Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation have scooped up the big-screen rights to the Smurfs and are on track to develop a hybrid live action/animated film based on the three-apple-high beings.

Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the rest of the blue-hued crew will be computer-rendered in the flick, which filmmakers hope launches a movie franchise.

Created by Pierre Culliford, aka Peyo, in 1958, Les Schtroumpfs began as minor comic-book characters before branching out into ubiquitous merchandising efforts and as NBC's Emmy-winning Smurfs cartoon, which ran from 1981-90.

Davids Stem and Weiss, the family-friendly scribes behind Shreks 2 and 3, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The Rugrats Movie, are in talks to write.

Sounds positively smurfsational!