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Bottom line:: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow has the new CG animated Smurfs introduce a spooky tale. The animation then switches to 2D for a Smurfy adventure based on the famous story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The movie is short, but fun for Halloween time.
MPAA Rating: G
Genre: Animated
Guide Age Recommendation: 4+
Runtime: 22 minutes
 

The Legend of Smurfy Hollow - Overview

A few of the new CG animated versions (from the movies) of the Smurfs are telling stories around the fire.

The animation switches to 2D, hand-drawn in the classic style of The Smurfs, as Narrator Smurf tells the story of The Legend of Smurfy Hollow.

In the story, Brainy smurf has been crowned the winner of the annual Smurfberry Hunt for years. This time, Gutsy smurf follows Brainy to find out just what his secret is. When Gutsy sees what Brainy has been up to, he devises a plan to upset the berry cart and steal the win from Brainy.

Unfortunately, Gutsy's plan goes a little awry and he and his friends must contend not only with the evil Gargamel, but also with the legendary ghost of the Headless Horseman. Is the Legend of Smurfy Hollow really true? And will the Smurfs be able to thwart both Gargamel and the ghost?

 

The Legend of Smurfy Hollow - Guide Review for Parents

The Legend of Smurfy Hollow is a fun little story based on Washington Irving's classic haunted tale that has some spook factor but is not too scary for kids. While the Smurfs do get chased by the ghost of the Headless Horsemen -- a scene which could be frightening for some very young children -- all ends well and no Smurfs are hurt.

The movie is very short, at only 22 minutes, which is the only real drawback to buying the movie on DVD. Since the story is a famous one, there are a couple of other animated versions you could watch to make a longer night of it or draw the Sleepy Hollow theme out over a few days. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Disney DVD contains an animated version of the story that is a bit scarier than the Smurfy version. While Curious George has a more loosely based and decidedly less scary version in the DVD The Halloween Boo Fest.

Have kids compare and contrast the stories in the different similarly themed animated shows, and maybe even encourage them to come up with a Headless Horseman story of their own or draw a Halloween Headless Horseman scene to hang up as a decoration. You can also tell them a little bit about the original story and talk about how different versions of the same story can seem scarier or not based on how the story is told, the characters involved, the style of animation and more. Helping kids understand the literary and animation techniques used to retell a classic will help them develop early literacy and thinking skills. And, dissecting the storytelling techniques could help take away some of the spook factor by getting them talking about fiction stories and how they are just the creative figments of our imaginations.

 

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