When my kids first asked me how old the Smurfs were, I told them that they were probably around 30 years old. I can remember watching them on television around 1980. However, it turns out that the Smurfs are actually much older than that!

According to the official Smurf website, they originated back in 1958 as secondary characters in a story of Johan & Peewit by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. After decades of showing up in different forms in different countries, the Smurfs that I remember showed up in the United States. The Hanna-Barbera produced cartoon started appearing in the US in 1981 and ran through 1989 on NBC.

As for the ages of the Smurfs, most are said to be at least 100.