Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20195 in VHS
• Released on: 2000-10-31
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
Rumor has it that Sid and Marty Krofft are developing a new movie based on their bizarre life-size puppet show, H.R. Pufnstuf. But will it hold up to their first feature? Looking more like an ambitious TV episode than a feature film, the endearingly low-tech Pufnstuf hit the big screen in 1970 with the gee-whiz spirit of a community theater musical. The whole cast is here: Jack Wild's lisping hero, who sings and dances with his magic talking flute; Billie Hayes' cackling Witchiepoo; the drawling dragon Pufnstuf; and the usual collection of talking trees, beavers, owls, mushrooms, and other frantic live-action cartoon characters. Martha Raye guest stars as Boss Witch and "Mama" Cass Elliot (as Witchiepoo's archrival in the "Witch of the Year" contest) sings "different is hard, different is lonely." The songs are otherwise eminently forgettable, and the story is the usual Saturday morning silliness of bumbling bad guys and resourceful heroes in slapstick square-offs--you can almost hear the laugh track. Fans of the show will appreciate its surreal weirdness (Witchiepoo as a go-go dance instructor?), but what can anyone make of the image of Pufnstuf spinning on a spit over a barbeque? It's no Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but Billie Hayes powers the picture with her madcap energy and comic flair. And even gets her own song, "We Can Zap the World." Zap away, Witchiepoo. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

It's about time they reissued this!
I saw a bootleg letterboxed copy of this about seven or eight years ago at a friend's house up in Northern California, and I was astonished. All this is, really, is a 90-minute "H.R. Pufnstuf" episode, but it's one of the best ones ever conceived. In keeping with the times (and, quite possibly, the film's "real" potential audience) there are quickly intercut visual effects that look like they were stolen from the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" section of "2001" throughout. It's a little thin plotwise (who watches this stuff for plot, anyway?), but there are plenty of musical numbers to keep the viewer entertained and amused. It's worth the price of admission alone to see Mama Cass Eliot (she plays Witchiepoo's friend Witch Hazel - yuk yuk) talking on the telephone while sitting in a bathtub full of food! Sadly, there's no "See You Next Week!" sign-off at the end of the movie, which may disappoint some. That's just a small quibble, though. Fans of Sid & Marty Krofft's work shouldn't miss out on this, and it also deserves shelf space in the collection of any fan of camp or Psychotronic stuff. Incredible.

Childhood Memories Come Alive
Just bought the video. I remember this television show with fond memories and was so looking forward to this movie finally coming on video. I saw it years ago on the Disney Channel. Now all these years later it still hasn't lost any of it's charm. My only complaint is that on the video box it list Martha Raye as the original Witchiepoo but as anyone who is a Pufnstuf fanatic will know that it is a misprint and Billie Hayes is and will always be Witchiepoo. Now I wait for it to come out on DVD.

Heavy dose of nostaliga required
I'm not going to explain the plot of this movie, because I am sure that everyone interested in buying it was an avid fan of the show who has since grown up (strictly a relative term with us Krofft fans). I have serious doubts that this movie would appeal to modern kids. The special effects and set design are crude and would look silly to kids used to computer animation. It also has that destinctive 70's feel (which can only be described as "groovy") which simply won't be felt by kids raised to think that nausea inducing light shows and jokes about bodily functions are what kids shows are all about.

For adult fans of the show, however, this movie is a rare treat. It opens with several minutes of Jimmy's life before being whisked away to Living Island, which was a welcome addition to his identity. Although the music may not have been Grammy worthy, I for one enjoyed the haunting theme song, the lively "Living Island is a Most Amazing Place" and of course Cass Eliott's song. My objections are few. They cast different people from the show to do the voices of Pufnstuff, Freddy and Orson, which was distrubing as I had gotten used to the original voices. Also, we have Freddy and Jimmy meeting minutes before being taken to the island. Given the strength of their bond on the show, I had assumed they had been together for years before that. Also, I would have liked to see an explanation for how Living Island came to be, which the move did not offer. Like I said, my objections were few, and did not ruin the nostaligic appeal of this long lost treasure.