A Lidsville movie

[Xerus]

Does anyone remember and like the old Sid and Marty Krofft show called Lidsville, about a magic land of living hats? Well, I just heard that Dreamworks is planning on making a Lidsville movie sometime in the future. I enjoyed that show a lot as a kid and I can't wait to see how a movie of it will turn out. Here's the news.

http://ir.dreamworksanimation.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=546746

 

[D'Snowth]

This is news to me, because I follow Sid & Marty Krofft on MySpace, and they haven't said anything about a Lidsville movie.

From what they've told fans, they had a new Pufnstuf movie in the works, a Sigmund and the Sea Monsters movie in works, and were debating on whether or not to turn ElectraWoman and DynaGirl into a movie as well; one movie's supposedly being made with Universal Studios, the other with Sony Entertainment, but I forget which is doing which.

All I know is two things: 1. The Kroffts' movies SHOULD be better in the future, as Marty Krofft has said in several interviews that he and Sid learned from their mistakes when they did that godawful Land of the Lost movie with Will Ferrell (but then again, didn't the fact that Will Ferrell was playing Dr. Rick Marshall tell you that it was going to be bad?) that they "shouldn't mess with what worked". 2. I have to cast my doubts about any other movies... not because of the failure of the LOTL movie, but because for the past decade or so, Sid & Marty keep saying they're going to do movies of their shows, but nothing has really worked itself out... so, it's hard to say whether or not we'll see these movies until more information is released. I DO know that a re-release of the complete series of H.R. Pufnstuf was supposed to come out last month, but has been delayed to April for no reason.

That said, personally, Lidsville was not one of my favorite Krofft shows, and I really don't know why... I think because it was TOO similar to Pufnstuf, but then again, most Krofft shows were similar to each other (ala Dr. Shrinker, Magic Mongo and Wonderbug all dealing with three teenagers, two boys and a girl, and some sort of foil they put up with).

Some trivia for trivia buffs out there, did you know that Charles Nelson-Reilly HATED doing that show? Sid & Marty's fellow producer Si Rose said in an interview that Charles was extremely difficult to work with on the set, because he hated having to wear so much makeup for the character of Horatio Hoodoo, especially under all those hot studio lights and everything. Sid said that he didn't forgive them for years afterwards.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Some trivia for trivia buffs out there, did you know that Charles Nelson-Reilly HATED doing that show? Sid & Marty's fellow producer Si Rose said in an interview that Charles was extremely difficult to work with on the set, because he hated having to wear so much makeup for the character of Horatio Hoodoo, especially under all those hot studio lights and everything. Sid said that he didn't forgive them for years afterwards.

Oh yeah I remember reading the same thing in Jerry Maren's book. Maren is perhaps best known as the Lollipop Munchkin from The Wizard of Oz, but he also played several characters on Lidsville, inside the costumes.

 

[Drtooth]

This is news to me, because I follow Sid & Marty Krofft on MySpace, and they haven't said anything about a Lidsville movie.

From what they've told fans, they had a new Pufnstuf movie in the works, a Sigmund and the Sea Monsters movie in works, and were debating on whether or not to turn ElectraWoman and DynaGirl into a movie as well; one movie's supposedly being made with Universal Studios, the other with Sony Entertainment, but I forget which is doing which.

All I know is two things: 1. The Kroffts' movies SHOULD be better in the future, as Marty Krofft has said in several interviews that he and Sid learned from their mistakes when they did that godawful Land of the Lost movie with Will Ferrell (but then again, didn't the fact that Will Ferrell was playing Dr. Rick Marshall tell you that it was going to be bad?) that they "shouldn't mess with what worked". 2. I have to cast my doubts about any other movies... not because of the failure of the LOTL movie, but because for the past decade or so, Sid & Marty keep saying they're going to do movies of their shows, but nothing has really worked itself out... so, it's hard to say whether or not we'll see these movies until more information is released. I DO know that a re-release of the complete series of H.R. Pufnstuf was supposed to come out last month, but has been delayed to April for no reason.

Speaking strictly as someone who was never that big a fan of their stuff, yet respects it in another way, there was a problem with LOTL the movie no matter WHO was in it.

They wanted to do a Brady Bunch/Scooby-Doo style movie that said, "Hoo boy! Wasn't that show CAMPY? Let's make fun of it like a bad MadTV sketch for 90 minutes." Now, i tend to have liked the first Scooby-Doo, but the second was better written when it said Let's be an homage to the show instead of a lame parody. I'm glad Scrappy got what was coming to him (though, he's somewhat NOT objectionable in 13 Ghosts... at least so far from what I'm watching), but the movie just isn't rewatchable after a while.

As for Will, I have made a discovery. He's good in every so many movies, the rest, he's an insufferable doofus. His performance in this year's The Other Guys (or the Good Guys, I keep getting those 2 mixed up) was brilliant, as was his vocal performance in Megamind. But I tired to watch Blades of Glory a few weeks ago, and I gave up halfway through. Sometimes he gives a fresh, smart performance, sometimes he just does a cheap clone of his Anchorman character as a sports star. It depends on the movie. LOTL was just another excuse to run around like an overgrown kid, say Suck it Trebeck...errr... Matt Laur... but even without him, the movie would have been terrible. Terrible script, terrible direction. I wonder what would have happened if they went the opposite direction and made it more of an action film with light comedic overtones.

If Dreamworks wants to do a Lidsville movie... heh... let them try. It wasn't as popular as their other shows, was it? Somehow, passing up an H.R. Puffnstuff film to do a Lidsville movie is like saying, why do a Power Rangers film when we can do Big Bad Beetleborgs or V.R. Troopers the movie. All I'm saying is we've got a very devoted fan of a show trying to get them to make a movie about something specific, and considering what we're getting due to similar circumstances, I'm not complaining.

As for the DVD's, again, I'm not following them, but the problem seemed simple enough. Genius Entertainment. Didn't they hold the rights to the shows, and then go bankrupt? That explains why Rocky and Bullwinkle season 4 took so long... first Sony dumped Sony Wonder (only to pick it up back later) losing the license in legal limbo, same with Genius... this also stopped Fat Albert DVD sets from happening. Vivendi does it now, and as long as they're going, we'll get the stuff promised under Genius.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Now, i tend to have liked the first Scooby-Doo, but the second was better written when it said Let's be an homage to the show instead of a lame parody. I'm glad Scrappy got what was coming to him (though, he's somewhat NOT objectionable in 13 Ghosts... at least so far from what I'm watching), but the movie just isn't rewatchable after a while.

Just have to say that I pretty much hated both Scooby-Doo movies (and I am a pretty big fan of most anything Scooby-Doo). The first one was obviously a lame parody as you said and what they did with Scrappy was WAY out of character and out of canon, but oh well- it was a parody and everybody likes to rag on this cartoon dog for some strange reason. Maybe I have a stronger temperament for these kinds of things, but I never really found him annoying. (Of course, I never had an issue with Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or any number of similarly hated-for-no-particular good reason type characters.)
The second movie was better and I enjoyed it because they showcased so many classic villians- that was neat. It still wasn't the best movie but it was better than the first.
I really have liked the prequel movies- those have way better than the theatrical movies- mainly because they have stayed true to the show and made much more of an homage than the theatrical ones did.

And to get back to the topic, I have seen some Krofft shows and I enjoy most of them pretty well. I agree that the "Land of the Lost" movie was horrible and I don't generally like Will Ferrell. There are a few movies that I like him in- mainly "Elf" and to some degree "Kicking and Screaming". That's probably about it.
It would be really interesting to see a "Lidsville" movie- I've seen some of it before- quite an interesting show. I don't know if I would check out a movie or not- I'm probably not a big enough fan of Krofft shows for that. But I like them okay- the original "Land of the Lost" TV show is pretty fun. And so is "H.R. Pufnstuff" and "Electra Woman and Dynagirl" and "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" and all their other classics.

 

[D'Snowth]

Getting back to one point, Sid & Marty obviously did marvelous work with their shows back in the day, even though they had a bit more potential than they shot for.

Marty said in an interview that when he and Sid did their shows back in the day, they didn't give a care about the artistic aspect, they just went for the money-making aspect; he even used this example - "Jim Henson's daughter, whom I met recently, Lisa, she told me that she always hated us when she was a kid, because we had all the shows on the air, and her father only had one show, and she didn't understand why. So I told her, 'Your father was a MUCH better puppeteer than us'."

The difference really comes out, because it's clear that the Muppets are far superior, mostly due to Jim's hard work and dedication, whereas the Kroffts' shows, they may have been entertaining, but they could've been better as far as the puppets and performances are concerned.

That said, we can also go back to the fact that Sid & Marty seemed to almost always rely on the same formulas for most of their shows.

1. Almost all of their shows involve someone in another world trying to get back home. H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville feature a boy trapped in another, magical world, and tries to get home, while thwarting an evil doer. Land of the Lost featured a family of three sucked into another dimension, as they try to get back home, while thwarting dinosaurs and Sleestaks. Both The Lost Saucer and Far Out Space Nuts feature accidental launches into outerspace, with the protagonists trying to return to earth.
2. Speaking of which, both The Lost Saucer and Far Out Space Nuts not only came out the same year, but both had just about the same episodes every week: trying to return to earth, but end up crash-landing on some sort of strange alien planet, getting involved in a situation with planet natives, take off again for the next adventure.
3. I already mentioned the similarities between Dr. Shrinker, Wonderbug, and Magic Mongo.
4. Even ElectraWoman and DynaGirl seemed like a tamer version of the superhero cartoons that dominated Saturday morning back in the day.

I think just about the only shows they did that departed from their usual formulas were The Bugaloos and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, two of my favorites besides Pufnstuf.

The variety shows they ended up doing like The Donny and Marie Show remind me of TMS without puppets.

 

[Drtooth]

Just have to say that I pretty much hated both Scooby-Doo movies (and I am a pretty big fan of most anything Scooby-Doo). The first one was obviously a lame parody as you said and what they did with Scrappy was WAY out of character and out of canon, but oh well- it was a parody and everybody likes to rag on this cartoon dog for some strange reason. Maybe I have a stronger temperament for these kinds of things, but I never really found him annoying. (Of course, I never had an issue with Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or any number of similarly hated-for-no-particular good reason type characters.)

The episodes where Shaggy and Scooby had to babysit the little tyke, and they spent 6 minutes running from some muscle bound guy that Scrappy ticked off were GARBAGE, so I can agree to that much. I just picked up 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo last week and so far Scrappy hasn't been even slightly annoying, and actually seems to be of use. In the 3 episodes I've seen so far, he said P-p-p-puppy Power ONCE! But I still am no fan of the character. It was a gimmick, and even though Scooby has the the occasional gimmick (Either celebrity stars/cartoon crossovers, Olympic games, turning into kids, Shaggy and Scooby inheriting money), it's not really needed.

Though I STILL say the movies were based off a Pup named Scooby-Doo. Really... Freddy and Dapnhe's personalities especially. The second one was much better, though. And hey, both times at LEAST they managed to capture what made the show special.... unlike that other movie about a cartoon Dog which I refuse to mention. Didn't see the prequel ones though... there was the intention of a third one being based entirely on Pup... guess those were it.

The difference really comes out, because it's clear that the Muppets are far superior, mostly due to Jim's hard work and dedication, whereas the Kroffts' shows, they may have been entertaining, but they could've been better as far as the puppets and performances are concerned.

The 70's were a strange time for kid's television. Almost everything BUT cartoons evolved into something interesting... again, I always diss the 70's... but there was some good stuff too... Hong Kong Phooey, Groovey Goolies, Fat Albert, Pink Panther, most of the Scooby-Doo stuff.... but that was also the era where they copied Scooby and Archie relentlessly (an easy task, since Scooby was originally a COMPLETE knockoff of the Archies). But the live action shows that came out of that era... I mean, look no further than Sesame Street (sure, it started in 68, but it came together and became popular then).

It seems like when it came to Jim and the Krofts, The Krofts worked in volume, and worked exclusively on Saturday Mornings. Jim wanted prime time stuff, and as I've been saying for the past couple years, syndication was VERY good to the Muppet Show. ABC never picked anything up except for a couple specials.

And to get back to the topic, I have seen some Krofft shows and I enjoy most of them pretty well. I agree that the "Land of the Lost" movie was horrible and I don't generally like Will Ferrell. There are a few movies that I like him in- mainly "Elf" and to some degree "Kicking and Screaming". That's probably about it.

I could never get through Elf. And Kicking and Scoring seemed like a paycheck. You have to admit, early on he had some bad offers (Bewitched, but that was an idiotic idea for a film anyway). But when he came into his own, at least you can tell he had fun. Though, I still say his 1970's sports star movies are ALL the same... though, I have to admit, I liked the racing one (mainly for Sascha Baron Cohen's arrogant French twit racer, but he was funny in it too).

The movies I've seen with him I've enjoyed were Anchorman, Taledega Nights, The Producers (though he was NO Kenneth Mars), the Other Guys (brilliant film), and Megamind. And I hate to admit it, I loved him in Zoolander. I wanted to see that one where his life was actually a book being narrated, but I never did. But Blades of Glory, I watched for 20 minutes or so and gave up. I will say this, his films have an audience, they speak to people, and they seems like they generally deserve to get made (LOTL would have sucked no matter who was in them)... unlike Rob Schnider. And Will is still less annoying than Adam Sandler. I liked that cat's earlier films, but his recent ones... shudder shudder.

 

[CensoredAlso]

OK I'm going to say I actually enjoyed the first Scooby Doo movie, lol. It was clunky at times but the in jokes were very funny and I thought they did a good job with why the characters resenting each other and all.

 

[D'Snowth]

"I would get letters from people sayings things like, 'Yeah man, I know how you feel, I talk to mushrooms too, and I never get any help from these guys.' And I'm thinking, 'What?'!" ~ Jack Wild from an interview on Pufnstuf.

 

[CensoredAlso]

"I would get letters from people sayings things like, 'Yeah man, I know how you feel, I talk to mushrooms too, and I never get any help from these guys.' And I'm thinking, 'What?'!" ~ Jack Wild from an interview on Pufnstuf.

Lol, yes I always loved that part of the interview. Good old E! True Hollywood Story, back in the good old days of TV.