Comments on: Oranges smoranges! Who said?

Oranges smoranges! Who said?

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 13:56:55 -0800

Hold on to your talking magic flute, 70s kids... a new, animated H.R. Pufn stuf is on the island. Beatbox reworking of the original theme song included (Before/After). I'm dying to hear what they'll do with Mechanical Boy...

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:02:53 -0800

"But Who Would Get There First?!?!" Good times. Thanks, miss l.!

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:04:27 -0800

I noticed they changed the melody on the bridge of the song... flattened some of the notes to give it a darker, minor/discordant sound. Kinda interesting.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:09:10 -0800

Forgot to mention two RIPs... Jack Wild & Pufnstuf himself. (Witchiepoo is still going strong, though.)

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:15:21 -0800

Oooh! Orson the Vulture & Dr. Blinky the Owl too. Man, this was a bad year for Pufnstuf people.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:18:24 -0800

Welcome to the Altered State of Druggachusetts.

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:20:46 -0800

trippy

By: box

box — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:33:37 -0800

I only hope it turns out as good as Pryor's Place. Actually, I only hope it turns out as good as that Land of the Lost remake.

By: amyms

amyms — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:38:04 -0800

Awww I luurved H.R. Pufnstuf. I had a little-girl crush on Jimmy (sigh)... All of the Krofft shows were such cheesy fun!

By: cazoo

cazoo — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:55:00 -0800

i first found that jack wild passed during the recent academy awards when they have that montage for all the recently deceased. it was a sad moment to see the image of him dressed up as the artful dodger.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:01:51 -0800

That show used to bother me something fierce. Trapped in a surreal and occasionally hostile world, repeatedly thwarted in your efforts to get home - it was like a nightmare. The only thing scarier was Pinocchio's Pleasure Island

By: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:09:34 -0800

H. R. Pufnstuf scared the stuffing out of me! I watched it a lot, though - I guess it was in syndication by the time I was old enough to understand it. I blame that show for all of the acid I took as an adult. Trippy, freaky stuff for a 6 year old.

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:10:03 -0800

There ain't no rhyme for oranges!

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:16:06 -0800

You better believe I'm holding on to my magic flute! But yeah, I'm with CynicalKnight...

By: The Tensor

The Tensor — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:19:15 -0800

H.R. Pufnstuf: You can't do a little, 'cause you can't do enough. Hmm, no double meaning there. (The Wikipedia page says the lyric was actually "He can't do a little, 'cause he can't do enough", but I'm not sure how that changes anything.)

By: Samizdata

Samizdata — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:21:37 -0800

Well, this will either make me really happy as I will be able to enjoy and share the enjoyment with friends, or this will be another emotionally rending round of abusive necrophilia with the corpses of my youth...

By: Malor

Malor — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:23:55 -0800

Mechanical Boy is now Mechanical Man, and has a thriving career in porn. His, er, staying power is legendary. He's sort of the Energizer Bunny in reverse.

By: Fupped Duck

Fupped Duck — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:40:05 -0800

The gateway drug for me too (well, if not a drug then foreshadowing at the very least)

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:43:19 -0800

That stupid oranges song is now going through my head but I'm remembering it as: "Oranges poranges--who cares?" I'd hate to think the my memory for something I heard 35 years ago is faulty but can anyone clear this up?

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:48:28 -0800

I would wonder when we will be getting a new Banana Splits show, but frankly, the 60s design ethos of making a wacky drug culture into innocent cartoon shows would almost certainly be turned into the putrid 00s design of primary colors generic clean, straight curves Xtremism. OTOH, the new Pufnstuf doesn't look like any great departure from the other current design school of cheap Hanna-Barbera knock offs. I'll be pleased when something interestingly original arises from the current morass of unimaginative much.

By: joeblough

joeblough — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:53:06 -0800

i see a lot of craig mccracken's influence there. he does call out someone named 'craig' so maybe they work together?

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:55:43 -0800

Oranges Smoranges. There's another one!

By: dorian

dorian — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:00:06 -0800

metafilter: another emotionally rending round of abusive necrophilia with the corpses of your youth banana splits whee!

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:06:33 -0800

Thanks, miss lynnster, but I counter with this, the track listing for the official Pufnstuf soundtrack!

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:07:11 -0800

The big orange ape's freaky frozen smile scared me. And they're even worse in Spanish.

By: ericb

ericb — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:12:30 -0800

the 60s design ethos Peter Max Redux

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:12:46 -0800

Ahhhh, but I beg to differ... the true collector HR Pufnstuf soundtrack is THIS 45. Which my mom gave to me for Christmas decades ago, and is... no lie... hanging on my wall about 3 feet from me. Thanks to that little piece of plastic I have every HRP song stuck in my head until the day I freakin' die.

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:14:58 -0800

I am not worthy and bow to your superior Pufnstufflieness. Bravo!

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:22:35 -0800

Yeah, cereal boxes used to offer much cooler prizes than they do now... ;)

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:23:08 -0800

omg! how cool this will be (if they keep it as cheesy as the original one was) : >

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:25:35 -0800

OTOH, the new Pufnstuf doesn't look like any great departure from the other current design school of cheap Hanna-Barbera knock offs. I'll be pleased when something interestingly original arises from the current morass of unimaginative much. It looks a little like Foster's Home to me (but that's ok--i love that show) It's true tho--kids today need their own new freaky psychedelic shows--they grew up on teletubbies, after all, no?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:26:45 -0800

... putrid 00s design of primary colors generic clean, straight curves Xtremism. Isn't most of that because of Flash animation instead of hand-drawn?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:28:46 -0800

has this guy sold it yet? will it really air?

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:56:47 -0800

He's sort of the Energizer Bunny in reverse. I see what you did there.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 May 2007 17:14:39 -0800

BTW, regarding primary color, straight curve extremism, I disagree. First off, mo st of the colors are secondary or tertiary, more like a palette Shag would use. Also, the quirky lines remind me more of Jim Flora than of this. The mini pufs cracked me up because they are clearly a parody of Disney & WB's love for babifying their licensed characters until they are clearly suffering with deformities. Poor Tigger. Poor, poor Tigger.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Mon, 07 May 2007 17:36:23 -0800

Important side note mentioned but not clarified... ..."McDonaldland" was a rip-off of H.R. Pufnstuf concept. How much so? To the tune of $1-pointsomething million (1973) dollars.

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Mon, 07 May 2007 18:00:56 -0800

First off, most of the colors are secondary or tertiary, more like a palette Shag would use. Also, the quirky lines remind me more of Jim Flora than of this. Well, I wasn't saying the HR Pufnstuf looked like Loonatics, mind you. I was saying that there's a danger of revisionist shows ending up like Loonatics. HR Pufnstuff 2.0 is definitely more of Foster's Home and even Angry Beavers (all descendants basically of the 60s Yogi Bear style, itself a descendant of 50s commercials styles). Right now there are three directions that animation seems to be going: EXTREME! (Loonatics), Retro (Fosters), and quick and easy (Family Guy). As odd as it sounds, it's one of the reason I appreciate The Venture Brothers so much. They are doing a bit of nostalgic revisionism, yes, but they certainly have found their own style. (I appreciate ATHF too, but that's mostly for the fact that's it's modern absurdism that actually made it to television). So, i.e. please oh please don't let me see revisionist Banana Splits that looks like Loonatics.

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Mon, 07 May 2007 18:08:07 -0800

I can never hear H.R. Pufnstuf and Sid and Marty Croft without thinking of this. which I was oh so very close of getting to. I never go to see it. I was a few months too late. I was able to crawl up the world's tallest escalator quite a bit sometimes in 76/77 (I don't remember) and see everything completely covered up in tarps and covers. One of the strangest experiences of my life.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 07 May 2007 18:30:22 -0800

smaller: I'm holding out for either a giant magician's hat to a real Lidsville, or for that Pufnstuf boat to come for me (even today--that theme park would have been cool tho) : >

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:25:07 -0800

I'm really not keen on Pufnstuf being given a revival while our culture is still leaning to the right, but then I wasn't too keen on Billy Joel going Broadway. Je t'aime..

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:31:30 -0800

Little known fact about the World of Sid and Marty Krofft in Atlanta: It was the first professional performing venue for Steve Whitmire, who now performs Kermit the Frog.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:56:21 -0800

What, are we completely out of new ideas as a culture?

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:04:10 -0800

darkstar-- Two words: "Spiderman 3."

By: Samizdata

Samizdata — Mon, 07 May 2007 23:25:46 -0800

Now that I am home from work... The new theme stinks. On ice. In Siberian high winter...

By: andraste

andraste — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:11:42 -0800

HR Pufnstuf was the first thing I ever saw on colour TV, so it made a big impression on me. I preferred the closing theme to the opening one - "I got, you got, everybody do got, someone who cares!"

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:59:27 -0800

Right now there are three directions that animation seems to be going: EXTREME! (Loonatics), Retro (Fosters), and quick and easy (Family Guy). Well, North American animation, anyway. I say North American, not "American" because Nelvana does the same sort of stuff. Actually I had seen some of the WB stuff was going "anime" style a couple of years ago. I don't get a lot of time to watch TV these days so I'm not sure what became of that.

By: BozoBurgerBonanza

BozoBurgerBonanza — Tue, 08 May 2007 08:27:16 -0800

Saturday morning double bill, Pufnstuf and then this show...good times...

By: hollygoheavy

hollygoheavy — Tue, 08 May 2007 10:23:14 -0800

I'm with CynicalKnight-this show used to give me nightmares.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Tue, 08 May 2007 10:48:09 -0800

God smallerdemon, I never knew about the park until BoingBoing posted a map two or three years back, and thinking about the park shuttered and unavailable to kids filled me with a profound melancholy. But you've actually SEEN the thing in mothballs. Did you get to look around at least?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:33:26 -0800

I'm really not keen on Pufnstuf being given a revival while our culture is still leaning to the right, but then I wasn't too keen on Billy Joel going Broadway. Pufnstuf on Broadway! Pufnstuf on Ice! ... : >

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:56:56 -0800

Did you get to look around at least? The way the Omni was laid out was that big skating rink in the center and then open all the way up with the building having several open balconies facing out into the main atrium where the skating rink was located. The (at the time) world's longest escalator was how you got up to the place, and so it was turned off. Funny thing about escalators how they can still be functional when they're off. I went up as far as my 11 or 12 year old mind thought was safe, which was probably about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to the top of the escalator, which was a sufficiently good vantage point to see two levels of the shuttered "park". It was basically stacked on top of each other, about two or three levels high, and walking up the escalator I could see two of the levels. One level had a carousel on it, and looked to be almost entirely covered up in tarps, with one of two of carousel creatures not covered. I think I remember seeing a unicorn, but it was the 70s and you could see a unicorn just about anywhere you looked, so that could easily be a false memory. The other level, that was the one that was heartbreaking to me as a 12 year old kid to see shuttered up because I could see it! It was so close! It was the giant pinball machine ride, in which you got to ride around in the ball in a big thing that was very reminiscent of Number 2's chair from The Prisoner. Except it was big, HUGE and silver, like a giant pinball (duh). And I could see it! Just sitting there, inside the ride itself! Like they had shut it off in mid-ride and dragged the patrons out and threw them over the balcony (and probably yelled "We're closed!" while the bodies fell down several stories into the mall of the Omni). You could see it because big chunks of it, both the carousel and the pinball machine, both faced outward into the Omni atrium itself. There wasn't any wussy glass up either, it was just that the rides were put close to open balconies, I guess so you could get natural light or see out into the atrium. I kid you not, that was 30 years ago, and I am still bitter that the place was shut down when I finally was able to make my way to Atlanta as a 12 year old kid (through begging to go with my father to a convention) and then coercing my mother to go to the Omni while my father was at the convention. Is bitter the right word? I lament my lost opportunity is really a better way to describe it. Yes, as an adult, it would have been an utterly lame experience of yet another carousel and a silly track pulled ball on a stick (similar to what you would experience at Epcot Center) acting like a big pinball machine, but as a kid, you know, that would have been amazing. Instead, I got a rather rude awakening about the impermanence of ideas and fantasies.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:00:40 -0800

Just to brighten your day. You're welcome.

By: StopMakingSense

StopMakingSense — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:10:31 -0800

If anyone could point me to an mp3 version of this "Oranges, Smoranges" song, I'd be forever in your debt.

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:14:45 -0800

Well, this map confirms a lot of my memories. Weird. So, if you look at that, you can see the escalator, the pinball ride, and I am guessing that I was seeing whatever was on the third tier there, not the carousel on the top (because I distinctly remember not trekking all the way up the escalator). Note that the map was found at this page. That guy went and he has scanned all of the memorabilia that he brought back. Very cool. And a little sad for my inner 12 year old. I just went a little too late according to wikipedia. C'est la vie. I've made up for that loss in spades as an adult by being fortunate enough to be at four of the eight of these. As an adult, those attendances are some of the few times in my life that I have been able to recapture actually feeling like a kid again. Maybe there's more to this karma thing than I thought. :)

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:41:59 -0800

According to this article, The World of Sid and Marty Krofft opened May 24, 1976, and closed five months later. That puts me there only a few months after it closed, which is why everything was still there (I was there in January of 1977). That article is about six years old and there was talk in it of the Kroffts themselves being involved in a revamp of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl for the WB. :) I don't recall that ever happening (there was a pilot, but the show never made it back to life). So, it looks like someone finally was able to squeeze something from the intellectual properties of the Kroffts. Looks like the last thing they did before this was a 2002 version of Family Affair. Those guys have a very eclectic catalog of works.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 08 May 2007 15:56:12 -0800

Can't find an mp3, but one of the Kelloggs 45s is on ebay.