Review: The Smurfs “Smurfs in Disguise/Jokes on You”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Scaredy and Hefty dress up as girls and hide from Papa Smurf after breaking his telescope. Vanity decides to booby trap Jokey’s explosion box.

Our Take:

This is not a joke. This week, we have another batch of smurfy adventures that feature disguising Smurfs and a ton of explosive pranks. The question is, which one is more embarrassing than the other?

The first episode, “Smurfs in Disguise”, centers on Scaredy and Hefty cleaning Papa Smurf’s house before they accidentally break his telescope. Instead of facing the consequences, the two Smurfs hid from Papa, who’s determined to catch the suspects responsible. They then disguise themselves as two female Smurfs who’re “visiting” from the other Smurf village. Their idea quickly went from bad to embarrassing when they were forced to compete in an egg-carrying race with the other female Smurfs. This episode represented that there are consequences to every action. No matter how much you try to run from it, you can’t escape your punishment. While a bit predictable towards the end, it’s a humorous and fun depiction of Scaredy and Hefty trying and failing to be girls. Smurfette’s girl training and the egg-carrying race were my favorite parts of the episode regarding its slapstick humor.

Its second episode, “Jokes on You”, has Vanity and the other Smurfs plotting revenge against Jokey after getting pranked by his explosive gift prank multiple times. They used Powder Dragon drool to make an explosion gift that’s even bigger than Jokey’s. Unfortunately, Vanity’s “prank” resulted in the creation of miniature Jokey clones. Vanity and Jokey will have to work together to save Smurf Village from their annoying pranks and prevent them from launching Papa to the moon. This episode focuses more on Jokey, who constantly pranks the other Smurfs with his gift-wrapped bombs. It looks like he took some advice from Captain Hook. It showcased Jokey getting a taste of his own medicine when the mini versions of himself steal the spotlight. The execution of this storyline didn’t quite work well with the message it’s attempting to portray. However, its hijinks were enjoyable enough to offer some explosive entertainment.

Overall, these episodes don’t joke around as they deliver another batch of charming and enjoyable storylines that were less embarrassing than dressing up as a girl. “Smurfs in Disguise” was the clear winner in my eyes due to its humor being better than “Jokes on You” and its message. The episodes have done well in keeping the latest iteration of The Smurfs consistently delightful, and that’s no joke.