The little blue cartoon Smurfs are planning to celebrate their 50th birthday this year with a new TV series, books and a film, their human promoters said Monday.

Throughout 2008, 20 European cities will be flooded by the minute characters only "three apples high" as in the cartoons.

The Belgium cartoonist Pierre Culliford, best known by his pen name, "Peyo," first introduced the tiny blue figures in a comic strip in October 1958. He called them Schtroumpf and they became known worldwide as the Smurfs.

"The invasion will begin on January 20 and end in October," said Hendrick Coysman, head of the Belgian-based IMPS¹ group which holds the rights to the cartoon characters and is controlled by Peyo's widow Nine and children Veronique and Thierry Culliford.

The sale of tens of thousands of small figurines will benefit the United Nations Children's Fund, Coysman said.

A much larger Smurf statue, decorated by an unnamed celebrity², will be auctioned³ off on October 23, the 50th birthday date, with the proceeds also going to the UN's children's fund.

The Smurfs are also to head back to the big screen with a co-production with the US Paramount⁴ film group, Coysman said.

In an apparent nod to gender⁵ parity⁶, new female characters will also be introduced to the Smurf village to help out Schtroumpfette, the only female.

The cartoonist Peyo died in 1992 at age 64. Since then, his family and collaborators have continued his work "in the same spirit of humour and creativity," IMPS said in a statement.

Since their humble⁷ origins in the Belgian children's comic-strip magazine Spirou, the Smurfs have sold 25 million cartoon albums worldwide in 25 languages.

A testament⁸ of their enduring popularity: One million Smurf DVDs were sold last year alone, Coysman said.

 
卡通人物“蓝精灵”今年50岁啦！据主办方本周一介绍，为了给这群蓝色的小精灵“祝寿”，以“蓝精灵”为主题的系列新版动画片、图书和电影将与观众见面。

据介绍，庆祝活动将持续今年一年，欧洲20个城市将遭到“蓝精灵”的“突袭”，这些小精灵和漫画中一样，只有“三个苹果”高。

1958年10月，比利时漫画家皮埃尔•库利福德（笔名：皮尤）创造的“蓝精灵”卡通形象首次出现在连环漫画中，他给这群小精灵起名为“Schtroumpf”，也就是后来享誉全球的Smurfs（“蓝精灵”）。

比利时IMPS集团总裁亨德里克•考伊斯曼说：“蓝精灵‘突袭’活动将于本月20日启动，10月份结束。” 拥有“蓝精灵”版权的 IMPS集团由皮尤的遗孀奈茵和他的两个孩子弗洛尼克和希里•库利福德掌控。

考伊斯曼说，数万只“蓝精灵”的销售收入将捐给联合国儿童基金会。

由一位神秘人物精心装扮的一个“蓝精灵”巨人将于10月23日——“蓝精灵”50岁生日当天公开拍卖，拍卖所得将捐给联合国儿童基金会。

据考伊斯曼介绍，“蓝精灵”还将被“派拉蒙”影视公司搬上大荧幕。

为了体现性别平等，“蓝精灵”村还将迎来一批女性新成员，家族中唯一的女性成员“蓝妹妹”再不会孤单了。

“蓝精灵”的创造者皮尤于1992年去世，享年64岁。IMPS集团在一份声明中说，皮尤去世后，他的家人和合作方秉承了他“幽默与勇于创造”的精神，继续他的事业。

当年“蓝精灵”首次登上比利时《斯皮鲁》儿童漫画杂志时还是群不起眼的“小家伙”，但自它们面世以来，《蓝精灵》动画片在全球的销量达到2500万张，并以25种语言发行。

考伊斯曼说，《蓝精灵》DVD仅去年一年的销量就达到了100万，这足以证明“蓝精灵”的长久生命力。