When the evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) chases the Smurfs out of their village, they're forced through a portal, out of their world and into ours, landing in the middle of New York's Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

Flint Lockwood thinks he's a genius. But none of the things he invented are things that make sense or are useful. However, he has the support of his mother but when she dies, he's left alone with his father who thinks he should give it up. When the community that he lives in is in an economic crisis because their primary source of income, a sardine cannery, was shut down, Flint decides to try his latest invention, a machine that can turn water into food. But something goes wrong and the machine ends up in the atmosphere. Later it starts raining food. The shifty mayor tries to use this as a way to help their community, but when Flint senses something wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. However, as Flint predicts, chaos ensues.