H.R. Pufnstuf is a children's television series produced by
Sid and Marty KrofftSid and Marty Krofft are a sibling team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s....
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet, program. There were seventeen episodes of the show originally broadcast from 6 September 1969 to 4 September 1971. It was so successful that
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
kept it on the
Saturday morningSaturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits is a tribute album of songs from Saturday morning children’s television shows and cartoons from the 1960s and 1970s. The project is a work of love from the producer Ralph Sall, with the songs performed by alternative rock artists...
schedule for a full three seasons until August 1972, when it was cancelled. The show was shot in
Paramount StudiosParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
and its opening was shot in
Big Bear Lake, CaliforniaBig Bear Lake is a city in San Bernardino County, California along the south shore of Big Bear Lake, just 25 miles north east of the city of San Bernardino. The population was 5,438 at the 2000 census...
.
Origins
The H.R. Pufnstuf character was originally created for the
HemisFair '68HemisFair '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-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines internationally. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the beverage is sold in more than 200 countries...
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 was a British actor who achieved fame for his roles in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed. For the latter performance , he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16...
). He is 11 years old when he arrives on the island and turns 12 in the episode called "The Birthday Party". Jimmy takes a ride on a mysterious boat to kooky Living Island, home of dancing 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 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...
with the costume worn by property master Albert F. Bentley). Jimmy had been lured to the island with his friend, a talking flute named Freddy, by a magic boat which promised adventures across the sea. The boat was actually owned and controlled by a wicked witch named Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (played by
Billie HayesBillie Hayes is an American actress best known for her comic portrayal as Witchiepoo in Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf...
) who rode on a broomstick-like vehicle called the Vroom Broom.
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, grandfather 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 WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol.Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry...
,
Edward G. RobinsonEdward Goldenberg Robinson, Sr. was an American actor born in Romania...
or most notably
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive 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 unsuccessfully to steal Freddy. Another concerns Jimmy and Freddy's efforts to return home from Living Island, with the same lack of success.
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
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
. The plot was recycled from
Kaleidescope, a live puppet show the Kroffts had staged in the
Coca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines internationally. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the beverage is sold in more than 200 countries...
pavilion of the
HemisFair '68HemisFair '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 Frog on her. Ludicrous Lion bears more than a passing resemblance to Irving, the eponymous lion in a
pilotA television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes. Networks use pilots to...
they had made in 1957 called
Here's IrvingHere's Irving was 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 BartLionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music & 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 WildJack Wild was a British actor who achieved fame for his roles in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed. For the latter performance , he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16...
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 an unknown named
Penny MarshallPenny 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 HayesBillie Hayes is an American actress best known for her comic portrayal as Witchiepoo in Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf...
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 WildJack Wild was a British actor who achieved fame for his roles in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed. For the latter performance , he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16...
while the teenage boy was in
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
filming the show. He later described bringing Wild into his home as a mistake.
Theme song
The show’s theme song, titled H.R. Pufnstuf, was written by Les Szarvas.
A cover of the show’s theme song, performed by
The MurmursThe Murmurs were an American alternative pop music duo composed of singer-songwriters Leisha Hailey and Heather Grody. Some time after the duo went their separate ways, Hailey became one half of Uh Huh Her.-The Murmurs:...
, is included on the 1995
tribute albumA 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 SallRalph 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 RecordsMCA 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...
.
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" - Witchiepoo captures Freddy, so Pufnstuf gets the flute away from her castle by having Director Max Von Toadenoff cast her as a stand-in for his "new picture."
- "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" - A 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. Pufnstuf rescues Jimmy, gets Jimmy and Freddy back to their correct age, and ...
- "Book, Flute 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 HR Pufnstuf. She resorts to a "Love Witchiepoo" potion, but Dr. Blinky undoes it at the last minute.
- "Whaddya Mean the Horse Gets the Girl?" - HR 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. (Whew!!!)
Cast
- Jack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who achieved fame for his roles in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed. For the latter performance , he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16...
- Jimmy
- Billie Hayes
Billie Hayes is an American actress best known for her comic portrayal as Witchiepoo in Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf...
- Wilhemina W. Witchiepoo
- Joy Campbell - Orson Vulture (in the costume)
Voice cast
- 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...
- H.R. Pufnstuf, Bela LugosiBéla Lugosi was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen, well known for playing Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version...
Tree, Dr. Blinky's Talking Book, Orson Vulture, Polka Dotted Horse, Stupid Bat, West Wind
- Walker Edmiston
Walker Edmiston was an American 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 on CBS...
- Boris KarloffBoris Karloff was a British actor who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein, 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein...
Tree, Dr. Blinky, Dr. Blinky's Candle, East Wind, Grandfather Clock, Ludicrous Lion, North Wind, Redwood, Seymour Spider
- Joan Gerber
Joan 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 Frog, South Wind, Miles Vandusen
- Andrew Dowsey - Freddy the Flute (1 episode)
Film
While the television series was still in production, the Kroffts were approached to do a film adaptation. A joint venture between
Universal PicturesThis is a partial listing of films produced and/or distributed by Universal Pictures, the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal.-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc...
and the show's sponsor,
Kellogg's CerealKellogg Company is the world’s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, and meat alternatives...
, the film retained most of the cast and crew from the series and featured guest appearances by Cass Elliott and
Martha RayeMartha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television.-Early life:...
. The movie was finally released on
VHSVideo Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, was a video tape recording standard developed during the 1970s. It was released to the public during the latter half of the decade. During the late part of the 1970s and the early 1980s it formed one-half of the VHS vs Betamax war, which it...
in 2001 by
Universal Home VideoThis is a partial listing of films produced and/or distributed by Universal Pictures, the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal.-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc...
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.
Marty Krofft revealed on June 3, 2009 that Sony has agreed to develop and produce a feature film.
In popular culture
The show was the subject of a successful
lawsuitA lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have received damages from a defendant's actions, seeks a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
brought by the Kroffts against the
fast foodFast 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 low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form...
restaurant
McDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving nearly 47 million customers daily. At one time it was the largest global restaurant chain, but it has since been surpassed by multi-brand operator Yum! and sandwich chain Subway.In addition to its...
, whose
McDonaldlandMcDonaldland was a fantasy world, inhabited by Ronald McDonald and other characters, which was formerly used in marketing for McDonald's. In addition to being used in advertising, the characters were used as the basis for equipment in the playgrounds attached to some McDonald's...
characters were found to have infringed the show's
copyrightCopyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation, after which time the work is said to enter the public domain...
. (Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 562 F.2d 1157, decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1977.)
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 Earl is an American comedy 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. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television.-Overview:...
, 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. H.R. Pufnstuf appeared in an episode of South Park the very same week.
In an episode of
George LopezGeorge Lopez is a Mexican American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race relations and the Mexican culture within the United States....
, H.R. Pufnstuf makes a guest appearance at a birthday party. Lopez dances with him and the theme song is used as the music.
The rock band
EverclearEverclear may refer to:*Everclear , a rock band from Portland, Oregon*Everclear , a brand of grain alcohol*Everclear , an album by indie rock group American Music Club...
's music video for "AM Radio" features a short clip from the show.
An episode of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television 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 eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
makes reference of a "Hufnstuf on Ice" show, with the characters resembling the cast of H. R. Pufnstuf.
Claims of drug references
The Krofft brothers have responded in several interviews to popular beliefs that subtle drug references existed in the show. For example, the title character's name "Pufnstuf" has been interpreted as a reference to smoking hand-rolled (H.R.)
marijuanaCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
(puffin' stuff) — Marty Krofft has said the initials "H.R." actually stand for "Royal Highness" backwards — and 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 one 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," and he addressed the topic at length in an interview with the
St. Louis Post-DispatchThe 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 entendreA 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, inappropriate, 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 CollegeSwarthmore 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 either admitted or hinted in occasional interviews that the references were made knowingly; in one case, a writer reported that when pressed as to the connotation of "
lidLID is an abbreviation for:*Light-Weight Identity protocol, a mechanism for claiming and verifying identity on the Internet.*Lawson Insight Desktop.*The Library Interchange Definition.*The League for Industrial Democracy....
s" in the title
LidsvilleLidsville 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 were filmed alongside performers in full mascot costumes, whose voices were dubbed in...
, "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
SpliffyJoint is slang 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 throughout the developing world. Modern papers are now commonly made...
and
Bong-OFor the Dinosaur Jr. song "The Lung", see You're Living All Over MeA bong, also commonly known as a water pipe, is a smoking device, generally used to smoke cannabis, tobacco, or other substances. The construction of a bong and its principle of action is similar to that of the hookah...
," 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" (author's words).
External links