Way back in 2009, I said:
H.R. Pufnstuf was an absolute obsession of mine when I was a child. From the same production house that brought us The Banana Splits, this was a strange (typically 60s, slightly druggy) fantasy about a boy (played by the late Jack Wilde, of Oliver fame), shipwrecked on a weird island with a talking flute named Freddy, a magic boat, the giant puppet dragon of the title, his friends Cling & Clang and Dr. Blinky, and a wicked witch named Witchiepoo (played by Billie Hayes) who rode on a Vroom Broom... Bizarre stuff, indeed.
For a wave of nostalgia, here's its theme tune:
...and that of the aforementioned Banana Splits:
Faboo!
The reason for this trip down memory lane? The sad news that the mastermind behind both shows (with his brother Sid*) Marty Krofft has departed for Fabulon, aged 89.
RIP, Marty Krofft (birth surname Yolas, 9th April 1937 – 25th November 2023)
[* NB Sid is still with us, aged 96]
I had no idea these shows made it to England. I saw them sometimes with my brother. I can still sing the Banana Splits song.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, indeed - we had a raft of "US classics" alongside home-grown shows when we were kids; as well as the above, we had: Tom & Jerry, Wacky Races, Flintstones, Top Cat [and all the Hanna-Barbera cartoons], Batman, Champion The Wonder Horse, Casey Jones and many, many more... Jx
DeleteI used to watch all these too, LOVE THEM...but the flute always gave me the willies. Who would have thought what with its phallic shape.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine the confusion with you between "blow" and "suck". Jx
DeleteI remember other kids talking about H.R. Pufnstuf. I never saw it because we only got one channel on our black-and-white TV. My world view was rather limited.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I think the reason we in the UK got flooded with such technicolour delights is because we only had colour television broadcasting from 1967, and the BBC didn't have much of a budget to make this type of show, so bought in the stuff that was available from the USA... Jx
DeleteI liked Top Cat...
ReplyDeleteStill love it! [The original, that is, not any newer remakes...] Jx
DeleteStill think they were on Drugs.
ReplyDeleteNever! 🤣 Jx
DeleteI loved HR Pufnstuf and the Banana Splits too :-). You say "size of an elephant" to kids today, and they don't know what you're talking about ;-)))
ReplyDeleteUntil they go to McDonalds. Jx
DeletePS The catchphrases are all there, even after all the decades - "Uh-Oh, Chongo!", "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay", "Double ooch!", "Hold the bus!" and so on...