What were they THINKING?!
Oh my goodness... check this out.
Link
Ummm, yikes. Here's an excerpt from the press release and article, the British paper the Telegraph:
"The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.
Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.
The final frame bears the message: 'Don't let war affect the lives of children.' (emphasis added)"
Anyone think they didn't do any focus group testing or target market analysis? I'll do you one better: the filmmakers thought it would so the world some good to see dead Smurfs strewn across the burning ground...
"It is intended as the keystone of a fund-raising drive by Unicef's Belgian arm, to raise £70,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi." (emphasis added)