Friday, March 19, 2010

'Smurfs' Cast Gets Bigger, the Main Characters Stay Tiny

Those of you who care about the upcoming live-action/CGI hybrid adaptation of "The Smurfs" will probably like to know that the movie is moving forward with some new cast members.

Entertainment Weekly has sources who say that Hank Azaria, Katy Perry and Jayma Mays have joined "The Smurfs" cast, which already features Neil Patrick Harris (playing the lead live-action character), George Lopez and Alan Cumming.

Azaria is best known for his voice acting work on "The Simpsons," voicing characters like Apu and Moe. He will play the evil Gargamel, sworn enemy of "The Smurfs," but it is indicated that he will only be playing the voice of Gargamel. So Gargamel is gonna be animated too? That's weird since I'm sure he was a human in the cartoon.

What's interesting though is that co-star Neil Patrick Harris Tweeted that Azaria will be playing him on-screen - not just providing the voice.We'll have to wait an see to find out more.

Perry is a well-known popstar (yet I have no idea who she is - shows my love of modern music) who will be voicing Smurfette. So why is a pop singer voicing on the of Smurfs? OH RIGHT, she's probably gonna have a song on the soundtrack. Duh, what was I thinking.

Jayma Mays is best known for playing the guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury in "Glee." She will play the pregnant wife of Neil Patrick Harris’ character.

I'm assuming that the Venn Diagram of Neil Patrick Harris fans and "Glee" fans has quite a bit of overlap. The NPH Fans oval of the diagram is large, and inside that oval are the "Glee" Fans. I figure there are a few weirdos who like "Glee" and not Neil Patrick Harris, but there must not be enough of them since NPH will cameo (and sing) in an upcoming episode. Though I admit to never having watched the show.

"The Smurfs" will be directed by Raja Gosnell ("Beverly Hills Chihuahua") and it centers on the aforementioned expectant couple’s lives being turned upside-down upon meeting the tiny blue creatures. It will take place in New York’s Central Park.

Personally I don’t really like the direction they’ve decided to go in with the big-screen version of "The Smurfs." To me it would be best kept totally animated, done in the style of "Shrek" or "Kung Fu Panda." The current CGI/live-action format stinks of films like "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Garfield."

At any rate, this is shaping up to be like the rest of those other bad movies based on '80's kid shows. Hapless humans stumbling across CG animated beings that will mostly spew pop culture references and say "My bad" at least once? I guess that's all you need nowadays for this type of flick. Do kids these days even know what Smurfs are? Heck, I've only seen a few episodes in my youth - so I'm not an expert on them as well.

I just know they didn't live in New York and weren't pestering couples dealing with pregnancy.

At least they have a half-way decent cast...

Do you like the voice casting so far for "The Smurfs"? Do you like the "Alvin and the Chipmunk"-esque way they’ve decided to go with the movie?

After being pushed back from its original December 17, 2010 release date, "The Smurfs" 3D is now set to hit theaters on July 29, 2011.
Sources: Screen Rant, Latino Review (1,2)

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