The Smurfs are an entire village of little blue creatures that all look more or less exactly alike with the exception of Papa Smurf. Since they all look the same, they are all named for their personalities, like Brainy, Jokey, Hefty, and Clumsy. In the television show, The Smurfs, they also have a few friends that know about the village, like Johan and Peewit. For the movie, The Smurfs and the Magic Flute, these two are called Sir John and William (even though the extras Character Guide still refers to them as Johan and Peewit). In an effort to entertain, William is always trying to sing and play music, but since he is not very good at either, he fails miserably. When an instrument peddler comes to town and accidently leaves behind a flute, it looks like William’s luck has changed. The flute is magical and everyone who hears the music from it can’t help but to dance until they collapse! William thinks that this is great entertainment, but the kingdom isn’t happy with it. Sir John goes to get the flute from William, but before he gets there, the flute is stolen by a very bad guy, McCreep.

McCreep uses the flute to disable people and steal everything they have. Sir John and William are going to have to get it back to save the kingdom. To figure out what to do, they go see the wizard, Omnibus. He tells them that the Smurfs made that flute so they are the only ones who will be able to tell them how to stop it. They ask him how to find the Smurfs, but he can’t tell them as no one knows the road there. He can, however, hypnokinesis them and transport them there. Once he does, the Smurfs tell them that the flute cannot be stopped. Instead, they will make a second flute so that William can use it to make McCreep drop his. Making a flute like that isn’t easy though. It has to be carved from the heart of a specific tree, so Sir John and William will just have to hang out with the Smurfs while they wait on it. They find that the Smurfs' way of life can be very confusing as they just can’t get the hang of when to use “smurf” in conversation to get the right items. Once they have the second flute, will they still be able to stop McCreep before he robs the entire kingdom?

To review The Smurfs and the Magic Flute, I watched it with a 5 year old. While she was entertained, the fact that it took 22 minutes for the Smurfs to be heard and 35 minutes total before they actually appeared on the screen was a bit of a disappointment. It felt so long that we had to look at the back of the box just to confirm that the Smurfs really were in the movie as she really wanted to see the Smurfs, not the silly medieval people. Once the Smurfs were around, it really picked up though. There are some Extras, but they really just more text-based (other than the Gallery) information about the Smurfs, so there’s not much that will entertain a child there. It was interesting to me, though.

If you’re looking for a family-friendly way to re-live your own childhood, check out The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. While I can’t promise that your kids will love it, they’ll most likely like it and you will get to feel like a kid again yourself.