Sleepwalking Smurfs (The Smurfs, 1981)

Sleepwalking Smurfs is a Season 2 episode of The Smurfs. It originally aired November 27, 1982 on NBC.

Summary
Thanks to Gargamel's magic flute, every Smurf begins to sleepwalk. Because of this, they get sleep deprivation and must destroy the flute.

Why It Sleepwalks into Failure

 * 1) This episode has a very rushed storyline. The plot of the episode does not actually start until halfway through the episode, as most of what had been leading to it was just about the Smurfs picking smurfberries and then Gargamel meeting the gypsy lady.
 * 2) Some of the Smurfs do things that would not normally be a part of sleepwalking, such as Greedy walking with a cake.
 * 3) For some reason, nobody actually gets super tired at all when they are sleepwalking and wake up completely active. In real life, people would suffer from sleep deprivation for a few days without getting an ounce of sleep.
 * 4) Once again, the writers aren't credited.
 * 5) Papa Smurf does not appear until halfway to the end, wasting potential.
 * 6) Gargamel keeps playing the flute while Painter Smurf is nearby, but he does not go to sleep.
 * 7) Smurfette, Painter and Handy get into an argument over certain things, which is pretty childish.
 * 8) The ending feels rushed, where Gargamel is being punished by Madame for giving her a fake ruby. Papa Smurf says that's music to his ears and the episode fades out abruptly.
 * 9) * On top of that, we never got to know why Gargamel created a fake ruby instead of searching for a real one.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Good animation and voice acting as usual.
 * 2) All of the Smurfs remain likeable for most of the episode.
 * 3) The flute song in general is a very harmonic song.