The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs; Dutch: De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (the pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, wherein they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than 100 Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasise their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow Smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.The word "smurf" is the original Dutch translation of the French "schtroumpf", which, according to Peyo, is a word he invented during a meal with fellow cartoonist André Franquin when he could not remember the word salt.The Smurfs franchise began as a comic and expanded into advertising, films, TV series, ice capades, video games, theme parks, and toys. By 2008, the franchise had generated $4 billion in revenue, making The Smurfs one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

Hanna-Barbera was an American animation studio and production company that was active from 1957 until it was absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to close its in-house cartoon studio, and was formerly headquartered on Cahuenga Boulevard from 1960 until 1998 and at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks, both in Los Angeles, California. It produced many successful television shows, including The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Smurfs, winning Hanna-Barbera a record-breaking eight Emmy Awards while new feature-length movies and specials were made. The profitability of Saturday-morning cartoons was eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication after the studio's fortunes declined by the 1980s. Taft Broadcasting acquired Hanna-Barbera in 1966 and retained ownership until 1991 when Turner Broadcasting System acquired the studio, using the back catalog to establish Cartoon Network the following year. Turner later merged in 1996 with Time Warner (currently Warner Bros. Discovery). Ten days before Hanna died in 2001, Hanna-Barbera as a standalone company was folded into Warner Bros. Animation. Since then, the Hanna-Barbera name has been used primarily for marketing and copyright purposes.