Comments on: Land of the Lost, Pufnstuf and Sigmund Movie News http://krofft.net/2009/05/29/land-of-the-lost-pufnstuf-and-sigmund-movie-news/ Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:11:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Frank Enik http://krofft.net/2009/05/29/land-of-the-lost-pufnstuf-and-sigmund-movie-news/#comment-84 Frank Enik Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:37:50 +0000 http://krofft.net/?p=633#comment-84 I think if the Kroffts are going to make a new Pufnstuf movie, they should get Seymor Spider or Stupid Bat to write the script, becuase they would do a much better job than Dennis McNicholas who completely butchered Land Of the Lost. But thats just my opinion! I think if the Kroffts are going to make a new Pufnstuf movie, they should get Seymor Spider or Stupid Bat to write the script, becuase they would do a much better job than Dennis McNicholas who completely butchered Land Of the Lost. But thats just my opinion!

]]> By: ET http://krofft.net/2009/05/29/land-of-the-lost-pufnstuf-and-sigmund-movie-news/#comment-83 ET Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:26:11 +0000 http://krofft.net/?p=633#comment-83 A few years ago I would have had huge enthusiasm for a Pufnstuf movie. (I remember biking with my friends to see the Saturday afternoon show of the original, barely putting a dent in $5.00 to do so, popcorn and pop included.) Now, to judge from the promotional clips of LOTL, I wonder if it wouldn't actually be better to leave it as the marvelous product of its time that it was. Where would you find, today, the particular talents and personal chemistry of a Billie Hayes and a Jack Wild, much less the complete buy-in they both committed to everything that was unfolding around them? I can't think of anyone out there today who could demonstrate enough belief in that Krofft-iest of Krofft environments that they could transfer it to the audience in the same way. A CGI Mayor Pufnstuf? Shudders. I could barely stomach a CGI Yoda. And what happens when the studio machine inevitably pushes that it's not edgy enough for modern viewers, it has to be more Toy Story, more Harry Potter, more derivative of something else? Then you get the abysmal results of something like "The Dark Is Rising" of a couple years ago, butchering Susan Cooper's story and replacing it in all but name with a "tween-discovers-he-has-special-powers" formula, a story-in-a-can. I'm delighted for the brothers' renewed attention and success, especially the overdue recognition of their lasting contributions to American pop culture and to so many of our (and now our own kids') childhoods. But lately I'm thinking there is a reason we haven't seen a big-screen remake (yet) of the MGM "The Wizard of Oz." Because there's something about the original - visible wires and special-effects limitations and 1939 sound systems notwithstanding - that gives it a heart and soul that make it the *right* interpretation, the one that can't really be recreated or bettered. Maybe I'll be surprised. But lately I'm leaning toward those classic episodes I love vs. what I worry they might become in Hollywood's hands, no matter how much Sid and Marty remain involved. A few years ago I would have had huge enthusiasm for a Pufnstuf movie. (I remember biking with my friends to see the Saturday afternoon show of the original, barely putting a dent in $5.00 to do so, popcorn and pop included.) Now, to judge from the promotional clips of LOTL, I wonder if it wouldn’t actually be better to leave it as the marvelous product of its time that it was. Where would you find, today, the particular talents and personal chemistry of a Billie Hayes and a Jack Wild, much less the complete buy-in they both committed to everything that was unfolding around them? I can’t think of anyone out there today who could demonstrate enough belief in that Krofft-iest of Krofft environments that they could transfer it to the audience in the same way. A CGI Mayor Pufnstuf? Shudders. I could barely stomach a CGI Yoda. And what happens when the studio machine inevitably pushes that it’s not edgy enough for modern viewers, it has to be more Toy Story, more Harry Potter, more derivative of something else? Then you get the abysmal results of something like “The Dark Is Rising” of a couple years ago, butchering Susan Cooper’s story and replacing it in all but name with a “tween-discovers-he-has-special-powers” formula, a story-in-a-can.

I’m delighted for the brothers’ renewed attention and success, especially the overdue recognition of their lasting contributions to American pop culture and to so many of our (and now our own kids’) childhoods. But lately I’m thinking there is a reason we haven’t seen a big-screen remake (yet) of the MGM “The Wizard of Oz.” Because there’s something about the original – visible wires and special-effects limitations and 1939 sound systems notwithstanding – that gives it a heart and soul that make it the *right* interpretation, the one that can’t really be recreated or bettered.

Maybe I’ll be surprised. But lately I’m leaning toward those classic episodes I love vs. what I worry they might become in Hollywood’s hands, no matter how much Sid and Marty remain involved.

]]>