Saturday, July 2, 2011

 Most people dressed as smurfs: Smurfs Day sets world record (HD Video)

NEW YORK, USA -- In anticipation of the release of the upcoming movie "The Smurfs", 4,891 people dressed as Smurfs in Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Mexico, Panama, Poland, Russia, South Africa, USA and UK - setting the new world record for the Most people dressed as smurfs in multiple venues .

Photo: Hundreds gathered at South Street Seaport in NY as they joined dedicated fans in ten other cities to smash the world record for the biggest gathering of Smurfs. ( enlarge photo )

  The previous Guinness world record stood at 2,510.

Guinness World Records also recognized the Largest collection of Smurf memorabilia, owned by Andreas Süsser (Germany), who has 3,173 different Smurf items.

  The Smurfs, created in 1958 by the Belgian artist Pierre Culliford also known as Peyo, have proved hugely popular.
  Their original name is Les Schtroumpfs, a word born during a meal Peyo was having with his friend in which, having temporarily forgotten the word "salt", Peyo asked him to pass the schtroumpf.

  Later Peyo, already a successful artist whose father was English and mother Belgian, introduced little blue imp-like creatures into his existing stories about a medieval page and his sidekick, called Johan and Peewit.

  The Smurfs - as these creatures are called in English, having been taken from the Dutch name De Smurfen - were an instant hit and following pleas from children, Peyo began a dedicated comic strip.

  In 1981, Hanna-Barbera began to produce a cartoon series that resulted in 256 episodes, dubbed into some 30 languages and still being shown on more than 120 television channels around the world today.