The underwater sprites who would go on to star in Hanna Barbera’s The
Snorks first appeared in 1974. But did you know that, like the Smurfs before
them, Snorks got their start overseas? Where the Smurfs first appeared in French
comic strips, the Snorks were printed and distributed in Belgium. Created by
cartoonist Freddy Monnickendam, the Snorks aired as a U.S. cartoon for just one
year in 1984.

Hanna Barbera, seizing upon the success of its Smurfs TV
show, decided that multicolored characters living in a village underwater would
be just as interesting to kids as monochromatic characters living in a village
above ground.

They were wrong. Kids proved to be a bit more discerning
and loyal that the cartoon creators anticipated. And though Monnickendam’s
Snorks were once their own thriving entity–with completely independent ideas
and pursuits than those of Peyo’s Smurfs, to an audience of American kids, The
Snorks just seemed like a really bad ripoff (kind of like Silver Hawks
was to Thundercats). The key word there is seemed, though. They may not
be as well-remembered but The Snorks provided a more proactive and structured
society than The Smurfs. They weren’t as “magical” or as prone to song and
dance, and they boasted a more complex history (what with their sometimes
interaction with humans on the surface and their occasional witnessing of sea
mutinies).

That said, it’s rather unfortunate that the show wasn’t
treated like a Smurfs facsimile. It could’ve been a pretty interesting aquatic
animation study. Don’t you
think?