Demi Lovato, Joe Manganiello, Little White Hats Take Over ‘Smurfs: The Lost Village’ Premiere
Although none of the stars of “Smurfs: The Lost Village” wore the signature white Smurf hat when they walked the carpet for the film’s world premiere, it seemed like almost everyone else in the crowd did.
For a few hours on Saturday morning, the area in front of the ArcLight Culver City was transformed into a colorful Smurfs-themed street fair in honor of Sony’s animated feature. Under the shadow of a colorful bounce house, families had fun with carnival games and free food for a few hours before being treated to a show when many of the film’s stars, including Demi Lovato, Joe Manganiello, and Danny Pudi, made their arrivals.
Culver City, celebrating its centennial this year, did not hold back in celebrating its first world premiere in the city’s hundred-year history. Mayor Jim Clarke, proudly wearing a white smurfs hat, even officially declared one of the streets in the fair to be renamed Smurfs Lane for the day. The stars of the film, who all arrived on the top deck of a sightseeing tour bus, walked the carpet and talked about their enthusiasm for both the film’s premiere and the unique nature of the festival being held in the film’s honor.
Pudi, who plays Brainy Smurf in the film, talked about his excitement in sharing the movie with his children. “It’s something that I can share with my kids right now. They’re five years old, this is the first premiere I’m taking them to [and] being together as a family. It feels really cool to share that,” said Pudi. “And the fact that I get to be Brainy Smurf and identifiable makes it real easy to point and say, ‘I’m that one. I’m the blue one without a shirt with glasses.'”
The film, unlike previous Smurfs movies, is fully animated, and many of the actors expressed their enthusiasm with the creative freedom that the medium affords. Jack McBrayer, who plays Clumsy Smurf, talked about the change and what it meant for the film. “With animation you can do anything, and the story that this one has followed is pretty spectacular,” McBrayer said. “It has some great messages for kids and parents, and it’s a beautiful movie.”
After the carpet, the attendees filed into several of the ArcLight’s auditoriums for showings of the film.
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