Late Night Blogging: Pufnstuf (1970) Movie Trailer

H.R. Pufnstuf: "The Wheely Bird"

In “The Wheely Bird,” Mayor Pufnstuf has his hands full dealing with a protest at the Candy Shop (“Make Candy, Not War!”), but faces bigger problems when he learns that Witchiepoo wants Jimmy (Jack Wild) and Freddy the flute “or else!”

Freddy, realizing that Witchiepoo will never let Jimmy leave the island until the flute is in her hands, surrenders himself to the Witch.

Now PufnStuf and Jimmy must find a way to get the talking flute back. 

They remember the story of the Trojan Horse and promptly come up with a modern-day equivalent:

“The Wheely Bird.”

“The Wheely Bird,” the second episode of Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf (1969) is all about friendship, and the lengths that friends will go for one another.

In this case, Freddy gives himself up to evil Witchiepoo so Jimmy can go home. But contrarily, Jimmy refuses to leave the Living Island until he has rescued his friend.

To accentuate this tale of friendship, Jack Wild performs in “the Wheely Bird” -- about mid-way through, a tune called “How Lucky I Am,” which I remember, oddly enough, from my childhood.  I must have seen this episode at some point as a kid.  I also remember showing it to Joel when he was little.

In the end, another friend, Pufnstuf is able to win the day by taking Witchiepoo’s magic wand and arranging for a fair trade: Freddy (the talking flute), for the wand.  

And all’s well that ends well on the magic island.

Pop Art: H.R. Pufnstuff (Whitman Edition)

Pop Art: H.R. Pufnstuf (Gold Key Edition)

H.R. Pufnstuf Halloween Costume (Collegeville)

Jigsaw Puzzle of the Week: H.R. Pufnstuf (Junior Guild)

Lunch Box of the Week: H.R. Pufnstuf

Theme Song of the Week: H.R. Pufnstuf (1969)

Advert Artwork: H.R. Pufnstuf Edition

H.R. Pufnstuf: "The Magic Path"

In “The Magic Path,” Jimmy (Jack Wild) has just washed ashore on the living island with his friend, Freddy, the talking flute. 

He befriends the mayor of the island, H.R. Pufnstuf, and learns that all objects -- even the trees -- are sentient beings there.

Hoping to get information about how to stop Witchiepoo (Billy Hayes) and leave the island, Jimmy consults with Dr. Blinky, an owl of “great intelligence” who heads the island’s Anti-Witch Committee. 

Blinky reports that the only person who knows the secret route, Judy Frog, is being held captive in the witch’s castle.

This means Pufnstuf, Jimmy and Freddy must rescue her…

                          

In quite a few significant ways, “The Magic Path” is like a Saturday morning version of The Wizard of Oz (1939), with a displaced hero -- Jimmy (Wild) -- gathering up his colorful friends and taking a path to a witch’s castle in hopes of discovering a way home from the fantasy land, in this case, the Living Island.

One variation on the world of Oz, as seen here, involves the fact that everything on the Living Island is, well, alive. 

This includes trees, books, test-tubes (in Blinky’s laboratory) and even sneezing houses. 

It’s rather amazing that, on a low budget, Sid and Marty Krofft and their production team could create all these beings and make them so memorable. One of the best such creations, by my reckoning is the West Wind, who talks just like movie star John Wayne.   

A weird touch? Yes, but one totally in keeping with the outrageous, trippy aspects of the series. Exhibit A on that front is the Stoner Tree we meet here, who dons a head-band and dark sun-glasses.

“The Magic Path’s” humor is mostly lame stuff (“he kicked me in the root!” complains a tree…), and the scenes with cackling Witchiepoo and her minions are grating to the ear.  They get old real fast. 

And yet, Pufnstuf is a magical character, for sure, and his friendship with Jimmy is the key aspect of the program, and the series.

The Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday Morning Empire and legacy begins with this colorful series from 1969, and its sometimes crazy (sometimes drug-inspired?) flights of fancy.

Outré Intro: H.R. Pufnstuf (1969)

H.R. Pufnstuf (1969): kid's show, drug trip, or both?

Please, discuss among yourselves...

All joking aside, H.R. Pufnstuf is an extremely imaginative work of art from producers Sid and Marty Krofft. 

In the tradition of The Wizard of Oz, this Saturday morning TV series is the story of a boy, Jimmy (Jack Wild) who makes a magic journey from our world to a fantasy world. 

In that fantasy world, he is taunted and chased by a Witch (Billy Hayes), and befriended by strange talking trees, dragons, owls and other representatives of "The Living Island."

The question of H.R. Pufnstuf's true nature -- as either drug trip or pure entertainment (or both) -- is usually raised because of the program's trippy imagery, but also because of the series title, and song lyrics. 

Specifically, "Pufnstuf" seems a reference to smoking weed, and the line "can't do a little, cuz he can't do enough" also seems like a drug reference about getting high.

Clearly, too, there's the trip angle.  

Some of the imagery featured below seems indicative of a good trip gone bad, especially given the dual-nature of the boat that transports Jimmy to this "other world" of H.R. Pufnstuf.

The title montage begins with snow-capped mountains, a beautiful forest, and a boy running alone in slow motion, enjoying a warm, happy "summertime" with his "magic golden flute." 

Is the flute actually representative of a bong or pipe?  The very thing that makes the trip possible, and is coveted by Witchiepoo?

It seems like that could be the case since as the intro commences, Jimmy lives in what seems to be the real world, except for the presence of that magic talking flute.   

After just a few blows on that pipe/flute (as you can see in the opening frames), he sees a magical boat on the shore, one ready to whisk him away to another place.

Did I mention that the boat is psychedelic, and seems to be alive?  

In the frame below, the boat's eye moves.  

And the title song notes that the boat beckons Jimmy.  "Come and play with me, Jimmy, come and play with me.  I will take you on a trip...far across the sea."

Again with the trip imagery!

So Jimmy boards the boat and takes that trip, only to find that the boat belongs to a witch, Witchiepoo. It reveals its true, evil, demonic form to Jimmy, and she cackles with glee.  The boat actually wrestles Billy and tries to kill him.  

The ocean turns mean, the boat loses its psychedelic, colorful qualities, and we are asked to contemplate a trip gone very, very bad.

But Pufnstuf comes to the rescue with his rescue crew, and races to save Jimmy from the witch, providing a safe harbor for the boy.

Hand-in-hand with Pufnstuf, Jimmy explores the wacky weirdness fantasy land of the Living Island, and the credits roll.  Please note the living tree in the last frame, wearing a head-band and sun-glasses.

Weird, huh?

So what do you think? Is H.R. Pufnstuf really about drug culture?

Or is it just a really weird product of the year 1969?  (That's the year, incidentally, that I was born...).

I feel that the drug culture aspects of the show, from the title to the flute, to the song lyrics are absolutely intentional, though the individual stories featured on the show are kid-friendly and innocuous in the extreme.   

Why go about a program in a fashion like this?

Well, it creates interest among older kids (and TV  cholars...) for one thing, so that not just children will watch the series. 

Indeed, by featuring drug culture references and images, a kind of parallel narrative is created here. Suddenly, you start watching the episodes on competing tracks; looking for clues as to intent and purpose.

Here's the intro in living color: