Pufnstuf (1970)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Overrated and overhyped

A different way of telling a story

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Pufnstuf is the story of the rivalry between an insecure witch and a lonely Dickensian teen pin up model over a talking flute in a land of goofy puppet people. If that sounds crazy it's because it kind of is.Jimmy is an English transplant in America having difficulty adjusting. One day, after getting kicked out of band practice, his flute magically comes to life and promises to be his new best friend. They sing a song about it and, surprisingly, the song is pretty good. Jimmy then comes across an odd boat which he decides to jump into. Unfortunately, the boat is cursed or something and he is beset upon by a witch on a gigantic broom who wants the flute in order to impress her witch friends because she's kind of unpopular. Jimmy escapes only to find himself on a magic island where all sorts of strange puppet things live in a world of brightly colored hand-drawn sets. This includes a silly looking dragon lizard character who also happens to be the mayor and sounds like Gomer Pyle. In fact, most of the puppet characters act like bland impressions of vaudeville comedians. Witchiepoo and Jimmy are the only two humans despite the fact that they are themselves modeled on famous fictional characters.It turns into a literal popularity contest when the witches convention comes to town. Jimmy tries to rescue his friend using his usual strategy from the television series, dressing up in silly costumes and trying to trick witchiepoo, which seems to work less than half the time.The goofy, children's show plot hides a fundamental message about friendship and the two human characters are misfits who really only want to be accepted. Jack Wilde is charming as Jimmy. He has an off-beat charm and seems disarmingly earnest but he's rarely given much to do. The character of Witchiepoo, played by Billie Hayes, is such a lively and fully realized character that she stand apart from her surroundings. In a world that's bland and boring she parades around screeching and cackling. It's such a bravura performance from Hayes that she fills the screen with her presence. She combines a larger-than-life musical theater style character with expressive mime and slapstick. There's really no moment she's on screen she's not full of energy.The counterpoint is the citizens of Living Island are silly animals with voices of old comedians doing terrible, corny jokes all day is so striking. You really feel her frustration being trapped in a land of dum dums without anybody to really connect with. In contrast, Jimmy is good-natured and has a positive attitude. He's willing to look past how boring the relentless cheerfulness of Pufnstuf and his neighbors are so he can enjoy himself in a world where everyone likes him. It's like there's a sort of sibling rivalry between the two as they fight over friends. Jimmy is sincere and easygoing while Witchiepoo is manipulative and bossy. Really Witchiepoo is trying to make friends but she feels different from other people and she rejects them before they can reject her. She does steal and hit people and call them names so that doesn't help either.The sets are fantastic and give the film a distinct psychedelic tone. The songs are hummable and the score is surprisingly memorable. During the witch convention there are some really great visuals, costumes and bits of humor that show them really making the best of a lower budget. It's amazing this was made within the same year as the show aired. I was never really familiar with the series before seeing this movie and was genuinely surprised by how good it was. You certainly don't need to have watched the show though and I'd recommend the movie first anyway.This movie is the show's victory lap and and captures the spirit of the show nicely.

This is why I still have nightmares.This terrifying film (a musical) was considered appropriate for children in the 1970s.A boy leaves on a magical journey to an island. The mayor of the island, Pufnstuf, allegedly a dragon, looking more like a newt with conjunctivitis to me, and a magic talking flute are targeted by a witch (Billie Halliday, who was considered 'a bit of alright' at the time).The flute is recovered at an 'interesting' witches convention, with the witches having a gay old time. The boy dresses in drag then as a 'fairy' to recover the flute.Not suitable for children.

I grew up with H.R. Pufnstuff and the dashingly talented Jack Wild and now my daughters are adoring fans of Jack Wild too. This movie is exactly what movies should be: fun and entertaining. This movie is not limited to children either. A lot of the dialogue is directed to adults and Witchiepoo's performance is something you do not want to miss. The music in this movie suited Jack Wild and Mama Cass beautifully. And as a Jack Wild fan, I would never miss the chance to watch him dance or hear him sing. Knowing the hard life that Jack had now makes this movie even more wonderful especially when he sings the opening song "If I Could". It makes me pause in loving adoration for him for giving me wonderful childhood memories that I am now passing on to my children. Let's all go to Living Island where there is friendship and fun! And keep Jack Wild's memory alive by passing Pufnstuff on to others.

This is a movie from a wonderful children's TV series and everyone in the TV show is here and a few surprises are thrown in as well. One generation's hit is another's camp classic, but this is fun. They sure don't make them like this anymore! There is something here for everyone, visually it would appeal to the very young due to it's eye-catching colours and gentle plots, older children might get more into the storyline and even adults might catch themselves enjoying the borderline Freudian plot which is at the center of this movie as well as each episode of the TV series, a witch and her obssession with a little boy's "magic flute".... ahem. The non-human characters will remind many of the old ad campaigns of McDonald's with Mayor McCheese, The Hamburgler, etc. Did the Crofts have anything to do with the McDonald's advertising or was it just a rip-off? It was a nice surprise to see "Mama" Cass Elliot in this one, she seems to be having a ball in her role as a crony of Witchpoo. Seeing this makes me wonder at what potential died with her. Recommended highly...and yes, I'd have to strongly agree with other reviewers here who have said that if children's fantasy movies from the period interest you, definately give this one a try, switch off your inner critic, and just enjoy!