Remember when “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was on its way to theaters, and people wondered whether Dr. Seuss could become a hot Hollywood screenwriter? Or back when the idea of a Frank Miller comic-turned-movie seemed revolutionary? Well, if you’re looking for the next big thing in Hollywood, look no further than the two septuagenarians who recently took Comic-Con by storm.
Sid & Marty Krofft are the titans of trippiness, who crafted so many bizarre children’s shows in their early-seventies prime that journalists (including me) came running to them, simply to reminisce. But they were in San Diego to preview their first feature film, Will Ferrell’s upcoming “Land of the Lost” – and also to discuss the flood of TV-to-film remakes they plan to fast-track next.
“Our next one is Pufnstuf,” explained Sid (79 years young), referring to their beloved children’s show about a mayor with an oversized head and oft-suspected predilection towards marijuana. “And then after that, ‘Sigmund & the Sea Monster.’ They’re all in the works.”
“Look. They’re gonna happen when they happen,” chimed in his brother Marty, 71. “With ‘Land of the Lost’ and the way this thing turned out, you just have a gut feeling.”
But just because they share Dr. Seuss’ love for bright colors and strange names, don’t think Sid & Marty are going to start turning their characters into cartoons like “Horton Hears a Who.” “No, we’re gonna stick with our style,” Marty promised of the “H.R. Pufnstuf” movie. “There’ll be more in the budget, but we’ll stay with our style. There’ll always be CGI, but just like in ‘Land of the Lost’ [the other movies will have] full-sized sets…the CGI will be maybe twenty percent of the movie. CGI has no heart; live has a heart.”
Sadly, Sid & Marty admitted that Will Ferrell isn’t in consideration to play Pufnstuf. But now that they’ve spent the last few months watching him run away from giant dinosaurs, they are beginning to think of other places to put the funnyman. “He could play Hoodoo in ‘Lidsville’, he could play [mad scientist character] Dr. Shrinker,” Marty revealed.
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” he said of Ferrell as Pufnstuff. “But we have other ideas.”
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