The Smurfs (TV series) Saturday morning cartoon "The Smurfs", produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with SEPP International S.A. (from 1981 to 1987) and Lafig S.A. (in the years 1988 and 1989), debuted on NBC in 1981. The series became a major success for the networkand one of the most successful and longest running Saturday morning cartoons in television history, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. The characters included Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, the evil Gargamel, his cat Azrael, and Johan and his friend Peewit. "The Smurfs" was nominated multiple times for Daytime Emmy Awards, and won Outstanding Children's Entertainment
The Smurfs that the Smurfs on either side had different ideas as to how the term "smurf" should be used: for instance, the Northern Smurfs called a certain object a "bottle smurfer", while the Southern Smurfs called it a "smurf opener". This story is considered a parody on the still ongoing "taalstrijd" (language war) between French- and Dutch-speaking communities in Belgium. When they first appeared in 1958, the Smurfs lived in a part of the world called ""Le Pays Maudit"" (French for "the Cursed Land"). To reach it required magic or travelling through dense forests, deep marshes, a scorching desert and a