Halloween-A-Thon 2011 Begins!

It's October and that means blogs all over the internet are counting down the days until Halloween! We here at the World of Wonder are no exception. Seeing as how a lot of the back pages of the blog have been wiped away or a lot of my sharities have been removed by the facist rapidshare corporation, I've decided to mix some old with some new this year. Some of the Halloween goodies I will be sending your way have never appeared on the World of Wonder before, while others will make a very welcome return. The first post of "Halloween-A-Thon 2011" is an old friend that has been wiped off of the blog. We are pleased to welcome back Paul Lynde's Halloween Special!


I know that over the last few years this has been a hot commodity that almost every blog has posted it so I figured I would keep the tradition going by posting it here. If you have never seen the special, you need to run out to the store and get your copy right now. It is a classic and features a list of guest stars that would rival any episode of The Love Boat! It's also historic in that it features the first television appearance of the band, KISS. Here is the original television soundtrack to "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special". Enjoy!

Paul Lynde Halloween Special OST

Alive And Well on Living Island

I just came back from a trip to Wal-Mart (or Wally World as we affectionately call it) where I went for a few odds and ends that we needed but was able to snag a copy of the Pufnstuf DVD for a mere $3.00!!! I popped it in as soon as we got back and my son immediately was into it! (Now I have a great excuse to tell my wife why I bought it!) Anyway, for those of you who are unaware of Pufnstuf, here's a little background: After creating costumes for characters in the live-action portion of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Sid and Marty Krofft were asked to develop their own Saturday morning children's series for NBC. They recycled a live puppet show that they had staged in the Coca-Cola pavilion of the HemisFair '68 world's fair in 1968, including several key characters from this show, such as Luther the dragon and a silly witch. The show centered on a shipwrecked boy named Jimmy (played by Jack Wild) who takes a ride on a mysterious boat to kooky Living Island, home of dancing trees and singing frogs. The Mayor of Living Island is a friendly and helpful dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf (renamed from Luther). Jimmy had been lured to the island with his friend, a talking flute named Freddy, by a wicked witch named Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (played by Billie Hayes). Jimmy is taken in by Pufnstuf, who is able to protect him from Witchiepoo. While the television series was still in production, the Kroffts were approached to do a film adaptation. The film retained most of the cast and crew from the series and featured guest appearances by "Mama" Cass Elliott and Martha Raye. The soundtrack from the film features both the score and songs. Originally issued on LP and 8-track when the film came out in 1970, it was never officially released in the US in the CD format. However, it was released on CD in the UK and featured an extra verse in the song, "Zap the World" that wasn't in the film. Here for you now is that release from the UK. Here is the soundtrack to "Pufnstuf". Enjoy!

Pufnstuf OST (UK release)

Sigmund's Best Friend Sings About Friendship!

If you grew up when I did, then you obviously know about "Sigmund & The Sea Monsters". It was a Sid & Marty Kroft production that starred Johnny Whittaker, Scott Kolden and Billy Barty. The basic premise was that Sigmund (Billy Barty), a friendly (if somewhat cowardly) sea monster runs away from his comically dysfunctional undersea family. He's discovered and befriended by brothers Johnny (Johnny Whitaker) and Scott Stuart (Scott Kolden), who let Sigmund stay in their hideout. The plotlines were very simple and straightforward, usually some variation on the idea of Sigmund doing something silly to arouse attention and the boys working to prevent him from being found by Sigmund's brothers, Blurp (Bill Germaine, Larry Larsen) and Slurp (Fred Spencer, Paul Gale). The brothers also worked feverishly to hide Sigmund from their overbearing housekeeper Zelda (Mary Wickes), elderly neighbor Mrs. Eldels (Margaret Hamilton) and Sheriff Chuck Bevans (Joe Higgins). In Season Two, Rip Taylor joined the cast as a magical 'Sea Genie' named Sheldon who lives inside a sea shell. I loved the show and watched it faithfully. One day while shopping at the East Haven Bradlees (it no longer exists) with my mother, I happened to spy a record by Johnny Whitaker entitled "Friends: Music from Sigmund and The Sea Monsters". I wanted it more than anything and when I asked my mother, she gave me the ol' "next time" line. Well, I knew that it could be gone by the next time we came to the store so I did what any red blooded record collecting young boy would do. I hid it in another section. The next time we went to Bradlees, my mother lived up to her word and let me get the record, which was still in the hiding place that I had left it at. After all the years that followed, I still have that record and it is still in great condition. I present it for you now. Here is Johnny Whitaker with "Friends". Enjoy!

Johnny Whitaker-Friends