Between 1969 and 1977, Montreal-born brothers 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 programmes – and in doing so, left an indelible impression on an entire generation.
One of the most fondly remembered was a story about a boy, a magic flute, a witch, and the green and yellow mayor of Living Island – who happens to be a big, enchanted dragon.
H.R. Pufnstuf began with a young English boy named Jimmy (Jack Wild, who had played the Artful Dodger in the 1968 movie Oliver!), out playing his magic flute called “Freddie” (or “Fweddie” as Jimmy called him).
While at the edge of the river, Jimmy climbs aboard an enchanted boat that beckons to him.
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 and I will take you on a trip far across the sea”
As the small boat drifts out to sea, an evil witch named Witchiepoo (stage actress Billie Hayes) – 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 is promptly rescued by the local mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf – a giant cowboy/dragon – and his Rescue Ranger crew – made up of two mute and inept pint-sized police creatures named Kling and Klang.
Jimmy and Freddie the Flute (voiced by Joan Gerber) now find themselves stranded on Living Island, where everything is 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 animals of some sort. Dr Blinky was an Owl, Ludicrous Lion was a Lion, and Judy Frog was . . . well, you work it out.
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 – Orson Vulture, hapless orange Seymour Spider, 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.
Among the more memorable tunes were I’m a Mechanical Boy, Oranges-Poranges, and The Pronoun Song.
Pufnstuf went wildly over budget, primarily due to Sid Krofft’s refusal to compromise on his vision for the series.
The show was budgeted at $52,000 per half-hour, or approximately $884,000 for the season. By the end, it was reportedly a million dollars over budget – an astronomical cost for the time.
In 1970, the Kroffts released a major motion picture based on the TV series. Co-produced by Kellogg’s Cereal and 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.
Marty Krofft passed away in Los Angeles on 25 November 2023, due to kidney failure. He was 86.
TRIVIA Fast-food chain McDonald’s approached the Kroffts in 1970 to develop ideas for a ‘McDonaldland’ group of characters that they could use in advertising.
In August 1970, after the Kroffts designed some characters, the ad exec from McDonald’s advised that they were “going to go in another direction”.
In January 1971, the Kroffts saw the other “direction” – ‘Mayor McCheese’ was directly ripped off H. R. Pufnstuf, and Officer Big Mac, the Apple Pie Trees, Hamburglar, Grimace, Captain Crook and other characters bore more than a tiny passing resemblance to the Krofft designs.
Not only had the ad exec hired former Krofft employees to produce the McDonaldland suits, but he had also hired Pufnstuf voice actors to provide voices.
The Krofft brothers filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in November 1973, and a jury found in their favour and awarded them $50,000, but both sides appealed. In late 1977, the court heard the appeals and decided again that McDonald’s had lost.
Many years after the lawsuit began, the Kroffts were informed that McDonald’s owed them $1,044,000.
Jimmy
Jack Wild
Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo
Billie Hayes
Freddie the Flute
Joan Gerber
H.R. Pufnstuf
Lennie Weinrib (voice)
Roberto Gamonet (suit)
Kling/Orson Vulture
Joy Campbell
Klang/Seymour Spider
Angelo Rossitto Judy the Frog/Stupid Bat/Shirlee Pufnstuf Sharon Baird Dr Blinky/Ludicrous Lion
John Silver
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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One of the most fondly remembered was a story about a boy, a magic flute, a witch, and the green and yellow mayor of Living Island – who happens to be a big, enchanted dragon.
As the small boat drifts out to sea, an evil witch named Witchiepoo (stage actress Billie Hayes) – 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 Freddie the Flute (voiced by Joan Gerber) now find themselves stranded on Living Island, where everything is alive with its own personality: Books had faces, houses sneezed, trees could talk, and money was measured in buttons.
Seventeen 30-minute episodes of H.R. Pufnstuf were produced, most featuring original compositions sung by the talented cast.
In August 1970, after the Kroffts designed some characters, the ad exec from McDonald’s advised that they were “going to go in another direction”.
