Less than two weeks ago UGO stomped through the Smurf Village and came back with the first photo of the first CG rendered Smurf for Raja Gosnall's forthcoming live action/animation feature adaptation of everyone's favorite blue, Belgian communists.
Today we've got some new news. Our well placed source - we'll call him Deep Mushroom - has the word on who has been cast to voice Papa Smurf. That man is Jonathan Winters. And our reaction is. . . yeah? Wow. Awesome.
The 84-year-old Winters hasn't been much in the public eye lately, but those who know their comedy history know he is a legend. I have vague memories of seeing him on Johnny Carson and Mork and Mindy and my Dad thinking he was the funniest thing on two legs. Certainly I know his work from two of the all time great idiotic comedies of the 1960s with absurdly lengthy titles It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming!
Call me crazy, but casting Winters bodes well for The Smurfs. It lends it an air of class and, who knows, maybe they'll let him cut loose with some insanity on the mic. We're keeping our blue fingers crossed for this movie.
And now, here's Jonathan Winters showing he already knows how to wear a red suit. (Film nerd note: was this the commercial Michael Dorsey was talking about?)
