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Via The Telegraph, this remarkable news.

The people of Belgium have been left reeling by the first adult-only episode of the Smurfs, in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes.

The short but chilling film is the work of Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, and is to be broadcast on national television next week as a campaign advertisement.

Belgian television viewers were given a preview of the 25-second film earlier this week, when it was shown on the main evening news.

The reactions ranged from approval to shock and, in the case of small children who saw the episode by accident, wailing terror.


I watched The Smurfs on Canadian television all throughout my childhood. I, too, was upset when the producers ruined the show with a silly time travel plot thread. This new commercial actually does upset me. The Smurfs are intimately associated with my childhood, with simple pleasures as an elementary school student in front of the television. It feels like a violation, almost.

But then, that's the point, isn't it?
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