History Series / HRPufnstuf

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Jimmy and Pufnstuf do this straight after the EndingTheme.

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The movie starts with Witchiepoo talking directly to the audience and demanding they watch the movie or she'll turn them into frogs.

-->'''Witchiepoo:''' ''[singing]'' Ain't they never heard of oranges -- smoranges -- poranges -- coranges -- [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a kumquat?]]

As a historical note, the basic design and characters of UsefulNotes/McDonalds' "Advertising/McDonaldland" commercials were blatantly plagiarized from ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' in 1971 after Sid & Marty Krofft refused to license the ''Pufnstuf'' characters for use in a [=McDonald's=] commercial campaign. The Kroffts sued in 1973, and won the case in 1977. (For more information, see [[https://www.straightdope.com/21342489/was-mcdonaldland-plagiarized-from-the-old-h-r-pufnstuf-kids-tv-show this article]] at Cecil Adams' ''The Straight Dope'', or [[http://www.coolcopyright.com/cases/chp5/kroftmcdonalds.htm this one]] at coolcopyright.com.) However, the Kroffts themselves were sued by the singer-songwriter Music/PaulSimon, who argued successfully in court that the show's ThemeSong [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong sounded too much like his song]], "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," and the court settlement included Simon getting a mention in the credits.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs This is your show on magic...]] [[spoiler:Or LSD.]]]]

''H.R. Pufnstuf, can't do a little cause he can't do enough."''

First in a long line of surreal and sometimes disturbing offerings from Creator/SidAndMartyKrofftProductions. The show premiered in 1969 and was rerun until 1971. To get an idea as to what you're in for, we turn to Creator/VH1's "I Love the '70s" show, and their description of ''H.R. Pufnstuf'':

->'''Creator/GregProops''': "So, the deal with H.R. Pufnstuf is, Sid and Marty Krofft did a lot of drugs back in the '70s when they were given a TV show..."

''But Pufnstuf was watching too, and knew exactly what to do...''

Jimmy is rescued by H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by Lennie Weinrib), a large dragon {{muppet}} who serves as mayor of Living Island, a bizarre place where [[EverythingTalks everything, even the trees, are "alive"]]. (Yes, we know. Here "living" basically means "anthropomorphic" or "sentient".)

The short series (17 episodes aired) followed the adventures of Jimmy, Puf and Freddie [the flute], as they made several attempts to smuggle Jimmy off the island while staying clear of Witchiepoo and her henchmen. A [[TheMovie film version]], featuring guest stars Martha Raye and Cass Elliot, appeared in 1970, a year after the show's premiere.

To say that ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' was disturbing is like saying the ocean is wet. There is just something almost seductively creepy about the whole thing, from Jimmy's constant prancing and the [[AmbiguouslyGay vaguely homoerotic relationship]] among boy, flute, and full-bodied puppet, to the bizarrely twisted maternal figure of the witch, to the generally drug-induced artistic design of the costumes and sets. [[THCTheater This is not a show to watch sober.]]

As a historical note, the basic design and characters of UsefulNotes/McDonalds "Advertising/McDonaldland" commercials were blatantly plagiarized from ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' in 1971 after Sid & Marty Krofft refused to license the ''Pufnstuf'' characters for use in a [=McDonald's=] commercial campaign. The Kroffts sued in 1973, and won the case in 1977. For more information, see [[https://www.straightdope.com/21342489/was-mcdonaldland-plagiarized-from-the-old-h-r-pufnstuf-kids-tv-show this article]] at Cecil Adams' ''The Straight Dope'', or [[http://www.coolcopyright.com/cases/chp5/kroftmcdonalds.htm this one]] at coolcopyright.com. However, the Kroffts themselves were sued by the singer-songwriter Music/PaulSimon who argued successfully in court that the show's ThemeSong [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong sounded too much like his song]], "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," and the court settlement included Simon getting a mention in the credits.

* WitchClassic: Witchiepoo certainly styles herself this way.

'''Pufnstuf:''' [[FourthWallMailSlot Keep those cards and letters comin'!]]

--> '''Jimmy''': See you next week!\\
'''Pufnstuf''': [[FourthWallMailSlot Keep those cards and letters comin'!]]

-> "Ain't they never heard of oranges -- smoranges -- poranges -- coranges -- [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a kumquat?]]"

* ForgottenBirthday: "The Birthday Party".

As a historical note, the basic design and characters of UsefulNotes/McDonalds "Advertising/McDonaldland" commercials were blatantly plagiarized from ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' in 1971 after Sid & Marty Krofft refused to license the ''Pufnstuf'' characters for use in a [=McDonald's=] commercial campaign. The Kroffts sued in 1973, and won the case in 1977. For more information, see [[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990827.html this article]] at Cecil Adams' ''The Straight Dope'', or [[http://www.coolcopyright.com/cases/chp5/kroftmcdonalds.htm this one]] at coolcopyright.com. However, the Kroffts themselves were sued by the singer-songwriter Music/PaulSimon who argued successfully in court that the show's ThemeSong [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong sounded too much like his song]], "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," and the court settlement included Simon getting a mention in the credits.

Jimmy is rescued by H.R. Pufnstuf (voiced by Lennie Weinrib), a large {{muppet}} who serves as mayor of Living Island, a bizarre place where [[EverythingTalks everything, even the trees, are "alive"]]. (Yes, we know. Here "living" basically means "anthropomorphic" or "sentient".)

As a historical note, the basic design and characters of UsefulNotes/McDonalds [="McDonaldland"=] commercials were blatantly plagiarized from ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' in 1971 after Sid & Marty Krofft refused to license the ''Pufnstuf'' characters for use in a [=McDonald's=] commercial campaign. The Kroffts sued in 1973, and won the case in 1977. For more information, see [[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990827.html this article]] at Cecil Adams' ''The Straight Dope'', or [[http://www.coolcopyright.com/cases/chp5/kroftmcdonalds.htm this one]] at coolcopyright.com. However, the Kroffts themselves were sued by the singer-songwriter Music/PaulSimon who argued successfully in court that the show's ThemeSong [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong sounded too much like his song]], "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," and the court settlement included Simon getting a mention in the credits.

* CoolCar: Pufnstuf's fire truck, driven by Cling or Clang.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Witchiepoo's bungling henchmen, Orson, Seymour, and Stupid Bat.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Witchiepoo's bungling henchmen, Orson and Seymour.

* AbortedArc: The gang's mission to help Jimmy get off Living Island and return home seems to have been forgotten by episode twelve.
** Which leads to a case of FridgeHorror. The SeriesFinale doesn't resolve Jimmy's desire to get back home, and is instead presented as a ClipShow. TheMovie doesn't deal with this either, instead it retells the story of how Jimmy got onto the island. The only thing the viewer can assume from this evidence is that [[DownerEnding Jimmy never found his way home]].
** Then again, Jimmy seems pretty happy on Living Island; everyone there loves him except for Witchiepoo and she's hardly a credible threat anyway.

* LeastRhymableWord: Witchiepoo's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDoSl-M5tmM song]] in "Show Biz Witch".