Gamer G
10/10, made me a furry. 10/10, made me queer.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
04/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Right after the H.R. Pufnstuf television series ended its initial run, this film was quickly made to take advantage of its popularity. Financed by Universal and Kellogg's, the sponsors of the TV show, this film adds two new witches alongside Billie Hayes' Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo: Witch Hazel, played by co-creator Sid Krofft's neighbor Cass Elliot and Boss Witch, played by Martha Raye, who was so beloved by the cast and crew that she ended up playing Benita Bizarre in the Kroffts' next show The Bugaloos.
The first choice to play Boss Witch? Bette Davis. When Sid called her, she was so upset that she was his first choice to play a witch that she hung up on him.
Pufnstuf is going to seem absolutely insane to anyone who didn't grow up in the 70s. It tells the story of Jimmy (Jack Wild), who gets along with absolutely no one in his school and then ends up getting kicked out of the school band before he meets a magical talking flute named Freddy. Today, we would get Jimmy the right drugs and therapy and he'd be successful integrated into a group of kids that would understand him — before mercilessly roasting him on social media — but in 1970 Jimmy ends up on an evil boat and being taken to Living Island, which is ruled by Mayor H.R. Pufnstuf.
As for the antaognists, Witchiepoo wants to steal Freddy the Flute away from Jimmy in order to impress the visiting Witches' Council and win the Witch of the Year Award. Oh yeah — th witches also plan on eating Pufnstuf, who I assume tastes like the best sashimi ever made.
What's wild is that Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox worked together for the first time creating the music for this movie and stuck together afterward, writing the songs "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "I Got A Name", "Ready To Take A Chance Again" and many other popular songs.
You know who had it rough? Marty Krofft, who accepted the guardianship of Jack Wild while the teenage boy was working in the United States, in addition to producing the show and movie.
I've always wondered if McDonald's ripped off the Kroffts. And I was right. The show was the subject of a successful lawsuit — Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 562 F.2d 1157, — which was decided in the Krofft's favor by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1977.
Pufnstuf the movie was directed by Hollingsworth Morse, who also made Daughters of Satan and Ark II, and was written by John Fenton Murray, who also scripted Arnold, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monster and Partridge Family 2200 AD., and Si Rose, who wrote plenty of TV.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Like it or hate it, this movie is a classic movie, one of Jack Wild's best movies in my opinion. Jimmy(Jack Wild) is a unpopular boy struggling new to America he goes to a fantasy island with a variety of puppets that treat him as he belongs not everyone's cup of tea watch it if you want or pass on it.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I liked the show when I was young and I though the movie was really fun.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A very trippy, not-so-funny, plain crazy kids film from the 1970s based off the the kids show. I'm not particularly a fan of the show, either, so this was just the worst film I could review.
Jimmy is a boy who has the only talking golden flute in the world, Freddie. However, the evil Witchiepoo wants the flute and tries to kidnap him but he ends up on an island called Living Island, where everything lives (Seriously. Trees, houses, books, you name it). HR Pufnstuf is its mayor and Jimmy's new friend who helps him escape from Witchiepoo's clutches. To make things worse for Witchiepoo, the Boss Witch is coming for a witch convention and is expecting to see Freddie, although Witchiepoo still hasn't gotten Freddie for herself.
This may be the craziest film I've seen in a while. Everything living, the oldness of the film, and some of the crazy scenes make it like that. For two, I think there's so many bad puns and cultural references (like "The West Wind" is a cowboy) that make the film plain unfunny. Maybe the best thing about the film was Martha Raye and that's pretty much it. Jack Wild wasn't half bad, either. But the thing I hated the most was Witchiepoo's henchmen. It extends the point of stupid to a whole 'nother level. They are definitely the most annoying part of the film. Even though I hate musicals, the songs were not half bad, mostly because one was sung by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas. I will not suggest it because I thought it was kinda cheesy and plain unfunny.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Billie Hayes, Martha Raye, Mama Cass....what else could you want?
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
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