HR PUFNSTUF
Between 1969 and 1977, Sid and Marty Krofft produced seventeen
live-action series for their own production company, spanning from
Saturday morning children's shows to prime time variety programs,
and in doing so left an indelible impression on an entire
generation.
One of the mostly fondly remembered was a story about a boy, a
magic flute, a witch, and a big orange mayor.
Once upon a summertime, Just a dream from yesterday
A boy and his magic golden flute heard a boat from off the bay
"Come and play with me, Jimmy - come and play with
me..."
H.R. Pufnstuf began with young English boy Jimmy, out
playing his magic flute called "Freddie" (or "Fweddie"
as Jimmy called him). While at the edge of the river Jimmy climbs
aboard a boat that beckons to him.
As it drifts out to sea, an evil witch named Witchiepoo,
seeking Freddie to add to her collection of magical possessions,
casts a spell and makes the boat turn into an evil boat which
attacks Jimmy, who then jumps overboard to save himself.
Jimmy and his magic flute wash up on the beach of an enchanted
isle, unconscious. The boy was promptly rescued by the local
mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf (a giant orange and green cowboy/dragon) and
his Rescue Ranger crew - made up of two mute and inept dwarves
named Kling and Klang.
Jimmy and Freddie the Flute now found themselves stranded on
Living Island, where everything was alive with its own
personality: Books had faces, houses sneezed, trees could talk and
money was measured in buttons.
The citizens of Living Island all looked like an animal of some
sort. Dr Blinky was an Owl, Ludicrous Lion was a Lion and Judy Frog was
. . . er . . . well a frog obviously.
Each week, the evil Witchiepoo would hatch a plan to steal
Freddie from Jimmy and keep them both trapped on Living Island.
She was assisted in her wicked plans by her goofy henchmen -
vulture Orson, hapless orange spider Seymour, and the aptly named
Stupid Bat - and her motorised broomstick, called the Vroom Broom.
Seventeen 30-minute episodes of H.R. Pufnstuf were
produced, most featuring original compositions sung by the
talented cast, which included Billie Hayes, Jack Wild, and a host
of Krofft regulars. Among the more memorable tunes were I'm a
Mechanical Boy, Oranges-Poranges, and The Pronoun
Song.
In 1970, the Kroffts released a major motion picture based on
the TV series, titled simply Pufnstuf. The film featured
all of the original cast, with some very campy guest appearances
by Martha Raye and Billy Barty.
The Head Witch was played by Mama Cass who performed a
show-stopping number (Different) at the Witches'
Convention.
EPISODES
The Magic Path | The Wheeley Bird | The Mechanical Boy | Show
Biz Witch | Box Kite Paper | The Golden Key | The Birthday Party |
The Horse With The Golden Throat | The Stand-In | Flute, Book and
Candle | Dinner For Two Please Orson | You Can't Have Your Cake |
A Tooth For A Tooth | The Visiting Witch | The Almost Election of
Mayor Witchepoo | Whaddya Mean The Horse Gets The Girl? | Jimmy
Who?
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