H.R. Pufnstuf
Encyclopedia
H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft
in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971. The broadcasts were successful enough that NBC
kept it on the Saturday morning
schedule for a full three seasons, until August 1972, when it was cancelled. The show was shot in Paramount Studios
and its opening was shot in Big Bear Lake, California
.
In 2004 and 2007, H.R. Pufnstuf was ranked #22 and #27 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.
world's fair in 1968, where the Kroffts produced a show called Kaleidescope for the Coca-Cola
pavilion. The character's name was Luther and he became the symbol of the fair.
). He is 11 years old when he arrives on the island and turns 12 in the episode called "The Birthday Party". Jimmy and his friend, a talking flute named Freddy, take a ride on a mysterious boat, which promised adventures across the sea, to kooky Living Island, home of dancing, talking trees and singing frogs. The Mayor of Living Island was a friendly and helpful dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by the show's writer Lennie Weinrib
). The boat was actually owned and controlled by a wicked witch named Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (played by Billie Hayes
) who rode on a broomstick-like vehicle called the Vroom Broom. She used the boat to lure Jimmy and Freddy to her castle on Living Island, where she was going to take Jimmy prisoner and steal Freddy. But Pufnstuf found out about her plot and was able to rescue Jimmy when he leaped out of the enchanted boat with Freddy and swam ashore.
Jimmy was taken in by Pufnstuf, who was able to protect him from Witchiepoo, as the cave where he lived was the only place her magic had no effect. Apart from Jimmy and Witchiepoo, all of the characters on Living Island were realized via large, cumbersome costumes or puppetry. Since everything on Living Island was alive (namely houses, castles, boats, clocks, candles, books, trees, mushrooms), virtually any part of the Living Island sets could become a character, usually voiced in a parody of a famous film star, such as Mae West
, Edward G. Robinson
or most notably John Wayne
as "The West Wind". A frequent plot device involves Witchiepoo and her henchmen Orson Vulture, Seymour Spider, and Stupid Bat trying to steal Freddy, only to be thwarted by Pufnstuf. Another concerns Jimmy and Freddy's efforts to return home from Living Island, with the same lack of success.
. The plot was recycled from Kaleidescope, a live puppet show the Kroffts had staged in the Coca-Cola
pavilion of the HemisFair '68
world's fair in 1968, including several key characters from this show, such as Luther the dragon and a silly witch. Other ideas were cultivated from Sid's life. As a child, he'd charged friends buttons, not pennies, to view puppet shows in his back yard; buttons were standard currency on Living Island. Sid and Marty had toured with their puppets as the opening act for Judy Garland, and they based Judy the Frog on her. Ludicrous Lion bears more than a passing resemblance to Irving, the eponymous lion in a pilot
they had made in 1957 called Here's Irving
.
Sid's friend, Lionel Bart
, asked him to view a rough cut of the movie adaptation of Oliver. Sid took notice of young actor Jack Wild
and immediately decided that was the kid he wanted to play the lead in his television series. Only two actresses auditioned to play Witchiepoo. The first was then unknown Penny Marshall
, but it was felt that she wasn't right for the part. Stage veteran Billie Hayes
came in next, set into a maniacal cackle and hopped up on a desk. She was given the part on the spot.
For Marty Krofft, the production was a particular headache. Marty accepted guardianship of Jack Wild
while the teenage boy was in the United States filming the show. He later described bringing Wild into his home as a mistake.
Like most children's television shows of the era, H.R. Pufnstuf contained a laugh track
.
. Simon's credit was added when he successfully sued The Kroffts, claiming that the theme too closely mimicked his song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
". He is credited as the song's co-writer in TeeVee Tunes's Television's Greatest Hits Volume 5: In Living Color.
A cover of the show’s theme song, performed by The Murmurs, is included on the 1995 tribute album
Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall
for MCA Records
.
and the show's sponsor, Kellogg's Cereal
, the film retained most of the cast and crew from the series and featured guest appearances by Cass Elliott and Martha Raye
. The movie was finally released on VHS in 2001 by Universal Home Video
as part of their Universal Treasures Collection, and on DVD on May 19, 2009.
The Kroffts have long had plans for a new H.R. Pufnstuf film. Sony first attempted remake in 2000, but dropped the project.
In September, 2008, it was revealed that a live-action feature film is again being developed at Sony.
released H.R. Pufnstuf: The Complete Series, featuring all 17 episodes on three discs, accompanied by interviews with Sid & Marty Krofft, Billie Hayes, and Jack Wild. The Complete Series has gone out of print, but individual (best-of) releases continue to be sold. Pufnstuf, a major motion picture released in 1970, was also released on May 19, 2009, by Universal Studios
. It was announced on Oct 25, 2010 that SMK and Vivendi Entertainment
has obtained the home video rights to the series and plan their own DVD release of the series on Jan. 11, 2011
brought by the Kroffts against the fast food
restaurant McDonald's
, whose McDonaldland
characters were found to have infringed the show's copyright
. The case, Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 562 F.2d 1157, was decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1977.
(puffin' stuff) — Marty Krofft has said the initials "H.R." actually stand for "Royal Highness" backwards The show's theme song lyric "he can't do a little, 'cause he can't do enough" has been read as referring to the addictive nature of drugs. Pufnstuf has quotes like "Whoa dude!" and other "hippie" slang words. Lennie Weinrib
, the show's head writer and the voice of Pufnstuf, has said, "I think fans gave it a kind of mysterious code-like meaning, like ‘Ah, was Pufnstuf puffing stuff? Like grass?’ Was it psychedelic? Was it drug oriented? Not to us, it wasn’t." In a 2000 interview, Marty Krofft answered the question by saying, "The Krofft look has a lot of color, but there were no drug connotations in the show." He addressed the topic at length in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
in 2004, in response to the question, "OK, let's get this right out in the open. Is 'H.R. Pufnstuf' just one giant drug reference?":
Authors of books on the show and its contemporaries, however, have not always accepted the Kroffts' alternative explanations for apparent references to drugs. David Martindale, author of Pufnstuf & Other Stuff, maintains that the Kroffts' need to attract an audience that are now parents of impressionable children forces them at least to downplay the double entendre
s: "But to deny it, the shows lose some of their mystique. The Kroffts prefer to remain playfully vague." Martindale said in another interview that he fully believes Marty Krofft's insistence that he did not use drugs, especially given that Marty's focus was that of a businessman, but Martindale describes Sid Krofft as "a big kid" and "a hippy," saying, "His comment when I told him we were going to do this book was — and I quote — 'Oh, far out.' He says these shows didn't come from smoking just a little pot, and you could say, 'Oh, yeah. It comes from smoking a lot of pot.' But I think he was very deliberately doing double meanings so the show could amuse people on different levels." Kevin Burke, co-author of Saturday Morning Fever: Growing Up with Cartoon Culture, argues that the "consistency of thought" in the rumors of drug references has a basis, although his co-author and brother Timothy Burke, a history professor at Swarthmore College
, insists "human beings are capable of achieving hallucinatory heights without chemical assistance." Contradicting his own position, Marty Krofft has neither admitted nor hinted in occasional interviews that the references were made knowingly; in one case, a writer reported that when pressed as to the connotation of "lid
s" in the title Lidsville
, "Well, maybe we just had a good sense of humor," Krofft said, laughing. His comments to another interviewer were more direct; in a Times Union profile whose author observed, "Watching the shows today, it's hard to imagine a show with more wink-and-nod allusions to pot culture, short of something featuring characters named Spliffy
and Bong-O
," Krofft conceded that the show's title had been an intentional marijuana reference, as had Lidsville, but "that was just a prank to see if they could get them past clueless NBC executives".
Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft , are a sibling team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs in the USA, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s....
in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971. The broadcasts were successful enough that NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
kept it on the Saturday morning
Saturday Morning
-Album credits:*All tracks produced by Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Executive Producer/Concept: Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Engineered by Peter McCabe and Larry Fergusson....
schedule for a full three seasons, until August 1972, when it was cancelled. The show was shot in Paramount Studios
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and its opening was shot in Big Bear Lake, California
Big Bear Lake, California
Big Bear Lake is a city in San Bernardino County, California along the south shore of Big Bear Lake, located northeast of the city of San Bernardino. The population was 5,019 at the 2010 census, down from 5,438 at the 2000 census...
.
In 2004 and 2007, H.R. Pufnstuf was ranked #22 and #27 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.
Origins
The H.R. Pufnstuf character was originally created for the HemisFair '68HemisFair '68
HemisFair '68 was the first officially designated world's fair held in the southwestern United States. San Antonio, Texas hosted the fair from April 6 through October 6, 1968. More than thirty nations hosted pavilions at the fair. The fair was held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the...
world's fair in 1968, where the Kroffts produced a show called Kaleidescope for the Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
pavilion. The character's name was Luther and he became the symbol of the fair.
Plot
H.R. Pufnstuf introduced the Kroffts' most-used plot scenario: their fairy tale of good versus evil. The show centered on a shipwrecked boy named Jimmy (played by Jack WildJack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
). He is 11 years old when he arrives on the island and turns 12 in the episode called "The Birthday Party". Jimmy and his friend, a talking flute named Freddy, take a ride on a mysterious boat, which promised adventures across the sea, to kooky Living Island, home of dancing, talking trees and singing frogs. The Mayor of Living Island was a friendly and helpful dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by the show's writer Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
). The boat was actually owned and controlled by a wicked witch named Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (played by Billie Hayes
Billie Hayes
Billie Hayes is an American actress best known for her comic portrayal as Witchie-poo on the Sid and Marty Krofft television series H.R. Pufnstuf. Her characteristic cackle and animated physicality were notable during the show's 17-episode run in 1969–70...
) who rode on a broomstick-like vehicle called the Vroom Broom. She used the boat to lure Jimmy and Freddy to her castle on Living Island, where she was going to take Jimmy prisoner and steal Freddy. But Pufnstuf found out about her plot and was able to rescue Jimmy when he leaped out of the enchanted boat with Freddy and swam ashore.
Jimmy was taken in by Pufnstuf, who was able to protect him from Witchiepoo, as the cave where he lived was the only place her magic had no effect. Apart from Jimmy and Witchiepoo, all of the characters on Living Island were realized via large, cumbersome costumes or puppetry. Since everything on Living Island was alive (namely houses, castles, boats, clocks, candles, books, trees, mushrooms), virtually any part of the Living Island sets could become a character, usually voiced in a parody of a famous film star, such as Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
, Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
or most notably John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
as "The West Wind". A frequent plot device involves Witchiepoo and her henchmen Orson Vulture, Seymour Spider, and Stupid Bat trying to steal Freddy, only to be thwarted by Pufnstuf. Another concerns Jimmy and Freddy's efforts to return home from Living Island, with the same lack of success.
Main characters
- Jimmy (portrayed by Jack WildJack WildJack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
) - One of the main characters of the series. He was lured to Living Island by a boat that worked for Witchiepoo due to the fact that Jimmy possesses a magic flute named Freddy.
- H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
) - One of the main characters of the series. H.R. Pufnstuf is a dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
who is the MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Living Island.
- Freddy the Flute (voiced by Joan GerberJoan GerberJoan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices...
) - A magic talking flute that is owned by Jimmy. He is often targeted by Witchiepoo.
- Cling and Clang - Two short humanoids who work for H.R. Pufnstuf as his Rescue Racer Crew.
- Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (portrayed by Billie HayesBillie HayesBillie Hayes is an American actress best known for her comic portrayal as Witchie-poo on the Sid and Marty Krofft television series H.R. Pufnstuf. Her characteristic cackle and animated physicality were notable during the show's 17-episode run in 1969–70...
) - The primary antagonist of the series. Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo is a witchWitchcraftWitchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
who has been targeting Freddy the Flute. She rides a large broom with a steering wheel called the Vroom Broom.- Orson VultureVultureVulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
(voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
) - A vulture who is one of Witchiepoo's henchmen. - Seymour SpiderSpiderSpiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
(voiced by Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
) - A spider who is one of Witchiepoo's henchmen. - Stupid BatBatBats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
(voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
) - A bat who is one of Witchiepoo's henchmen. He is not very bright.
- Orson Vulture
Other characters
- Dr. Blinky (voiced by Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
) - An owlOwlOwls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
who is H.R. Pufnstuf's medical expert.
- Judy the FrogFrogFrogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
(voiced by Joan GerberJoan GerberJoan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices...
) - A frog who is one of H.R. Pufnstuf's friends.
- Pop Lolly (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
) - A character who makes and sells candy.
- Ludicrous LionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
(voiced by Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
) - A lion who works as a peddler and who owns a horse-drawn wagon.
- Polka-Dotted HorseHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
(voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
) - The horse who works for Ludicrous Lion.
- Alarm Clock (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
) - A mobile alarm clock that would often warn the characters when Witchiepoo is coming or any other dangers.
- Grandfather Clock (voiced by Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
) - A mobile grandfather clock who is the husband of Grandmother Clock.
- Grandmother Clock (voiced by Joan GerberJoan GerberJoan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices...
) - A mobile grandmother clock who is the wife of Grandfather Clock.
- The Winds - The Winds of Living Island are often called upon by H.R. Pufnstuf to blow Witchiepoo out of the sky. They consist of the North Wind (voiced by Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
), the South Wind (voiced by Joan GerberJoan GerberJoan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices...
), the East Wind (voiced by Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
), and the West Wind (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
impersonating John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
).
Production
After creating costumes for characters in the live-action portion of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Sid and Marty Krofft were asked to develop their own Saturday morning children's series for NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The plot was recycled from Kaleidescope, a live puppet show the Kroffts had staged in the Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
pavilion of the HemisFair '68
HemisFair '68
HemisFair '68 was the first officially designated world's fair held in the southwestern United States. San Antonio, Texas hosted the fair from April 6 through October 6, 1968. More than thirty nations hosted pavilions at the fair. The fair was held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the...
world's fair in 1968, including several key characters from this show, such as Luther the dragon and a silly witch. Other ideas were cultivated from Sid's life. As a child, he'd charged friends buttons, not pennies, to view puppet shows in his back yard; buttons were standard currency on Living Island. Sid and Marty had toured with their puppets as the opening act for Judy Garland, and they based Judy the Frog on her. Ludicrous Lion bears more than a passing resemblance to Irving, the eponymous lion in a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
they had made in 1957 called Here's Irving
Here's Irving
Here's Irving is a 1957 color television pilot produced by Sid and Marty Krofft featuring a wide array of their marionettes. The pilot never aired on television, but it was released in 2003 as a special feature on the H.R...
.
Sid's friend, Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
, asked him to view a rough cut of the movie adaptation of Oliver. Sid took notice of young actor Jack Wild
Jack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
and immediately decided that was the kid he wanted to play the lead in his television series. Only two actresses auditioned to play Witchiepoo. The first was then unknown Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
, but it was felt that she wasn't right for the part. Stage veteran Billie Hayes
Billie Hayes
Billie Hayes is an American actress best known for her comic portrayal as Witchie-poo on the Sid and Marty Krofft television series H.R. Pufnstuf. Her characteristic cackle and animated physicality were notable during the show's 17-episode run in 1969–70...
came in next, set into a maniacal cackle and hopped up on a desk. She was given the part on the spot.
For Marty Krofft, the production was a particular headache. Marty accepted guardianship of Jack Wild
Jack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
while the teenage boy was in the United States filming the show. He later described bringing Wild into his home as a mistake.
Like most children's television shows of the era, H.R. Pufnstuf contained a laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
.
Theme song
The show’s theme song, titled "H.R. Pufnstuf", was written by Les Szarvas but is also credited to Paul SimonPaul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
. Simon's credit was added when he successfully sued The Kroffts, claiming that the theme too closely mimicked his song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
"The 59th Street Bridge Song " is a song by folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, appearing on their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. "59th Street Bridge" is the colloquial name of the Queensboro Bridge in New York City...
". He is credited as the song's co-writer in TeeVee Tunes's Television's Greatest Hits Volume 5: In Living Color.
A cover of the show’s theme song, performed by The Murmurs, is included on the 1995 tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall
Ralph Sall
Ralph Sall is a record producer, music supervisor, composer, songwriter, and screenwriter. He is the president of Bulletproof Entertainment, a company involved in several facets of the entertainment industry, including film, television, comic books and graphic novels, music, internet and live...
for MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
.
Episodes
- The Magic Path – Jimmy and H.R. Pufnstuf infiltrate Witchiepoo's castle to rescue Judy Frog.
- The Wheely Bird – Jimmy and Pufnstuf use a bird-shaped "Trojan Horse" as a ruse to enter Witchipoo's castle and recover the Golden Flute from Witchiepoo.
- Show Biz Witch – When shyster Ludicrous Lion convinces Jimmy that he has a super-duper pogo stick for sale that could bounce him home, Pufnstuf and Jimmy conduct a talent show to raise the money. Jimmy may be the star, but it's Witchiepoo who steals the show.
- The Mechanical Boy – Witchiepoo turns Jimmy into a mechanical boy and commands him to acquire Freddy, the Talking Flute for her.
- The Stand In – H.R. Pufnstuf's sister Shirly comes to town to film a movie. Witchiepoo is cast by Director Max Von Toadenoff as a stand-in for his "new picture." While Witchiepoo is distracted with being a stand-in, Jimmy attempts to grab Witchipoo's Vroom Broom from her castle to fly home.
- The Golden Key – When Jimmy buys a map to the location of the Golden Key, which unlocks the Golden Door, a secret way off of Living Island, Witchiepoo captures Pufnstuf in her dungeon, diverting Jimmy from his escape.
- The Birthday Party – Witchiepoo invites herself to Jimmy's surprise birthday party and steals the flute by rendering the partygoers helpless with laughing gas.
- The Box Kite Kaper – Jimmy and Freddy the Golden Flute attempt to fly from Living Island in a giant box kite during a kite-flying contest.
- You Can't Have Your Cake – A pre-Michael Jackson Moonwalk dance sweeps Living Island. Witchiepoo hides in a giant cake and grabs Freddy the Golden Flute at an opportune moment. While Judy the Frog distract the skeleton castle guards with the Moonwalk, Pufnstuf and Jimmy recover the flute...
- Horse with the Golden Throat – The Polka-Dotted Horse mistakes Freddy the Golden Flute for a carrot and swallows him. The problem is first getting flute out of the horse then keeping it away from Witchiepoo.
- Dinner for Two – Jimmy and Freddy both age 70 years when the clock family's time machine malfunctions. Witchiepoo finds old Jimmy and decides he's her Prince Charming and plans to marry him.
- Flute, Book and Candle – Jimmy finds Freddie the Flute was turned into a mushroom by the touch of Witchiepoo's evil mushrooms. The cure can only be found in an evil book in Witchiepoo's castle. The good guys plan to get the page from the book and restore Freddie to a normal jeweled flute.
- 'Tooth for a Tooth – Witchiepoo disguised as a little girl visits Dr. Blinky about a bad tooth. But it hurts so bad the witch flies into a rage, so Dr. Blinky blasts her with love potion. The witch throws a party and Jimmy & Freddy try to escape on the Vroom Broom.
- The Visiting Witch – Witchiepoo receives a message from headquarters that the Head Witch is coming over to Living Island for an inspection. Witchiepoo devises an evil plan that will impress the Head Witch.
- The Almost Election of Witchiepoo – Witchiepoo runs for Mayor of Living Island challenging H.R. Pufnstuf. She resorts to a "Love Witchiepoo" potion, but Dr. Blinky undoes it at the last minute.
- Whaddya Mean the Horse Gets the Girl? – H.R. Pufnstuf's sister Shirley stars in a movie to raise money for Living Island's anti-witch fund.
- Jimmy Who? – Jimmy comes down with a case of amnesia that Dr. Blinky and Witchiepoo take turns trying to cure with flashback after flashback. Fortunately, a second conk on the head restores Jimmy's memory just seconds from the end of the show.
Krofft puppeteers
| Performer | Character(s) | Voice(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Sharon Baird Sharon Baird Sharon Baird is an American actress and dancer who is best known for having been a Mouseketeer.-Early life:Sharon Baird was born in Seattle, Washington to Eldon Baird, an aerospace worker, and Nikki Marcus, a future talent agent. She has one younger brother, Jimmy Baird, also a former child actor... |
Stupid Bat | Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R... |
| Judy Frog | Joan Gerber Joan Gerber Joan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices... |
|
| Shirley Pufnstuf | ||
| Lady Boyd | End credits vocals | |
| Joy Campbell | Orson Vulture | Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R... |
| Cling | No voice | |
| Roberto Gamonet | H.R. Pufnstuf | Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R... |
| Angelo Rossitto Angelo Rossitto Angelo Rossitto was an American actor. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" tall.Rossitto was discovered by John Barrymore and made his screen debut opposite Barrymore in The Beloved Rogue . He appeared in the then controversial 1932 film Freaks directed by Tod Browning. He appeared in another... |
Seymour Spider | Walker Edmiston Walker Edmiston -Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all... |
| Clang | No voice | |
| John Silver | Dr. Blinky | Walker Edmiston Walker Edmiston -Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all... |
| Ludicrous Lion | ||
| Jerry Landon | ||
| Jon Linton | ||
| Scutter McKay | ||
| Harry Monty Harry Monty Harry Monty was a little person actor and stuntperson, whose most notable roles were as a Munchkin and a Winged Monkey in the Wizard of Oz.-Film:... |
||
| Andy Ratoucheff | Alarm Clock | Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R... |
| Robin Roper | ||
| Felix Silla Felix Silla Felix Anthony Silla is an Italian film and television actor and stuntman, best known for his role as "Cousin Itt" on television's The Addams Family, and many other classic character roles.- Biography and career overview :... |
Polka-Dotted Horse | Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R... |
Voice characterizations
- Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
– Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
Tree, H.R. Pufnstuf, Dr. Blinky's Talking Book, Stupid Bat, Pop Lolly, West Wind - Walker EdmistonWalker Edmiston-Career:Walker Edmiston was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all...
– Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
Tree, Dr. Blinky's Candle, East Wind, Grandfather Clock, North Wind, Redwood - Joan GerberJoan GerberJoan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices...
– Freddy the Flute, Grandmother Clock, Judy the Frog, South Wind
Film
While the television series was still in production, the Kroffts were approached to do a film adaptation. A joint venture between Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
and the show's sponsor, Kellogg's Cereal
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
, the film retained most of the cast and crew from the series and featured guest appearances by Cass Elliott and Martha Raye
Martha Raye
Martha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television....
. The movie was finally released on VHS in 2001 by Universal Home Video
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
as part of their Universal Treasures Collection, and on DVD on May 19, 2009.
The Kroffts have long had plans for a new H.R. Pufnstuf film. Sony first attempted remake in 2000, but dropped the project.
In September, 2008, it was revealed that a live-action feature film is again being developed at Sony.
DVD releases
In 2004, Rhino EntertainmentRhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
released H.R. Pufnstuf: The Complete Series, featuring all 17 episodes on three discs, accompanied by interviews with Sid & Marty Krofft, Billie Hayes, and Jack Wild. The Complete Series has gone out of print, but individual (best-of) releases continue to be sold. Pufnstuf, a major motion picture released in 1970, was also released on May 19, 2009, by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. It was announced on Oct 25, 2010 that SMK and Vivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is also a distribution partner for independent content providers....
has obtained the home video rights to the series and plan their own DVD release of the series on Jan. 11, 2011
H.R. Pufnstuf / McDonaldland lawsuit
The show was the subject of a successful lawsuitLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
brought by the Kroffts against the fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurant McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, whose McDonaldland
McDonaldland
McDonaldland was a fantasy world used in the marketing for McDonald's restaurants. It was based on the "total concept and feel" of Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf television program. McDonaldland was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and other characters...
characters were found to have infringed the show's copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
. The case, Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 562 F.2d 1157, was decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1977.
Claims of drug references
The Krofft brothers have responded in several interviews to popular beliefs that subtle recreational drug references exist in the show. For example, the title character's name "Pufnstuf" has been interpreted as a reference to smoking hand-rolled (H.R.) marijuanaCannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
(puffin' stuff) — Marty Krofft has said the initials "H.R." actually stand for "Royal Highness" backwards The show's theme song lyric "he can't do a little, 'cause he can't do enough" has been read as referring to the addictive nature of drugs. Pufnstuf has quotes like "Whoa dude!" and other "hippie" slang words. Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
, the show's head writer and the voice of Pufnstuf, has said, "I think fans gave it a kind of mysterious code-like meaning, like ‘Ah, was Pufnstuf puffing stuff? Like grass?’ Was it psychedelic? Was it drug oriented? Not to us, it wasn’t." In a 2000 interview, Marty Krofft answered the question by saying, "The Krofft look has a lot of color, but there were no drug connotations in the show." He addressed the topic at length in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
in 2004, in response to the question, "OK, let's get this right out in the open. Is 'H.R. Pufnstuf' just one giant drug reference?":
Authors of books on the show and its contemporaries, however, have not always accepted the Kroffts' alternative explanations for apparent references to drugs. David Martindale, author of Pufnstuf & Other Stuff, maintains that the Kroffts' need to attract an audience that are now parents of impressionable children forces them at least to downplay the double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
s: "But to deny it, the shows lose some of their mystique. The Kroffts prefer to remain playfully vague." Martindale said in another interview that he fully believes Marty Krofft's insistence that he did not use drugs, especially given that Marty's focus was that of a businessman, but Martindale describes Sid Krofft as "a big kid" and "a hippy," saying, "His comment when I told him we were going to do this book was — and I quote — 'Oh, far out.' He says these shows didn't come from smoking just a little pot, and you could say, 'Oh, yeah. It comes from smoking a lot of pot.' But I think he was very deliberately doing double meanings so the show could amuse people on different levels." Kevin Burke, co-author of Saturday Morning Fever: Growing Up with Cartoon Culture, argues that the "consistency of thought" in the rumors of drug references has a basis, although his co-author and brother Timothy Burke, a history professor at Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
, insists "human beings are capable of achieving hallucinatory heights without chemical assistance." Contradicting his own position, Marty Krofft has neither admitted nor hinted in occasional interviews that the references were made knowingly; in one case, a writer reported that when pressed as to the connotation of "lid
Lid
LID is an abbreviation for:* Local light injection and detection, a method to determine fibre splice losses, especially in polarisation-maintaining fibre splicing...
s" in the title Lidsville
Lidsville
Lidsville was Sid and Marty Krofft's third television show following H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos . As did its predecessors, the series combined two types of characters: conventional actors in makeup filmed alongside performers in full mascot costumes, whose voices were dubbed in post-production...
, "Well, maybe we just had a good sense of humor," Krofft said, laughing. His comments to another interviewer were more direct; in a Times Union profile whose author observed, "Watching the shows today, it's hard to imagine a show with more wink-and-nod allusions to pot culture, short of something featuring characters named Spliffy
Joint (cannabis)
Joint is a slang term for a cigarette rolled using cannabis. Rolling papers are the most common rolling medium among industrialized countries, however brown paper, cigarettes with the tobacco removed, and newspaper are commonly used in developing countries. Modern papers are now made from a wide...
and Bong-O
Bong
A bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...
," Krofft conceded that the show's title had been an intentional marijuana reference, as had Lidsville, but "that was just a prank to see if they could get them past clueless NBC executives".
Parodies and tributes
- One of the most notable parodies of H.R. Pufnstuf was "The Altered State of Druggachusetts", a segment on the HBOHome Box OfficeHBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David. The sketch consists of a failed television pilotTelevision pilotA "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a kids' show introduced by "Sam and Criminy Craffft" (Bob OdenkirkBob OdenkirkRobert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr...
and David CrossDavid CrossDavid Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
). The show itself is similar to H.R. Pufnstuf, with drug references made humorously overt. Instead of a talking flute, the boy carries a talking bongBongA bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...
, and all of the residents in Druggachusetts take or are living incarnations of various drugs.
- NikeNike, Inc.Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
made a skateboarding shoe for their SB Dunk line named after the show, with the colors of the shoe resembling those of Pufnstuf.
- Excerpts from the show can often be seen playing on the TV in the hotel room Earl and his brother share in My Name Is EarlMy Name Is EarlMy Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, and the October 18, 2007, episode features an extended scene with H.R. Pufnstuf as a super-crimefighter working alongside the title character's brother in a fantasy creative-writing exercise.
- In an episode of the TV sitcom The George Lopez Show, H.R. Pufnstuf makes a guest appearance at a birthday party. Lopez dances with him and the theme song is used as the music.
- An episode of the animated television series The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
features a "Hufnstuf on Ice" show which has characters that resemble the cast of H. R. Pufnstuf.
- H.R. Pufnstuf appears in the animated television series South ParkSouth ParkSouth Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode "ImaginationlandImaginationland"Imaginationland" is a three-part episode of the American animated television series South Park.*Episode I*Episode II*Episode III...
".
External links
- 70s Live Action Kid Vid
- The Straight Dope Was McDonaldland plagiarized from the old "H. R. Pufnstuf" kids' TV show?
- CoolCopyright.com full text of the Kroffts vs McDonald's court case
- DVD Verdict – Region 1 DVD Review
- DVD Times – Region 0 DVD Review