H.R. Pufnstuf

Updated on Sep 24, 2024

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H.R. Pufnstuf is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-sized-puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast from September 6, 1969, to December 27, 1969. The broadcasts were successful enough that NBC kept it on the Saturday morning schedule until August 1972. The show was shot in Paramount Studios and its opening was shot in Big Bear Lake, California. Reruns of the show aired on ABC Saturday morning from September 2, 1972, to September 8, 1973, and on Sunday mornings in some markets from September 16, 1973, to September 8, 1974. It was syndicated by itself from 1974 to 1978 and in a package with six other Krofft series under the banner Krofft Superstars from 1978 to 1985. Reruns of the show were shown on MeTV until 2016.

H.R. Pufnstuf Nickelodeon to Bring 39HR Pufnstuf39 Back to TV After 45 Years

In 2004 and 2007, H.R. Pufnstuf was ranked #22 and #27 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.

H r pufnstuf introduction

Origins

The H.R. Pufnstuf character was originally created for the HemisFair '68 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.

Plot

H.R. Pufnstuf introduced the Kroffts' most-used plot scenario: their fairy tale of good versus evil, as well as their second plot scenario: the stranger in a strange land.

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The show centered on a shipwrecked boy named Jimmy (played by teenage actor Jack Wild). 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 the kooky Living Island, home of dancing talking trees and singing frogs.

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 for her own purposes.

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The Mayor of Living Island was a friendly and helpful anthropomorphic dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by the show's writer Lennie Weinrib, who also voices many of the other characters) who found out about her plot upon witnessing the action and was able to rescue Jimmy, with the help of Cling and Clang, when he leaped out of the enchanted boat with Freddy and swam ashore. Jimmy was taken in by H.R. 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 of either anthropomorphic animals or objects. Since everything on Living Island was alive (namely houses, castles, boats, clocks, candles, books, trees, mushrooms, etc.), 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.

Main characters

Jimmy (portrayed by Jack Wild) - One of the main characters of the series. He is a young English boy who was lured to Living Island by an enchanted boat that worked for Witchiepoo because Jimmy possesses a magic talking flute named Freddy.

H.R. Pufnstuf (performed by Roberto Gamonet, voiced by Lennie Weinrib in a Southern accent) - One of the main characters of the series. H.R. Pufnstuf is a friendly dragon who is the Mayor of Living Island.

Freddy the Flute (voiced by Joan Gerber) - Freddy is a magic talking flute that is owned by Jimmy. He is often targeted by Witchiepoo.

Cling and Clang (performed by Joy Campbell and Angelo Rossitto) - Cling and Clang are two short deaf cavemen with furry three-toed feet and bird-like faces who work for H.R. Pufnstuf as his Rescue Racer Crew. Cling wears red and Clang wears green.

Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (portrayed by Billie Hayes) - The primary antagonist of the series. Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo is a wicked but inefficient witch who has been targeting Freddy the Flute to use him in her own agendas. She rides a large rocket-powered broom with a steering wheel called the Vroom Broom. She is mean to everyone around her, even her henchmen, whom she constantly whacks with her wand. Yet when faced with failure, she usually starts to pity herself, by asking "Why me?"

Orson Vulture (performed by Joy Campbell, voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A stuffy, somewhat inept vulture who is one of Witchiepoo's henchmen. As her favorite flunky, he multitasks as her sounding board, butler, and co-pilot on her Vroom Broom. Orson once made the mistake of asking what the W. in his boss' name stood for. The answer: WHACK!

Seymour Spider (performed by Angelo Rossitto, voiced by Walker Edmiston) - A dim-witted spider who is another of Witchiepoo's henchmen. As her second favorite flunky, he primarily serves her as an alternate sounding board and hairdresser.

Stupid Bat (performed by Sharon Baird, voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A bat who is the least favorite and least seen of Witchiepoo's henchmen. He mainly serves as her messenger. As his name implies, he is not very bright and his messages are usually delivered one second too late.

Skeleton Guards - Two skeletons who guard Witchiepoo's castle.

Other characters

Dr. Blinky (performed by John Silver, voiced by Walker Edmiston impersonating Ed Wynn) - An owl who is Living Island's local physician and scientist. Dr. Blinky is also the head of H.R. Pufnstuf's "Anti-Smog, Pollution, and Witch Committee".

Judy the Frog (performed by Sharon Baird, voiced by Joan Gerber) - A singing, dancing frog who is one of H.R. Pufnstuf's friends and the resident entertainer. Judy is based on Judy Garland.

Pop Lolly (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A living lollipop who makes and sells candy.

Cheese Guards - Two guards that are living pieces of cheese who work for Pop Lolly. They would often help Pop Lolly fend off a group of Hippie Ants who want to have free candy.

Ludicrous Lion (performed by John Silver, voiced by Walker Edmiston impersonating W.C. Fields) - A lion who works as a peddler and owns a horse-drawn wagon. Although slightly shady and greedy, he is officially one of the Good Guys where he would often help to thwart Witchiepoo's plots.

Polka-Dotted Horse (performed by Felix Silla, voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A good-natured horse who works for Ludicrous Lion.

Tick Tock (performed by Andy Ratoucheff, voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A mobile alarm clock that warns the good characters when Witchiepoo is coming and informs them of various other dangers.

Grandfather Clock (voiced by Walker Edmiston) - A mobile grandfather clock who is the husband of Grandmother Clock.

Grandmother Clock (voiced by Joan Gerber) - A mobile grandmother clock who is the wife of Grandfather Clock.

Miss Wristwatch (voiced by Joan Gerber impersonating Zsa Zsa Gabor) - A glamorous rich mobile human-sized wristwatch.

Hippie Ants - A group of ants that would try to have free candy from Pop Lolly.

The Boyds - A bunch of birds that serve as Living Island's residential band.

Lady Boyd (performed by Sharon Baird) - A blue bird who is the lead singer of The Boyds. She was often seen singing the end theme to this show.

Shirley Pufnstuf (performed by Sharon Baird, voiced by Joan Gerber impersonating a younger Shirley Temple) - A dragon who is H.R. Pufnstuf's sister and a famous actress.

Max Von Toadenoff the Great (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - Max Von Toadenoff is a monocled toad. He is a film director that directs movies. Max von Toadenoff the Great is based on Erich von Stroheim.

The Good Trees - several walking, talking trees who always help out H.R. Pufnstuf and the good guys. In the film Pufnstuf, the song "Living Island" described them as the "Hippie Trees of Peace and Love". They consist of:

Hippie Tree - A tree with sunglasses and dreadlocks who often speaks in hippie slang.

Madame Willow (voiced by Joan Gerber) - Also known as the Dowager Tree, Madame Willow is an older, elitist female tree with a lorgnette.

Chief Redwood (voiced by Walker Edmiston) - Also known as the Indian Treee, Chief Redwood dons a feathered headdress and speaks in stereotypical Native American fashion.

There is an older, male tree who may or may not be the husband of Madame Will.

There is another female tree whose lips are always in the shape of an "O".

There is a baby tree.

The Evil Trees - Three trees on Witchiepoo's side that speak in a Transylvanian accent.

Evil Tree #1 (voiced by Lennie Weinrib impersonating Béla Lugosi) -

Evil Tree #2 - A tree that speaks like Peter Lorre.

Evil Tree #3 - A tree that always speaks in rhyme.

The Mushrooms - A group of talking mushrooms on Witchiepoo's side that turn whoever touches them into mushrooms. The mushroom leader smokes a cigar and speaks like Jimmy Cagney.

The Crustaceans - They are shown in several episodes as well as the closing theme song, some crab-like characters who are never named or introduced. There is a family of them, much like the living clocks and the living trees. They almost never say anything, but one of them has a couple of brief lines in "The Almost Election of Witchiepoo".

Witchiepoo's Castle - A talking, living entity that is home to Witchiepoo and her minions. There is also a door inside the castle that is a separate living entity as well as living pillars.

Dr. Blinky's House - A broken down house, propped up with crutches with a bandage on one side and an ice pack atop its chimney. It suffers from explosive sneezing that it has no control over. This usually sends Pufnstuf and friends running for cover, although it has been occasionally used to thwart Witchiepoo's plans enough for her to tell the house to cover it's door when it sneezes. It houses several other inanimate talking characters such as fireplace (who speaks like Edward G. Robinson), a test tube (voiced by Walker Edmiston) and a candle (voiced by Walker Edmiston). There is a talking human skull (who speaks like Boris Karloff) and a few talking books, one of which is named Charlie (voiced by Lennie Weinrib). Charlie's brother, an evil black book of spells, is kept on Witchiepoo's nightstand.

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 Edmiston), the South Wind (voiced by Joan Gerber), the East Wind (voiced by Walker Edmiston), and the West Wind (voiced by Lennie Weinrib impersonating John Wayne).

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 NBC. 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 was not 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, the inclusion of which the Kroffts were initially against. Sid Krofft commented "We were sort of against that, but Si Rose—being in sitcoms—he felt that when the show was put together that the children would not know when to laugh." Marty Krofft added "the bottom line—it's sad—you gotta tell them when it's funny. And the laugh track, (Si) was right. It was necessary, as much as we were always looking to have a real laugh track, a real audience. In comedies, if you don't have them (laugh track), you're in big trouble, because if you don't hear a laugh track, it's not funny. And that's the way the audience (at home) was programmed to view these shows."

Witchiepoo later appeared in the Lidsville episode "Have I Got a Girl For Hoo Doo" where she was lands a date with Horatio J. Hoodoo. H.R. Pufnstuf appeared in a segment of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters as well as in the Lidsville episode "Have I Got a Girl For Hoo Doo" where Hoo Doo conjures Pufnstuf as Witchiepoo's date for a witches' dance. The Krofft Superstar Hour also involved characters in two segments The Lost Island (which H.R. Pufnstuf was in) and Horror Hotel (which Witchiepoo, Orson Vulture, Seymour Spider, and Stupid Bat are featured with Hoodoo).

Theme song

The show’s theme song, titled "H.R. Pufnstuf", was written by Les Szarvas but is also credited to Paul Simon. 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.

Cast

Jack Wild – Jimmy

Billie Hayes – Wilhemina W. Witchiepoo

Voice characterizations

Lennie Weinrib – Bela Lugosi Tree, H.R. Pufnstuf, Dr. Blinky's Talking Book, Stupid Bat, Pop Lolly, West Wind, Max Von Toadenoff the Great, Orson Vulture, Polka Dotted Horse, Jimmy as Movie Villain

Walker Edmiston – Boris Karloff Tree, Dr. Blinky's Candle, East Wind, Grandfather Clock, North Wind, Chief Redwood, Alarm Clock, Dr. Blinky, Dr. Blinky's Test Tube, Ludicrous Lion, Seymour Spider

Joan Gerber – Freddy the Flute, Grandmother Clock, Judy the Frog, Madame Willow, South Wind, Lady Boyd, Shirley Pufnstuf

Film

While the television series was still in production, the Kroffts were approached to do a film adaptation. A joint venture between Universal Pictures and the show's sponsor Kellogg's Cereal, the 1970 film retained most of the cast and crew from the series and featured guest appearances by Cass Elliott as Witch Hazel and Martha Raye as the Boss Witch. 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 film also included Googy Gopher, Orville Pelican, and Boss Witch's chauffeur Heinrich Rat who were exclusive to the movie. A main difference in the film is that the characters that were voiced by Lennie Weinrib were each voiced by Allan Melvin and Don Messick.

The Kroffts have long had plans for a new H.R. Pufnstuf film. Sony first attempted a remake in 2000, but dropped the project. In September, 2008, it was revealed that a live-action feature film was again being developed at Sony. However, it is unknown if the film is still currently in production.

Tours

A number of USA stage show tours were run starring the same characters from the show. The most prominent of these was "H.R. Pufnstuf & The Brady Kids Live at the Hollywood Bowl", which was performed and recorded in 1973. This performance was released on VHS in 1997.

DVD releases

In 2004, Rhino Entertainment 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. SMK and Vivendi Entertainment has obtained the home video rights to the series and released the complete series on Jan. 11, 2011. Two versions of the release exist; one is a traditional complete series set, while the other is a collector's set, featuring a bobble-head of H.R. Pufnstuf. The series is also available in Digital media format at iTunes Store. The whole catalog is available to stream at www.qkids.com and the Qkids app in iTunes Store.

McDonaldland lawsuit

The show was the subject of a successful lawsuit 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.

Parodies and tributes

One of the most notable parodies of H.R. Pufnstuf was "The Altered State of Druggachusetts", a segment on the HBO comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David. The sketch consists of a failed television pilot for a kids' show introduced by "Sam and Criminy Craffft" (portrayed by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross). 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 bong, and all of the residents in Druggachusetts take or are living incarnations of various drugs.

Nike 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 Earl, 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 George Lopez, 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 Simpsons features a "Hufnstuf on Ice" show which has characters that resemble the cast of H.R. Pufnstuf. Another episode features a muffin shop in Shelbyville called "H.R. Muffinstuff".

H.R. Pufnstuf appears in the eighth episode of the first-season of CHiPs, titled "Green Thumb Burglars" with his voice reprised by Lennie Weinrib. He is pulled over by Ponch (Erik Estrada) and Jon (Larry Wilcox) on one of Los Angeles, California's, numerous freeways. Though he was referred to by name, while Jon maintained a sense of decorum about the actor inside the Pufnstuf suit, he let the good Mayor Pufnstuf off with a warning. Ponch later declared himself a "big overgrown kid", in reference to the kids' show.

In the film Ace Ventura When Nature Calls, the titular character asks another character who is pushing him "Hey, what are ya, H.R. Shove n Stuff?"

The series has been cited as a major influence to the Cartoon Network program Adventure Time.

In 2015, H.R. Pufnstuf, Cling, Clang, and Freddy the Flute appear in a crossover episode of Mutt & Stuff titled "H.R. Pufnstuf Comes to Mutt & Stuff!" with H.R. Pufnstuf voiced by Randy Credico with Mary Karcz providing the in-suit performance while Donna Kimball provided the face performance, Freddy the Flute performed by Donna Kimball, and Cling and Clang performed by Arturo Gil and Joseph S. Griffo. H.R. Pufnstuf is depicted as the uncle of Stuff.

References

H.R. Pufnstuf Wikipedia

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