'Smurfs' Director Chris Miller Talks Animation Influences and Enduring Appeal of the Franchise
Animation veteran Chris Miller brings the beloved BAND OF BLUE characters back to the big screen.
Ahead of the Smurfs’ return to the big screen in a new animated film of the same name, director Chris Miller (Puss In Boots, Shrek The Third) sat down with FilmSpeak to discuss the creative influences of the new Smurfs film, different conversations that were had about revitalizing the brand, and why he feels these characters have endured across the decades.
The new Smurfs film is the first to be developed and released by Paramount Pictures. Previously, the Smurfs’ feature film outings had been with Sony, such as the two live-action hybrid films from Raja Gosnell, and 2017’s Smurfs: The Lost Village, a fully animated film. Miller knew a new iteration of the Smurfs would have to take new creative liberties with the storied characters, and did so by taking visual influence from the early parts of Smurf history, notably, their origins in the Peyo comic strips. Miller explained his desire to adapt The Smurfs in this way, claiming that, “Those designs, in particular, those original Peyo comics really spoke to me, aesthetically, especially the movement on the comic page. They’re iconic, right, the designs. I remember way back when, thinking, “If I ever get a chance to make the Smurfs movie, they should look like this, you know? The movie should have the DNA of these comics in them.” Miller also alluded to the comic Smurfs’ specific movement, which he found to be especially unique, and drew from when creating the new film.
Similarly, on the visual front, Miller was sure to pay homage to different generations of animation, feeling that the inherent zaniness of The Smurfs would support such departures from visual rigidity, with his Smurfs film incorporating different animation styles. Miller explained his creative process, claiming, “There’s so much nostalgia tied to Smurfs, you know? Talking about like way back when, and generational connection with Smurfs. Part of that personally, was thinking like, “Oh, I’d want to see what a Smurf looks like in this style. What would a claymated Smurf look like?” But not like quality, Nick Park, Aardman style claymation. Kind of crude, not the most articulate animation, I thought that’d be fun. 8-Bit, Atari, style graphics, from the 80’s. I realized early on that this is all just stuff that I loved, growing up. Any style of animation, I’m obviously a big fan of, and I want to honour stuff from the past, stuff that influenced me growing up.”
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Though the iconic ‘legacy’ Smurfs can all be found in the new outing, Miller’s Smurfs places an emphasis on a brand-new protagonist, No Name, a Smurf with no defining trait, voiced by James Corden. Chris Miller spoke about why he and his creative team opted to create a new lead character in this storied franchise, claiming that “centring this story on a Smurf with no name, when everyone else is properly identified already, and kind of come with their identity, it made for good storytelling. Good character study stuff, especially. No Name is a Smurf with no name, therefore that doesn’t make sense to him, and so he’s gotta find out his thing, and if he doesn’t have his thing, he’s going to never truly belong.”
The film boasts a star-studded voice cast, including John Goodman as Papa Smurf, and singer-songwriter Rihanna as Smurfette in leading capacities, with an extensive supporting cast that includes the likes of Kurt Russell, Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Dan Levy, and many more. Miller reflected on the large amount of Smurfs and concepts for Smurfs that he and the production team could incorporate, claiming, “ there can be thousands of Smurfs, with more out there, and to me that’s just comedy you can find. There’s a lot of good jokes with absurd Smurfs.”
Another new element to the 2025 Smurfs film comes in the musical elements. While the Smurfs have always been tied to music, with their iconic ‘Happy Song’ from the Hanna Barbera days, the new film features scenes where characters break out into song, chanting pop ballads and more cathartic pieces, as well as a series of ‘needle-drops,’ many of which are new songs produced for the film. Miller explained that the film’s “sonic landscape” was created in partnership with the iconic music label Roc Nation, and Rihanna herself. Miller felt that the film’s sonic identity helps to differentiate it from its predecessors, claiming that, “It’s different, and it’s always pushing to be different, even when it’s a ballad in an animated movie, it pushes itself to being unique, and something that stands on its own.”