Smurfs/Smurfing in Sign Language

Smurfing in Sign Language
Season 3, Episode 28B
Airdate	November 19, 1983
Story by	Therese Naugle
Directed by
← 3x28A The Chief Record Smurf	3x29A → A Chip Off the Old Smurf
Smurfs — Season Three

Smurfing In Sign Language is part of the 28th episode of the third season of Smurfs, and the ninetieth episode overall.

Poet is asked to write a grand poem to celebrate the Rite Of Spring, but Gargamel's spell renders him mute. The Smurfs call upon their friend, Laconia, a mute wood elf, to help teach him sign language as Papa Smurf searches for a cure.

Voices:

Plot Overview

The cuckoo bird begins to sing, signifying the coming of spring. Papa Smurf declares the Rite Of Spring Festival, where there will be dancing, music and – as the main event – a grand poem celebrating Smurfedom. Poet is asked to write a special epic poem, to be read at sunset.

Meanwhile, Gargamel's latest scheme is to silence the Smurfs with a potion called "Sweet Silence." He tests out his potion on the cuckoo bird, which is rendered totally mute. He then finds Poet at work in the forest, practicing the words he had just written. As Poet realizes he is in danger and tries to flee, he is sprayed with the "Sweet Silence," and he too falls mute. While the cuckoo bird is still able to chase off Gargamel and Azrael, the evil wizard is still able to celebrate that the Smurfs can no longer warn each other when he's approaching and anticipates their swift capture.

Back at the Smurf Village, Papa Smurf and the others find out what happened, and then Papa Smurf sees the cuckoo bird is also unable to sing and realizes Gargamel was responsible. While Papa Smurf continues to figure out a remedy for Garga, he decides in the meantime to call upon a friend of his, Laconia, a beautiful young female wood elf who can hear but, because of a medical condition, is totally mute but knows sign language.

Laconia makes quick friends with the other Smurfs, and she quickly teaches the others he signs for words like butterfly bird, cat and Smurf, the latter placing both arms above her head and shaping them like a Smurf hat. Poet then calls upon Laconia for help in translating his poem into sign language and, accompanied by Papa Smurf, go into the forest for privacy.

However, Gargamel and Azrael are in the forest searching for the Smurf Village, and upon finding Laconia and her two Smurf friends, interrupts the lesson. Papa Smurf and Poet get away, and the cuckoo bird once again distracts Azrael, but Gargamel is able to capture Laconia and takes her back to his hovel.

Gargamel is determined to get Laconia to reveal the Smurf Village location and refuses to accept the fact that she is mute, so he plans to force it out of her by casting a new spell that can make the voiceless speak ... and to make sure she cooperates, he turns up the heat on the burner and moves it and a boiling cauldron below the cage where he is keeping her, suggesting she'll "warm up to the idea sooner rather than later."

Before Gargamel can cast his spell by speaking the incantation out loud, Papa Smurf and Poet step on the bellows Gargamel had placed on a shelf, spraying the "Sweet Silence" mist on Gargamel. Gargamel is stunned and tries to ask what happened, but Papa Smurf tells him he now knows what it's like to have no voice, and that if he harms either him (Papa Smurf) or Poet, there will be no one to recite the incantation to restore voices. He then conditionally offers to restore Gargamel's voice ... only if he sets Laconia free. Gargamel concedes, and then Papa Smurf begins to restore the voices, first with Poet, then the cuckoo bird and then Gargamel.

Papa Smurf then offers give Laconia a speaking voice, but Azrael – who had earlier been chased off by the cuckoo bird – has climbed back into the hovel through a window. Before Papa Smurf can begin the incantation, Laconia signals to him and Poet that Azrael is coming for them. They flee and Azrael accidentally knocks over the caldroun, which burns a hole through the book, including the page on which the incantation was written causing it to be lost.

Gargamel uses his restored voice to order Azrael to go after the Smurfs. They chase after them and have the Sweet Silence bellows, determined to silence them forever, and corner them on a log in the middle of a murky pond. It appears Gargamel has cornered the Smurfs ...

... until the cuckoo bird flies around Gargamel and Azrael. Gargamel tries to swat the bird away, but he and the cat lose their balance and fall into the pond. The "Sweet Silence" potion is lost, and Gargamel cries in defeat as the Smurfs and Laconia get away.

Back at the Smurf Village, the Rite Of Spring Festival is a huge success, and Poet begins to recite his poem, using both the spoken word and, with Laconia's help, sign language. Laconia also says she's perfectly fine with being mute, as she has lots of gifts just the same to share with her friends.