| SITE NEWS |
|
Online Viewers
|
| FORGOTTEN PEORIA FORUMS |
| The FORGOTTEN PEORIA FORUM is a place for YOU to post your memories, pictures, and stories from the 50's,60's,70's,80's and 90's. Anybody can look at the forum but you must register with a valid E-mail address to post. Check it out CLICK TO ENTER THE FORGOTTEN PEORIA FORUMS |
| MY OTHER SITES |
 |
| PLEASE HELP |
 |
| MY FEEDS |
Subscribe to FORGOTTEN PEORIA
|
| Your Ad Here |
| Contact me |
| Our Sponsors |
|
|
| Saturday, September 23, 2006 |
| H.R. PUFNSTUF |
Like most Peoria kids in the early 70's, I watched H.R. Pufnstuf. There were seventeen episodes of the show, which ran from September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971, but it was so successful that the NBC kept it on the Saturday morning schedule for a full three seasons. ABC carried repeats of the series for two more seasons from September 16, 1972 to September 1, 1974.
H.R. Pufnstuf introduced the Kroffts' most-used plot scenario, revolving around a boy named Jimmy, played by Jack Wild, who had accidentally found Living Island, a magical place where everything was alive. The Mayor of Living Island was a friendly dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf. Jimmy had been lured to the island with his friend, a talking flute named Freddie, by a magic boat which promised adventures across the sea. The boat was actually owned and controlled by their nemesis, a wicked witch named Witchiepoo, played by Billie Hayes, who rode on a broomstick with a steering wheel called the "VroomBroom". 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 Witchiepoo, all of the characters on Living Island were realized via large, cumbersome costumes or puppetry. Since everything on Living Island was alive—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 West, Edward G. Robinson or most notably John Wayne as "The West Wind".
The show's popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to the release of a movie based on the show, called Pufnstuf, in 1970. The film featured guest appearances by Mama Cass Elliott and Martha Raye. The show and the movie were both notable for bright colors, fast edits, sped-up film, musical segments and pop culture in-jokes, and appealed to young adults almost as much as children.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE INTRO TO H.R. PUFNSTUF ON GOOGLE VIDEO
Or Watch it Here
H.R. Pufnstuf Intro
H.R. Pufnstuf End Theme
INTERVIEW WITH SID AND MARTY KROFFT
PART 1 PART 2
The complete series was released as a DVD box set in the United States in February 2004. The film has also been offered on VHS, now out of print.
A little Bonus. Anybody remember the BAY CITY ROLLERS tv show on on Saturday morning's
between 1978 and 1979. They had a skit called Horror hotel with Witchiepoo, played by Billie Hayes, from H.R. Pufnstuff.
I Only Want To Be With You, From the Bay City Rollers Show
One For The Road BAY CITY ROLLERS - SATURDAY NIGHT
|
posted by UNKNOWN @ 7:12 PM   |
|
|
|
|
|
