BLAST, FROM THE PAST: Do you remember the episode of The Smurfs cartoon where Chunky Smurf started taking fen-phen and died of pulmonary hypertension?

smurfco

smurfco

Meatus McPrepuce
The Smurfs cartoon was usually pretty cheery, breezy animated stories of hijinks and life in Smurf Village, but there was that one episode where Chunky Smurf (usually a background character) got some mail-order Fen-Phen against the recommendations of Papa Smurf and then he wound up dying of pulmonary hypertension? And then he was never mentioned again for the rest of the series?

Do you think that was a little too much reality for this children's TV show? Sound off in the thread below!
 
It's hard to find video of the episode online but I did find this recap and a screen grab of the episode:

It was a sunny morning in Smurf Village, the kind of morning where the dew still sparkled on the mushrooms and birds chirped like they knew everyone’s favorite tune. Chunky Smurf lumbered out of his mushroom house, clutching a small brown package to his chest like it contained the secret to eternal Smurfberry pie.

He’d been self-conscious lately. His belly jiggled more than he liked during the morning Smurfercise classes. Vanity Smurf had made an offhand comment about “slimming down for spring,” and even though he didn’t mean anything by it, it stuck with Chunky like burrs in his overalls.

So, when he stumbled across a crudely-scrawled parchment ad promising “INSTANT SLIM-SMURFING! GUARANTEED!” with a mushroom-shaped return address outside the village, he ignored his better judgment. And Papa Smurf’s warnings.

“This isn’t a decision to make lightly, Chunky,” Papa Smurf had said, gently adjusting his red cap. “Anything that changes your body so quickly comes with risks. Let me help you find a healthier way.”

But Chunky had already sent away his five shiny acorns and received the pills—green and yellow, packed with mysterious herbs and synthetic powders. “Fen-Phen,” the label read, though neither Chunky nor any other Smurf had ever heard of it.

Within days, Chunky seemed to be changing. He sweated more during Smurfball games. He breathed a little harder after walking up the hill to the bakery. He skipped meals, citing a lack of appetite. His once-cheerful round cheeks lost some of their color, and he began taking breaks to catch his breath more and more often.

“I’m fine,” he insisted to Clumsy, gasping. “Just need... a minute…”

By the end of the week, the Smurfs found him collapsed behind the well, gasping and clutching his chest. His skin had a bluish-gray tint, and his lips, usually a cheerful cornflower, had deepened to an ominous violet.

Papa Smurf was at his side in moments, summoning all his medical knowledge—but it was already too late. Chunky’s heart was failing under the strain. His lungs were heavy, unable to carry enough oxygen to his tiny frame. The damage was done. Fen-Phen had triggered severe pulmonary hypertension, an increase in blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs, leading to heart failure.

Chunky Smurf died that evening, surrounded by his friends.

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I remember the part where he was never mentioned again. This thread suffers from a lack of replacing words with "Smurf". Chunky Smurf would have over smurfed on Smurf-Smurf and died of pulmonary smurfertension.
 
Andrew Sak said:
My Smurf watching cherry is still intact.

Were they any good?
Click to expand...
were they any good?

were they any good?!

...no not really. but there was something about them that I found so enrapturing as a child. maybe it was the spirit of togetherness that ruled smurf village. maybe it was because they were only three apples high. maybe i was just a demented trick. but for whatever reason those little blue... fuckers... captured my imagination and inspired a lifetime of joy.
 
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