"The Magic Fountain" is based on a 1956 "Johan et Pirlouit" ("Johan and Peewit" in English) comic story titled "La Source des dieux" ("The Source of the Gods" in English). Unlike the cartoon series, Johan and Peewit were not helping Papa Smurf collect some deep-sea drift-weed but were returning from Viking lands mentioned from a previous story titled "Le Serment des Vikings" ("The Vikings' Pledge" in English) published a year earlier. The comic stories predates the Smurfs' debut by a few years. Also, the fountain is called "The Source of the Gods" not the "Magic Fountain" in the cartoon version.