The vacancy blues are ending for the Fisherman’s Wharf building that had housed the now-shuttered Madame Tussauds, as a Smurfalicious new pop-up called Smurfs: The Adventure will bring a permanent new tenant to that Jefferson Street property in May 2025.
Children of the 1980s will recall a short-lived sugary breakfast cereal called Smurfberry Crunch. And this being Christmas Eve, we will remind you that the Smurfberry Crunch commercial jingle was a stolen version of the track “The March” from the holiday favorite Tchiakovsky’s The Nutcracker.
Why do we bring up this obscure and frankly stupid reference? Because there is major news from the Smurfiverse today. After the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Fisherman’s Wharf closed permanently this past August, the San Francisco Business Times reports that the Jefferson Street space has a new tenant lined up. And people, that new tenant is a pop-up called Smurfs: The Adventure.
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“Smurfs: The Adventure consists of ten different physical interactive experiences centered around a main hub of Smurfs Village,” the Smurfy proprietors of this idea announced in an Instagram post this week. “Guests are transported through a bioluminescent tunnel into the Smurfs Village, brought to life with beautiful and magical lanterns in the shape of mushrooms, trees, and a complete day and night lighting package that cycles throughout their 90 minute experience.”
The post also adds that visitors will also be able to “drum on magical mushrooms in the garden to create upbeat happy tones.” That ought to go over well in this town.
Per the Business times, Smurfs: The Adventure will be a pop-up tenant. But the organizer of this attraction, LA-based SEE Global Entertainment, has signed a long-term lease. The Business Times explains that SEE Global Entertainment will bring in a series of pop-ups, described as “rotating ticketed exhibits from its portfolio, which in the past has included so-called ‘mobile theme parks’ based on Star Trek, Titanic and the Sistine Chapel.”
But wait, are the Smurfs even popular anymore? Corporate America is betting that they will be. This summer will see the Hollowood release of the new animated feature The Smurfs Movie, with Rihanna (of all people!) doing the voice of Smurfette, along with an ensemble cast of other celebrity voices including Nick Offerman, Amy Sedaris, John Goodman, and others.
Starring Rihanna, Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Nick Kroll, James Corden, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña with Kurt Russell and John Goodman.
— The Smurfs Movie (@SmurfsMovie) April 11, 2024
Yes, Smurfs: The Adventure will be one of those traveling, out-of-town “immersive experiences” that SFist loves to hate. But this production company is making a permanent home here, they’re not some fly-by-night outfit, and they would likely provide full-time employment to local workers. Moreover, this attraction seems largely geared towards kids and families, and is in a tourist part of town at that. So this probably will not cut into the revenue for locally owned theater, nightlife, or museums, and figures to even bring in additional tourism dollars to our local businesses.
So I, for one, just might welcome our new Smurf overlords, arriving in May 2025.
Related: Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf Closes for Good After 61 Years [SFist]
Image: Columbia Pictures