H.R. Pufnstuf was a colorfully vibrant TV series created by fifth-generation puppeteers, Sid & Marty Krofft. Each show was 30 minutes long and was on during Saturday morning cartoons. Only 17 episodes were produced and they originally debuted on NBC in late 1969. After that, the show continued in reruns over 5 years on NBC and ABC. If you grew up during this time you may remember this freaky, alternate fantasy world.

“H.R. Pufnstuff, Who’s your friend when things get rough?
H.R. Pufnstuff Can’t do a little cause he can’t do enough.”

Plot and Characters: A boy by the name of Jimmy is lured to Living Island when the wacky Witchiepoo attempts to steal his magic flute, Freddy. On this amazing island, everything is alive and talks, including trees, flowers, books and candles. A friendly dragon mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf, along with Cling and Clang, Dr. Blinky and all the gang try to help Jimmy escape the island. Well, Jimmy never returned home and Witchiepoo could never hold onto the flute for too long.

The young star that played Jimmy was the late Jack Wild. When given a chance, he would always brake into song and dance. The wicked Witchiepoo was played Billie Hayes. Roberto Gamonet was the actor inside the H. R. Pufnstuf costume, while Lennie Weinrib did his voice. I think that he’d use his arms to move the puppets’ mouth or the arms, because you’d rarely see either moving at the same time.

In dichotomist roles, both Joy Campbell and Angelo Rossitto played supporting characters. Joy played the good natured Cling as well as the bad buzzard Orson and Angelo was the playful Clang and Seymour the mean spider. Cling and Clang were just like the Keystone Kops in their silent antics, unlike their evil counterparts - Orson and Seymour. The squeaky voice of Freddy, the magical talking flute, was done by Joan Gerber. Sharon Baird played many female roles including Shirley Pufnstuf, Judy the Frog, and Lady Boyd the singer.

These main actors and many others would play a myriad of characters too. I imagine it was easy enough to do since most of the characters had full body suits or controlled puppet. It’s a good way to cut production costs too, especially since the show was on a shoestring budget.

Some people think that the show’s style was heavily influenced by drugs. It may seem so with the psychedelic landscape, colorfully strange characters, a mayor whose name is basically “Puffin’ Stuff”, but these claims have been denied by the creators Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft.

H.R. Pufnstuf was one of the earlier shows that the Krofft brothers made and probably one of the most enduring. A part of pop culture, H.R. Pufnstuf has made guest cameos over the years in shows as diverse as CHiPs and The Drew Carey Show. It is also known that some of Sid & Marty Krofft’s shows may be mangled by Hollywood made into movies. They may be able to rehash this old favorite, but they can’t beat the original H.R. Pufnstuf! If you’d like to relive your fond memories of this show- check out their DVD.

Update: Here’s the intro at Google video.

Update 2: Lennie Weinrib, R.I.P.