Rating: Summary: A Must-Have for any Sigmund Fan Review: "Who ever heard of a friendly sea monster..."I don't know what it is about this show. Could it be the warm memories I have of watching it when it first came out? Whatever it may be, whenever I watch Sigmund and The Sea Monsters, I'm immediately cheered up and a goofy smile comes to my face as I watch Johnny and Scott come to rescue Sigmund once again from the clutches of Burp and Slurp, Big Momma and Big Daddy. Unlike many children's shows, there's no violence here. No weapons. No fighting. No one is truly evil - just mean old monsters that are too incompetent to be of any real harm. And even though Aunt Zelda is the authoritative adult on the show, she's loved by Johnny and Scott who obey her without too much of a fuss. It's an idealistic world that they live in. Maybe that's part of the charm. This DVD contains four episodes, an interview with Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden, a Singmund theme song sing-along, the introduction song to HR Pufnstuf, along with a few stills from the show. Children will enjoy these shows as much as any adult who remembers them. What I would have loved to see would have been actual commercials from the period inserted at the appropriate spots!
Rating: Summary: A Must-Have for any Sigmund Fan Review: "Who ever heard of a friendly sea monster..." I don't know what it is about this show. Could it be the warm memories I have of watching it when it first came out? Whatever it may be, whenever I watch Sigmund and The Sea Monsters, I'm immediately cheered up and a goofy smile comes to my face as I watch Johnny and Scott come to rescue Sigmund once again from the clutches of Burp and Slurp, Big Momma and Big Daddy. Unlike many children's shows, there's no violence here. No weapons. No fighting. No one is truly evil - just mean old monsters that are too incompetent to be of any real harm. And even though Aunt Zelda is the authoritative adult on the show, she's loved by Johnny and Scott who obey her without too much of a fuss. It's an idealistic world that they live in. Maybe that's part of the charm. This DVD contains four episodes, an interview with Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden, a Singmund theme song sing-along, the introduction song to HR Pufnstuf, along with a few stills from the show. Children will enjoy these shows as much as any adult who remembers them. What I would have loved to see would have been actual commercials from the period inserted at the appropriate spots!
Rating: Summary: Sigmund is not a symbol of evil Review: In almost every Sid and Marty Krofft show, the kid protagonists start out in the normal world, and then stumble upon some sort of psychadelic Wonderland (a la Alice), which of course can be read as a kind of representation of the Jungian subconscious...or the experience of being on drugs. The effect it achieved (and the fact that it was live-action, and not an animated program was crucial to this!) was that it encouraged children to imagine that there was much more to the world than adult society would have them believe. Watching a kid who looked a lot like them, living a life that looked a lot like theirs, discovering another world just under the surface must seem to the imaginitive mind of a child at least somewhat believable. This blurring of fantasy and reality is an important part of the formula...I know that part of the power HR Puff N Stuff had on me when I first saw it was that I almost couldn't believe it was a real TV show. Sigmund and the Sea Monsters differs slightly from shows like HR Puff N Stuff in that the magical world the kids discover and their normal, 1970s suburban beach neighborhood occupy literally the same space. It is not the children, but the sea monster who is the stranger in the strange land, offering a more direct social critique than other Krofft programs. Sigmund is a childish, lisping symbol of the human Id; the kids try and try to keep him under wraps, designating the club house as a place where he can live without getting in trouble, but he always gets out or bubbles over, revealing himself to, say, a pretty neighbor of the boys who take care of him. Like a children's version of Cthulu, Sigmund comes out of the ocean as a threat to normal, decent society. But of course, Sigmund isn't a symbol of evil; he's just a goofy, lovelorn, scared and misunderstood mess of a creature whose eccentricity and purity of spirit are to be admired and appreciated. I hope kids who watch this show can learn from it to appreciate their own inner sea monsters. : )
Rating: Summary: Saturday morning, 1975... Review: Okay, I'm 34 and I bought it. Why? Because when I was 8 years old Sigmund & the Seamonsters kept me glued to the TV. Like most of the Krofft programs (namely this and Land of the Lost) it was just different from everything else on. Until recently I had racked my brain trying to remember some of the titles (Bugaloos, Kaptain Kool & the Kongs, Dr. Shrinker, the one about the dune buggy) but now they are all over the internet. These shows were far from cheesy to a little 70s kid. They had a profound effect on the way I grew up. Magic, dreams and imagination are much tougher to come by in todays children. It's all spelled out in digital glory. Before long you'll be able to play Shrek on your X-box 2 and it'll look better than the film. It's amazing to go back to a time before there was Playstation...or even Atari. Just a box of sugary cereal and a Krofft program. Take me back!! I save these for when I'm in a special mood some saturday morning. I pop this in the DVD and get transported to a more simple time. It's really bizarre the effect these have on me. My first thought when I ordered it was that I'd wasted my money on a little kid's show I used to watch and it would not match my memories of those wonderful times. Well, surprize! These are better now than they were. The sense of nostalgia is staggering. And there's a bonus: wonderful unintentional humor. The way the puppets move and talk is hilarious even if they don't say anything funny. I get a sense that the Krofft brothers knew all along what it took Mystery Science Theater 3000 10 years to teach me. It's been said that Pufnstuff was watched mostly by hippies in the 60s and 70s. After a friday night ... ... they'd get up saturday morning and watch. And what did they watch? ..., ... landscapes, bigheaded creatures talking in zany voices. I've ordered Land of the Lost DVD and can't wait to put it on my shelf. If you grew up with these then take the trip too. The World of Sid & Marty Krofft is brighter than it ever was! You'll have fun. I promise you.
Rating: Summary: Sid and Marty Did It Again Review: Sigmund was a misfit sea monster rejected by his relatives. Seems that he didn't want to scare humans like his folks did! A couple of boys come across Sigmund on the beach. They're scared at first, but Sigmund proves to be a great friend. Problem is, the boys have to hide him from everyone else. This is not an easy task, as Sigmund's relatives keep popping up to cause havoc. I don't think this Krofft show is a popular as the others they created, but it was a pleasant half-hour of TV on Saturday mornings.
Rating: Summary: Krofft on DVD - Even Better Review: The Krofft shows were always favs of mine as a kid. When the show came out on video I was excited and now to see them being released on DVD, with interviews and other extras make it a real treat. Sigmund was one of the best shows to me and I always tried to catch it in the later re-runs. Now I own some of the shows. Thank you Sid and Marty.
Rating: Summary: Krofft on DVD - Even Better Review: The Krofft shows were always favs of mine as a kid. When the show came out on video I was excited and now to see them being released on DVD, with interviews and other extras make it a real treat. Sigmund was one of the best shows to me and I always tried to catch it in the later re-runs. Now I own some of the shows. Thank you Sid and Marty.
Rating: Summary: Garry Hixon on Sigmund and the sea monsters Review: The opening shot where it shows the boys and sigmund in a sunny neighborhood reminds us of the 70's. This was a happy time and all children wished they were famous. Freakie's cereal and liddsville and that dune buggy had eyes and talked, inch high private eye. Kids went out and played in the sun, everyone was thin, no one was on drugs, and corporations only sold sugary cereal and breakable whamm-o super balls. All the boys played little league, and chewed bubbs daddy gum in these long sticks. We all had motocross handlebars on our new BMX type bikes. We never wore helmets and were always falling off our bikes, kids had wooden ramps on the sidewalks to jump there bikes on, and mini bikes with lawnmower engines roamed America. Evil Kneival told kids nothing was impossible, causing a lot of bike wrecks, but in the 70's , the kids really believed nothing was impossible. The economy was strong, everyone had houses, and always had huge birthday parties, little boys had girlfriends, and parents were more responsible, they werent lazy like todays parents, you ate at the table, and said grace, and you always went to the beach and on picnics. The schools had enough money, and the sun was always shining, it only got cloudy during the weekdays, the weekends were always clear, people went camping, everyone was happy, what happened? No one suffered and everyone in the world was happy at all times, there was no sadness and there was hope. Everyone had privacy, and no one was arguing or fighting. Parents were young, and kids were smart and very mature, they never used cussing in a bad way, and when somebody spoke everybody shut up and listened. Good ruled and badness didnt exist, there is so much pain now, I just want the kids of today to really realize how great we had it in the 70's. They are so cheated now. The parents of the 70's came from the 50's, they were poor and made sure that their kids had everything, and we did, always a million presents at Christmas, innocence ruled, and pain was not heard of, in 1983 though, the spell was broken, and the magic died, and it has been bad ever since, may we remember-garry jr.
Rating: Summary: Sigmund is back. Review: This is a great dvd, and Rhino did a much better job than with the H.r Pufnstuf dvd. These episodes are funny and represent the series well. The menu is very easy to navigate, and the picture looks great. My favorite characters are Burp and Slurp, and they're at their funniest here. The interview is very funny, and there's even an advertisement for a submarine ride. Pick it up today, you'll be glad you did!
Rating: Summary: a classic Review: This is a great show cheesy but good this is the only Kroft show that I like more then H.R. Pufnstuf! Its worth the wait!
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