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Smurfs theme park to be built in China

by Leigh Caldwell (RSS feed) on Sep 7th 2010 at 5:30PM

Papa Smurf and his band of blue men (and one sexy Smurfette) are headed to China.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that a $2.9 million Smurfs theme park is set to open in three to five years in Chengdu.

Chengdu is best known for its pandas, but there's a movement there to smurf up the tourism numbers, and this new theme park is part of the plan.

The Smurfs were dreamed up in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. At the height of their popularity in the 1980s, the Smurf€s pulled in 42 percent of Saturday morning cartoon audiences in the United States.

But then they smurfed out of view in most of the world. A Smurfs theme park in France struggled to survive during the 1990s, and while the park is still there today, the Smurfs are not.

The WSJ says since their 50th anniversary in 2008, the Smurfs seem to be making a comeback. There are new Smurf toys on store shelves and the classic series has been released on DVD. A live-action/animation hybrid Smurfs movie starring Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry is set to be released in 2011.

Filed under: Asia, China, Theme Parks