Reasons Katy Perry Wasn’t Allowed to Watch The Smurfs TV Show as a Child: Exploration of Her Character in the Animated Movie

Katy Perry took her first step into voice acting by portraying Smurfette in the 2011 animated feature The Smurfs, directed by Raja Gosnell. This hybrid live-action and animated film also starred Neil Patrick Harris, Sofia Vergara, and Hank Azaria. Growing up under the strict guidance of her conservative Pentecostal pastor parents, Mary and Maurice Keith Hudson, Perry viewed her part as Smurfette as a minor act of defiance against her stringent upbringing.

In a 2010 conversation with MTV, Perry recounted how her mother viewed Smurfette as “slutty,”which led to a ban on watching the show.

“My mom thought that Smurfette was a little bit slutty, being the only female in the village,”she shared.

Perry further elaborated:

“And now I showed her. I called her up and was like, ‘Guess what, Mom: I’m Smurfette!’. .. It’s just like one of those days where it’s like, ‘Guess what, Mom: I kissed a girl! Guess what, Mom: I’m going to be naked in a music video!’”

Set during the medieval era, The Smurfs kicks off with the wicked wizard Gargamel pursuing the Smurfs into a forest, where Clumsy Smurf accidentally finds a grotto that whisks them away to Central Park in New York City. As reported by Box Office Mojo, the film proved to be a commercial success, grossing over $500 million worldwide against a budget of $110 million, which resulted in a sequel released in 2013.

Perry reprised her role as Smurfette in the follow-up film, where Gargamel concocts an evil version of the Smurfs known as the “Naughties.”

The sequel brought in $347 million across the globe while having a production cost of merely $105 million. Subsequently, Sony sanctioned a reboot through an animated series titled Smurfs: The Lost Village. The budget for the series was only $60 million, yet it garnered a remarkable $200 million in earnings.

Katy Perry’s Dynamic Relationship with Her Parents

Colleagues Spring Luncheon 2024 - Source: Getty (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for The Colleagues) — Colleagues Spring Luncheon 2024 – Source: Getty (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for The Colleagues)

Katy Perry’s relationship with her parents has been quite tumultuous over the years. NME reported that her father, Keith, preached against her in 2013, referring to her as a “devil child”and urging the congregation to pray for her.

“They ask, how can I preach if I produce a girl who sang about kissing another girl?” Keith remarked during a sermon.

Despite these challenges, Perry has often expressed admiration for her parents. In a Call Her Daddy episode aired on September 4, she referred to her mother as a “saint,”praising the sacrifices she made to keep the family afloat during tough financial times.

She also indicated that her appreciation for her mother has significantly deepened since becoming a parent herself.

“It was a little volatile,”Perry mentioned to host Alex Cooper, reflecting on her upbringing. “After having my child — I always respected my mother — but the level of respect for my mother, my parents in general, it just went through the roof.”

Perry continued:

“I do think my parents, with the tools that they had and their own upbringings, really did the best that they could. And my mother, you know, she is a saint. She sacrificed every step of the way. She was the last to sit at the dinner table every single time.”

Interestingly, Katy Perry’s parents were not always so devoutly religious. Reportedly, when they were younger, her father was involved in a drug research project that contributed to LSD production, while her mother had a romantic history with the iconic musician Jimi Hendrix.

A significant transformation occurred when Keith claimed that God had spoken to him in an apple orchard, urging him to commit his life to Christianity and inspire those around him to do the same.

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