Absolutely Smurfing Right There's a Smurf Movie

Contrary to popular belief, The Smurfs (or Smurfs 3D, as it's sometimes referred to in the village) is indeed happening. A mix of live action and 3D animation, the film will smurf to theaters on July 29, 2011, pushed back from its original release date of December 17, 2010. The project will be directed by Raja Gosnell, who's no stranger to bringing old cartoons to the big screen, having directed both Scooby-Doo movies (which, admittedly, weren't too bad, really, sort of). Casting rumors run amok with names like John Lithgow as Papa Smurf and Wallace Shawn as Gargamel.

The Smurfs have been around longer than you probably realize, having been introduced to the outside world by Belgian cartoonish Peyo and making their first appearance in Spirou magazine on October 23, 1958. They gained worldwide popularity, of course, with the Hanna-Barbera animated series, The Smurfs, which aired from September 1981 to August 1990. They've also been the target of political controversy, as the whole concept of people who basically all look alike and live off the land and for the greater good of each other and take orders from a guy in a red hat has certain similarties to, oh, communism and socialism, but we won't get into that. Yet.