Contrary to popular belief that the little blue characters, The Smurfs, came into existence in the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon series, and much later featured in a live film, they really came into existence in 1958. Back then, the famed artistPeyo created a Belgian comic book series that bought The Smurfs to life. Here are some more fun facts about this iconic blue little character.

 The concept of The Smurf was born in a silly dinner tête-à-tête.

In one of the dinners with his friend, Pierre Culliford, a.k.a. Peyo experienced a momentary loss of words and could remember the word, salt. Comically, he asked his friend to pass on the ‘schtroumpf’. His friend replied mockingly, ‘Here's the schtroumpf. When you are done schtroumpfing, schtroumpf it back!’ This led to the idea of the comic strip, ‘les Schtroumpfs’, which was translated as ‘The Smurfs’ when they entered America.

 When an NBC Executive saw his daughter playing with the plush Smurf doll, the idea of the cartoon series was born.

The Saturday morning cartoon fest was aired for nine seasons just because of this cute observation. The Smurfs are actually just ‘3 apples’ tall, and the white hat they all wear is called the Phrygian Cap. Often considered the symbol of liberty, this white hat has been there for ages.

 There is a world record for most people dressed as Smurf.

An official Guinness World Record for "Most People Dressed as Smurfs within 24 Hours across multiple venues was set on June, 25^th 2011, when 4891 people across 11 countries participated. There’s another Official Guinness World Record for “Most People Dressed as Smurfs” in a single location; in it, 2510 people gathered in Swansea University on June, 8^th 2009, to celebrate this landmark.

 “The Smurf Song” became an international number one hit.

The Smurf song was originally composed in 1977 by Dutch musicianFather Abraham; it didn’t have the cartoon theme which is familiar to the modern audience. The Smurf Song was rerecorded in numerous languages and topped the music charts in 16 countries. It was such a hit that it ended up inspiring a weird exercise in blue body paint and affected perspective on BBC's Top of the Pops!

Some Smurfs never made it to the celebrated cartoon.

Alchemist Smurf, Timid Smurf, Enamored Smurf, Finance Smurf (whoo-hoo! How fun for kids!), Mango Smurf, Lumberjack Smurf, Pastrycook Smurf, Submariner Smurf and Navigator Smurf, all of these characters were part of the original comic but found no place in the cartoon series.

This makes you Smurf smart.