The Legend of Smurfy Hollow is 22 smurfin’ minutes I can’t get back

Maybe my expectations for The Legend of Smurfy Hollow were a tad high considering I’m an adult and this is clearly a new DVD release from Sony Pictures Animation intended for children, but the premise seemed very promising to me. This was a DVD combining two things I’ve loved since I was a child growing up in the 1980s: The Smurfs and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The Smurfs remain a large part of my youth. Their blue, smiling faces aligned my shelves and their cartoon series always held a special place in my heart. Upon occasion, I still get their annoying theme song stuck in my head. (La, la, la, la, la … there, now it’s stuck in your head too. You’re welcome!)

Throughout the years, I’ve indulged in just about every format the classic Washington Irving tale has appeared in. I’ve obviously read the story – wasn’t that a standard part of everyone’s grade school education? I’ve sat through nearly every animated version of it from the classic 1949 Disney version narrated by Bing Crosby to a decidedly odd 1970s one and the 1988 PBS version that basically just showed the pictures from an illustrated copy of the book while Glenn Close narrated. I saw the 1999 Tim Burton movie in the theater and it remains one of my favorite Burton films, right on the heels of Edward Scissorhands and Frankenweenie. Hell, I’ve even listened to Boris Karloff tell the tale on vinyl (this was a recent discovery I made at a flea market and every bit worth the $1 purchase price).

Needless to say, I’m a great admirer of the fable of Ichabod Crane and I was looking forward to seeing the Smurfs sit around the campfire and bring the magic of the story to life once more, even if they were the recent CGI Smurfs and not the beloved ones I remember from my childhood. I fully expected them to recreate the key elements and characters. In my head, I envisioned Smurfette as the lovely Katrina Van Tassel, either Hefty or Gutsy Smurf as the rash Brom Bones, and perhaps Brainy Smurf as Ichabod Crane. I fully expected Papa Smurf to be the narrator and perhaps Greedy Smurf to be Baltus Van Tassel, the wealthiest farmer in Sleepy Hollow throwing all the lavish parties. I don’t know what I expected of The Headless Horseman – perhaps I thought it would end up being Gargamel trying to capture the Smurfs while in an elaborately frightening costume. These pairings make the most logical sense, right?

I’m sorry to disappoint anyone here, but that is not what happens in this movie. It begins with the CGI Smurfs around a campfire setting the scene for the telling of the tale but it quickly goes into a completely different yarn and moves to an animated format that is meant to make you think of the Smurfs of yesteryear. It turns out the Smurfs are in the midst of preparations for a Harvest Festival with one of the biggest events being a smurfberry-picking contest that Brainy Smurf apparently wins every year. This year, however, Gutsy Smurf is determined to become the new champion.

Gutsy follows Brainy to Smurfy Hollow, which is home of the legendary Headless Horseman and also the coziest selection of smurfberries untouched by the other Smurfs who are too afraid to tread there. Gutsy decides to play a prank on Brainy, making him think the Headless Horseman is after him, so that he can collect all the smurfberries for himself. A panicked Brainy ends up ensnared in a trap set by Gargamel, which Gutsy and Smurfette must attempt to free him from later on. Just when things appear their most dire, i.e. Gargamel and Azrael show up to collect all three Smurfs from their cages, the real Headless Horseman shows up and chases the bad guys away, all the way to the fabled covered bridge. And that’s pretty much all that happens, folks. The total running time of this DVD is 22 minutes, and it’s 22 minutes of your life you will never smurfin’ get back, as much as it pains me to say that.

The Legend of Smurfy Hollow does feature some really nice animation and an all-star cast, including Fred Armisen, Hank Azaria, Alan Cumming, John Oliver and Melissa Sturm, among others. If you have any little ones at home, I think they might enjoy this DVD more than I did, but otherwise I’d wait to watch it on TV – it’s being premiered Sunday, Oct. 27, during ABC Family’s 13 Nights of Halloween. With no bonus DVD features, it definitely wouldn’t be worth your smurfin’ money to buy it in my opinion. Maybe the next animated update of the tale will be better, or I suppose you could watch that new FOX show to satisfy any unresolved Headless Horseman yearnings in time for Halloween.