site stats WhizGidget Wonders...
Monday, January 14, 2008
Happy Happy Birthday...
...Oh no, not mine. And not the aftermath of the newly minted 12 year old's sleepover (oh geez, I still need a nap after all that). This is a totally different birthday.

An important birthday. Well, to some maybe. And it may not even truly be their birthday. I'll bet Papa Smurf knows for sure.

That's right, Papa Smurf. Allegedly today is the 50th birthday of the Smurfs. Those little blue annoying creatures that go around singing "lalalalalaaa" all the time because their world is so gosh darn happy.

Except when Gargamel is around. But I digress. I heard on the radio that it's their 50th birthday today. But other sources disagree and say that they first appeared in a comic strip in October 1958 - which puts their birthday about 10 months away.

So who's right? Who cares? What's annoying as all get out is that someone on a major local news-talk radio station (that reaches a couple of states) had this as part of the 11pm newscast. Since when are the Smurfs that important that their 50th birthday has to be announced on the radio?

Even better, it seems that the major radio station in question (KGO AM 810 out of San Francisco) had it wrong. I can't find anything reliable that proves the Smurfs were conceived of in January 1958, just that they premiered to the world in October 1958. That's really shoddy research on the part of the radio station.

But here's what's even more scary. In doing this little bit of research to find out the origin of the Smurfs - now that sounds scary, doesn't it? - I find that there's a major motion picture being developed that will release later this year.

In October. In conjunction with the celebration of the Smurfs *real* 50th birthday.

Someone please shoot me now.