"The Cursed Country" ("Le Pays Maudit" in French) is the name of the land where the Smurfs lived in the "Johan et Pirlouit" ("Johan and Peewit" in English) comic stories. It is also the title of a 1961 comic story. Unlike the cartoon version, Smurfette did not appear in it and there was only one un-named Smurf who lead the King, Johan, and Peewit to the Smurf Village (not Smurfette and Hefy in the cartoon version).
The debut of the enchanter Homnibus in the cartoon series. A character that predated the debut of the Smurfs by a few years, he debuted in the 1955 "Johan et Pirlouit" ("Johan and Peewit" in English) comic story "La pierre de lune" ("The Moonstone" in English). This story was not adapted by Hanna-Barbara.
This episode introduces the characters Johan and Peewit, who eventually become recurring guest stars in the Smurfs' own episodes after Season 2. It is also considered to be the first meeting of Johan and Peewit by the Smurfs in the cartoon show, whereas in the comic books their first meeting was in "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute", when the Smurf Village was originally located in the so-called Cursed Land.
Similar to the original comic book story, the way to the Smurf Forest required going through a vast barren desert, which disappears in later episodes.