades from the boulder, Clumsy asks what a "doo-dad" is. Papa Smurf answers that it's a druid, that they are evil wizards who once long ago lived on a mountain overlooking the forest, and they were the ones responsible for making Paladore and his people vanish. As for the Altar Of Light, Papa Smurf surmises that it must be talking about the place at Hemlock Hollow. He tells Hefty and Handy to get some ropes and shovels while he and the others head for the hollow, and warns them to hurry because they need to solve the riddle before the night comes.

Meanwhile, in another area of the forest near a series of erected stones, the sunlight strikes the top of the obelisk and strikes one of the trees, causing a druid to emerge from it. The druid hears the moans and cries of his brothers still trapped within the tree, knowing that Paladore has cursed them by trapping the druids inside the tree, and tells them to take heart, for that night is the night that they shall be free of the curse and be able to reclaim their domain.

Opening the Capsule (The Smurfs' Time Capsule)

Even Hefty can't open the capsule

At Hemlock Hollow, the Smurfs are digging in the ground looking for whatever this "riddle" is, with Brainy thinking that whatever magic thing it is must be useless by now. Soon they find something: an egg-shaped object with runes written around its circumference. They hoist up the object using a crane, and Papa Smurf sees that it's a time capsule. However, neither Hefty nor Handy could pry it open by using a crowbar, with Hefty snapping the crowbar in two with his attempt. Papa Smurf says that Paladore knew somebody would try to open the time capsule, so it can only be opened by magic. He tells his little Smurfs that they must take it back to the village so he can figure out how he can open it.

The druid leader heads for the series of erected stones on the hill to find something he had hidden away in case his people were sealed away by Paladore. He opens a secret passage hidden under a rock and enters it, seeing the very thing he is looking for: the Moonrock Amulet. He takes the amulet and hangs it on the tree that the druids are imprisoned in, saying that when the light of the full moon hits the amulet, the spell Paladore cast upon them will be broken, and they will free to walk the land. He is so excited that he accidentally says that the forest will be his... and when the druids moan, he amends that statement by saying the forest will be theirs.

Back in the village, the rest of the Smurfs look at the time capsule and wonder what it as could be inside as Brainy explains the purpose of it. Papa Smurf shows up with a few potions and pours one onto the capsule while reciting an incantation, but nothing happens. He pours another potion onto the capsule and recites another incantation, but it barely causes the thing to budge. Clumsy is fascinated by the runes imprinted on the capsule, and as he touches the center of one which stands for Papa Smurf, he presses a button, and the time capsule automatically opens. The Smurfs see for themselves what's inside the capsule: an ancient mirror that makes Vanity look ancient, a very primitive stone ax, and a stone tablet with Paladore's riddle chiseled on it. Papa Smurf tries to read it, but it's written in baby talk, which means the only one who would be able to read it is Baby Smurf.

As Papa Smurf places Baby Smurf on the tablet to read its contents, the voice of Paladore speaks through the infant: "You must solve this riddle, Papa Smurf, to stop the druids from walking the earth. Rock between rock between rock stops the release of the flock. A twig by itself is too weak; it's twigs in a bundle you seek.". After the voice falls silent, Hefty takes up Baby Smurf, and Papa Smurf goes into his laboratory to look through his books about druids. Smurfette comes up with the idea of building their own time capsule so that future generations will know what Smurfs themselves were like. Handy says that he can have one built in a few hours, which leaves the others with plenty of time to find or make something they can contribute to the time capsule.

Papa Smurf finds the book and opens it to look for the part of the riddle that speaks about "rock between rock between rock". He knows that one of the three rocks is the obelisk high on Druid Mountain, and the second is the Moonrock Amulet. But as he wonders what the third rock is that stops the spell, Clumsy asks what a "doo-dad" even looks like, and Papa Smurf shows him the picture of a druid that makes the young Smurf fearful. Papa Smurf tells Hefty and Clumsy that "it's twigs in a bundle I seek", so they are to gather up twigs while Papa Smurf tries to figure out what the third rock is. After Hefty and Clumsy leave, Baby Smurf voices his concerns which Papa Smurf intuitively shares, that this riddle is very challenging, and they must solve it by that night or who knows what would happen if the druids were let loose.

As the Smurfs in the village are busy watching Handy assemble a time capsule that he says will last for ten thousand years, they're already thinking of what they're going to put inside it. Meanwhile, Hefty and Clumsy are out gathering twigs in the forest when they come across the druid leader resting by the tree that the Moonrock Amulet is hanging upon. Hefty says that they should take the amulet and bring it to Papa Smurf, so they both quietly climb up the tree and try to pull the amulet off the branch together, only for Clumsy to almost fall right on the top of the druid. Hefty succeeds in getting the amulet to drop to the ground, and soon the two of them are dragging it back to the village. However, the druid leader awakens a little while later to find that his amulet is gone, and so with his magic staff, he follows the trail that was left behind to wherever the amulet was taken.

Back in the village, the Smurfs are having a fight over what should be put into the time capsule -- a fight that Papa Smurf had to step in and calm everybody down -- when Hefty and Clumsy show up with both the twigs and the amulet. Papa Smurf believes he has solved one part of the riddle, and to test it, he has Hefty break one single twig and then try to break a whole bundle at once, only to find that he couldn't. Papa Smurf says that the "twigs in a bundle" is talking about the Smurfs working in unity with each other, that as long as they work together as one, they will be able to withstand and conquer anything.

But Papa Smurf's contemplations are soon interrupted by the presence of the druid leader, who shows up in the village looking for the amulet, seeing Paladore's former apprentice Papa Smurf among the others. He strikes at the Smurfs with blasts from his magic staff, and one of them instantly vaporizes Handy's time capsule. Papa Smurf has the Smurfs put the Moonrock Amulet onto the catapult and launch it far away to get the druid away from the village. The druid leader says that he must go and look for the amulet, but he will return before the full moon has reached his hold.

Hefty wonders why Papa Smurf gave back the amulet, and Papa Smurf says that it can't help them, that only the third rock can stop the druids from escaping. Vanity says that the ancient mirror doesn't work at all, that it makes him look like a goldfish. Papa Smurf believes that it's not a mirror at all, that all the objects in the time capsule must have been left for Paladore by ancient wizards who battled druids since the beginning of time, so it's possible that the ancient mirror is the "third rock". He tells his little Smurfs that he will need to conjure up some spells to prepare for his battle with the druid, so he has Farmer, Painter, and Smurfette gather up some vines to use as ropes while Handy uses the stone ax from the time capsule to cut them. Hefty and Clumsy will be the ones to lead the Smurfs to the druids' oak tree, but when Brainy asks what he will do, he doesn't like what he was assigned with: watching over Baby Smurf.

A little later, as night begins to fall, Papa Smurf and his group of Smurfs see the druid leader hanging the Moonrock Amulet on the tree again and telling them about a little blue wizard that will be dealt with. The village leader has the other Smurfs remain in hiding while he gets the druid leader's full attention, and soon both druid and Smurf fight with each other by casting magic spells. When Papa Smurf was bound by some small twigs on a tree, causing him to drop his bag of magic powder, Baby Smurf offers some assistance by putting the druid leader inside a big jack-in-the-box, giving the village leader time to free himself and also giving the other Smurfs time to climb up the tree and use the "third rock".

Soon, the Smurfs see that the moon is rising over the obelisk, and as a ray of the full moon strikes the top of the obelisk, it sends a beam straight toward the Moonrock Amulet hanging on the tree. However, the ancient mirror which is hanging on a vine rope snap, which catches the druid leader's attention, and which makes Papa Smurf realize that the ancient mirror wasn't the "third rock" after all. But then the druid leader finds where Papa Smurf is and uses his magic to turn a dogwood bush into a real dog to chase after Papa Smurf. The village leader treats the magic dog like a real dog and has him go play fetch before he goes into hiding again, realizing that it's the stone ax that has the "third rock". Handy hears this and soon is lowered on a rope to place the head of the ax right into the moonbeam. The movement in the tree as the restless spirits of the druid await their escape is made still again, and the druid leader screams his defeat as he and the Moonrock Amulet disappears.

The Smurfs are glad that the druids are gone, and Brainy says he's glad they only have to deal with these every 500 years or so. Handy wonders how they were able to defeat the druids, and Papa Smurf says it's by unity that they achieved their victory because every Smurf played their part. Then with a little prompting by Baby Smurf, Papa Smurf says it's time for them to go home.

Videos[]

Advertisement