"The one thing I will say, that I know for sure, from then and today, you cannot be creative and do something special STONED. So if anybody thought we were stoned, they were out of their minds." - H.R. Pufnstuf Co-Creator/Producer Marty Krofft
H.R. Pufnstuf: The Complete Series DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Beginning in the late 1960s, puppeteer brothers Sid and Marty Krofft became the Norman Lears of Saturday morning. Like that prolific producer, the brothers were involved with the creation of an impressive string of hit shows. After providing costumes for Hanna-Barbera's The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, the siblings went on to create and produce shows of their own, including Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Lidsville, Land of the Lost, and The Bugaloos. They would later segue into primetime with oddball variety shows like Donny & Marie, The Brady Bunch Hour, and the abysmal Pink Lady.and Jeff. Over the years, all of their shows have attracted cult followings, but probably the most beloved of their shows is also the first that they produced: the wonderfully weird H.R. Pufnstuf.
The wackiness begins with one of the most intricately detailed theme songs in television history. This over two hundred word, two minute opus recounts the story of Jimmy (Oliver!'s Jack Wild, a cross between Mickey Rooney and The Monkee's Davy Jones), a young boy who owns a "magic golden flute" named Freddy. A TALKING magic golden flute, no less. While wandering through the forest with Freddy one summer day, Jimmy comes upon a colorful talking boat that offers to take the young lad on a trip out to sea. Jimmy accepts, not realizing that the boat is a trap set by Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes), an evil witch who wants to steal Freddy. The boat kidnaps Jimmy to Living Island, where Witchiepoo lives. Before the sorceress can capture Jimmy, he is rescued by H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by Lennie Weinrib), the island's friendly dragon-like mayor. And this all happens just in the theme song.
Many descriptive theme songs, like those for Green Acres and The Brady Bunch, tend to recount the happenings of the series' pilot episode so that viewers of subsequent episodes can become reacquainted with the show's high concept. H.R. Pufnstuf's theme is so detailed, however, that the plot of the first episode simply picks up from where the story related in the theme song left off.
The basic plot of any given episode is simple: Jimmy and Pufnstuf devise a plan to get Jimmy off of the island, Witchiepoo hatches a plan to snatch Freddy, Jimmy foils the witch's plan, and she, in turn, foils his. The End. Along the way, Jimmy meets the denizens of Living Island, including Pufnstuf's miniature helpers Cling and Clang, Witchiepoo's henchmen Orson the vulture and Seymour the spider, friendly owl scientist Dr. Blinky, shady salesman Ludicrous Lion, Grandfather clock and his time-stopping clock friends, Pufnstuf's sister Shirley, and an endless parade of talking trees, lollipops, ants, doors, etc. Most of the characters are played by actors in full-body suits and voiced by Lennie Weinrib, Joan Gerber, and Walker Edmiston.
The world of H.R. Pufnstuf is filled with a riot of color. The show manages to look simultaneously lush and cheap, like a Rembrandt painted on cardboard. This is by no means a flaw. The flatness of the backgrounds and many of the scenic elements provides the show with the look and feel of a live-action cartoon. Witchiepoo and Jimmy are the only recognizably human characters. The others are presented in a variety of imaginative styles, including Disneyland-esque full body costumes (Pufnstuf, Dr. Blinky), traditional puppets (Freddy), and even talking set pieces (a variety of doors, gargoyles, and even complete buildings). This unique, one of a kind style has surely helped to make the series so memorable.
The show does not try to teach its audience any sort of life lessons - there is no educational content. Instead, it functions as pure entertainment, with an appealing mix of slapstick, dumb/funny dialogue, and goofy visual gags. The pace is psychotically frenetic, rushing at a breakneck pace from one plot point to another. (Appropriately, the action slows down only when someone yells "We have to hurry!," which of course causes everyone to slow down).
As Witchiepoo, actress Billie Hayes delivers an admirably unhinged performance. She screeches, cackles, screams, twitches, and writhes, often in the course of the same sentence. Her portrayal walks a fine line between scary and stupid, and the actress steals the show each time she appears on screen.
In this collection's supplemental materials, the Kroffts indicate that the film version of The Wizard of Oz served as a major inspiration for H.R. Pufnstuf. This is especially evident in the first episode, "The Magic Path." These homages include the basic plot (boy in a strange land struggling to get home), evil trees, Witchiepoo's Wicked Witch of the West-like persona, the ubiquity of "little people" in strange costumes, and the yellow brick "magic path" that Jimmy must follow to get home. Plus there's Judy Frog, a dancing amphibian who dresses and sounds like Judy Garland!
All seventeen episodes of the series are included on three discs. The discs are housed in a colorful digipak, which in turn slides into a cardboard sleeve. Two flaps of the digipak provide an episode guide with brief descriptions of each episode. A third panel showcases a listing of which episodes are found on which discs. A booklet housed in a folder panel of the digipak contains a list of the chapter titles found in each episode, an essay on Krofft and Pufnstuf history by TV historian Hal Erickson, a text of the lyrics to the show's theme song, and a list of the series' official credits.
The menu design is rather low-key for a Rhino release, but is easily navigated. The main menu lists the episodes found on the disc. Choosing an individual episode leads to a screen that shows scenes from each of the episode's four chapters. Viewers can jump directly to a chapter or play the entire episode. Although there is no "Play All" feature, once an episode ends, the next episode begins automatically.
