Organizers of the event in southern Germany have said they gathered more than 2,000 Smurfs. Participants had to cover every part of their body in either blue paint or in a costume.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Deck
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A large gathering in the southern German town of Lauchringen, near the Swiss-German border, broke the record for the largest concentration of people dressed as Smurfs.
The feat was provisionally confirmed by the Record Institute for Germany, but still needs the seal of approval from the Guinness World Records.
Organizers managed to gather 2,762 people dressed in the legendary comic and cartoon characters. The last record had been set in 2009 by 2,510 students of the Swansea University at Swansea Oceana in the UK.
To count, individuals had to adhere to strict rules. Only those already dressed as Smurfs and who participated in the group photograph would be counted.
All body parts had to be painted in blue or covered with the Smurf costume, and the signature white cap was mandatory.
Smurfs gathered in Lauchringen had to pose for a group pictureImage: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Deck
Organizers in Lauchringen had attempted to break the record was in 2016, but the group fell short with only 2,149 Smurfs. A spokesman for the event said that this year, more families with children were in attendance, which helped raise the number.
The Smurfs were created by the Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, known as Peyo, in the 1950s and are blue, small, gnome-like creatures who live together in a village.
As their popularity grew over time, their story transitioned to television cartoons and live-action/animated films.
jcg/sms (AFP, dpa)
60 years of Smurfs
They began as supporting actors and conquered the world: 60 years ago Belgian cartoonist Peyo published the first Smurfs story. The little blue creatures are now found in comics, films, a TV series and as gummi candies.
Image: picture-alliance/S. Reboredo
The leader
In 1958 cartoonist Peyo introduced the tiny blue-skinned characters in Spirou magazine as side characters in a comic set in the Middle Ages. They were a hit, and they soon got their own series. In the 1980s the Smurfs were turned into a TV series (photo). While most Smurfs are said to be about 100 years old, one episode reveals Papa Smurf be 546. The village leader is the only one to wear red.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
The archenemy
Always accompanied by his cat Azrael, the evil wizard Gargamel needs to capture Smurfs to create gold. He is apparently the only human being running around in this lost area of the world, and he's not very friendly. Luckily, all of his elaborate plans to catch the Smurfs inevitably fail.
Image: imago/Belga/A. Vanlathem
The creator
Pierre Culliford, best known as Peyo, first worked in an animation studio before publishing his first comic series in the newspaper "Le Soir." After he introduced the Smurfs in his "Johan and Peewit" comics, the popular characters gained their own series. Peyo directed the 1976 film "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" and supervised the US-Belgian TV series from the 1980s. He died in 1992, aged 64.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/A. Behrmann
The sleepyhead
The Smurfs are generally hard-working types, but there's one exception: Lazy Smurf, also known as Sleepy Smurf. He's the laziest of all smurfs and can be found sleeping anywhere at any time of the day. Most of the Smurfs are named after their personality traits. There are at least 100 different Smurf characters.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
The female
Long the single female of the series, Smurfette was created by Gargamel, who aimed to have her spy on the Smurfs and sow jealousy among them. She then became a real smurf after Papa Smurf changed her hair from black to blonde — just one of her stereotypically feminine features. The narrative scheme of having a single woman appear among a bunch of males has been dubbed the "Smurfette principle."
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
The film stars
"The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" was the first animated film starring the blue species. It premiered in 1976 in Belgium but was only released in 1983 in the US, following the popularity of the TV series. A trilogy of Smurf computer-animated films was released from 2011 to 2017. Critics weren't impressed; the new movies obviously didn't have the old-school charm of the original animated series.
Merchandising is another important part of the Smurfs phenomenon. Countless collectible figurines are still being traded to this day. The German confectionery company Haribo has also adopted the cap-topped Smurf shape for one of its gummi candies. They are strawberry or raspberry-flavored, and 100 grams contain 334 calories. Sweet.
