Where To Watch
Lucille Bliss, voice of Smurfette, on why The Smurfs are well-loved
The secret to Smurfette's success!
It's quite a feat for a Belgian comic strip to become an American cartoon, and not just any American cartoon, but a cartoon that exists in the Mount Rushmore of classic cartoons. In 1981, Hanna-Barbera adapted Les Schtroumpfs and transformed them into The Smurfs, unexpectedly creating a hyper-successful cartoon franchise that continues to produce movies to this day.
The original series spanned nine seasons, with 256 episodes and seven television specials. This long run was a rarity; at the time, even super successful cartoon shows did not go past two seasons or 22 episodes. The original cast featured legendary cartoon voice actors like Frank Welker (Hefty Smurf), Don Messick (Papa Smurf), and June Foray (Jokey Smurf), but it was Lucille Bliss, the voice of Smurfette, who explained why she thought the little blue guys were such a hit.
In an interview with the Leader-Post, Bliss said, "Everybody loves a fantasy. People love the characters and the stories. It's like being at one big, happy party." We couldn't agree more. The Smurfs is a happy cartoon with magic, rainbows, and unicorns, but amidst the positivity the show featured real-life lessons about friendship and loss, like in Bliss's favorite episode "Squeaky".
"I cried over that, I thought that was so beautiful." Bliss tearfully recalled in an interview with the Television Academy, "She loved that little mouse, Squeaky, he was everything to her...then everything went away."
"Squeaky" is the episode where Smurfette adopts an injured mouse as a pet. Her fellow Smurfs help nurse him back to life and fall in love with Squeaky too. Then, Squeaky unexpectedly passes away, and in her grief, Smurfette runs away. It's an episode that teaches audiences about love, grief, loss, death, and how to support a friend grieving a loss. It is truly one of the best episodes of The Smurfs.
Bliss felt The Smurfs was a perfect show for viewers of all ages, "Smurfs help one another, they're kind and loving and understanding. There's nothing violent about them."
