A 3-D movie, a revamped TV series and new comics about the blue-skinned, happy-go-lucky Smurfs are set to launch this year, as the three-apple-high cartoon characters celebrate their 50th anniversary.

A 3-D movie, exhibits and new comics are among the events set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Smurfs, announced Monday in Brussels.
(John Thys/AFP/Getty)

An "invasion" of projects about Belgian illustrator Pierre (Peyo) Culliford's best known characters will begin later this month and end in October, the actual 50th anniversary, officials from IMPS, the group controlled by Peyo's family and rights holder for the Smurfs, said Monday.

Peyo died in 1992 but "if he could see all that has been done with his characters since his death, and the success and interest that the Smurfs still attract, he would be very…happy and very proud," said the illustrator's son, Thierry Culliford.

The Belgian illustrator, who worked under the pen name Peyo, introduced the Smurfs to readers in October 1958 as a quirky, gnome-like race encountered by the lead characters of his Middle Ages-set cartoon Johan and Pirlouit.

The wee forest-dwellers, originally called Schtroumpfs in Belgium, became so popular that by 1960 he had spun them off into their own comic series.

A deal with Hanna-Barbera in the 1980s helped introduce the Smurfs to a western audience. The cartoons eventually made the Smurfs popular around the globe.

Tour, exhibits, new works set for 2008

As well as a birthday tour set to hit European cities such as Brussels, Paris and Berlin, Peyo's family announced on Monday a host of Smurf-related projects in the works, including a new feature-length, 3-D animated film, art exhibits, the introduction of new comic books and a remastered release of the 1980s TV series.

The Smurfs will also star in a new campaign for UN children's agency UNICEF, officials said Monday.

"The Smurfs and UNICEF have a lot of values in common — values about joy, happiness and respect," said UNICEF Belgium spokesman Yves Willemont.

UNICEF last teamed up with the Smurfs in 2005 for ads highlighting the plight of children in warring African nations.
(Peyo/IMPS/UNICEF/Associated Press)

"We also have in common the fact that we are dedicated to the cause of children and to the promotion of every child and the right of every child to survive."

In 2005, the Smurfs appeared in a controversial UNICEF Belgium television advertisement that showed their cartoon village of mushroom houses attacked by rockets and some characters — including Smurfette — dead on the ground amid fire and devastation.

The ad was part of a fundraising campaign for UNICEF's efforts at rehabilitating child soldiers in war zones across Africa.

With files from the Associated Press