Customer Reviews

Sigmund and the Sea Monster, Vol. 1

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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.

"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!

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. : )

What an awesome nostalgic DVD for those of us who grew up in the 1970s! Johnny Whitaker (famous for "Family Affair" and "Tom Sawyer") and Scott Kolden play kids Johnny and Scott living with their Aunt Zelda while their parents take what seems to be a never-ending vacation.

These kids have it made... they live right on the beach, have their own clubhouse and have a friendly sea monster as their companion!

The voices for the different sea monster characters (Sigmund, Burp, Slurp, Sweet Mama and Big Daddy) are absolutely hilarious.

The DVD includes a sing-a-long of the show's theme song and a great and entertaining interview with the now all-grown-up Whitaker and Kolden.

I love this DVD! This is a great show for kids... nothing harmful is taught and like all Krofft shows, the storylines teach morals in a non-threatening way. You see the boys obeying their aunt and giving her respect, you see them stick up for each other (teamwork) and their loyalty to their friend, sigmund.

This was a very innocent show for a very innocent time in kid's tv... too bad there aren't more shows like this on tv for kids nowadays.

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!

ah, the 70's....the time of rollerskates,skateboards, 8 track tapes, disco, bellbottoms, facepaints, folk music, and Sid and Marty Kroft....
If you were a kid in the 70's like i was, then you can appreciate these shows. The Sid and Marty Kroft shows were among my faves to watch on saturday mornings. Sigmund was my fave show, tho' I also loved the Bugaloos and Dr. Shrinker too. They always kept me laughing, like so many of the 70s toons and live action shows of the time.
I think these shows rank right up there with classics like Scooby Doo and even Walt Disney. Uncle Walt once said, "It's corn, but it's good corn, and I like corn."
It's funny what you remember. Most things fade away in time, but some stay with you forever...
...Sigmund the sea monster and Johnny and Scott are friends..
finest the the friend that ever could be in land or on the sea...

What a great childhood memory. Our daughter seems to enjoy this as much as we did when we were young and watching this. You just have to add this one to your collection...just a joy to have.
Anyone who grew up watching this would love having this.

Thanks Garry for a great review, and thank you for describing my upstate New York neighborhood. Throw in The Lost Saucer, animated Star Trek, 12" GI Joes, Wacky Packages, and short walks for Dairy Queen Ice Cream, 30 cent Sodas at the local neighboorhood store, and really BIG snowsuits while playing tackle football in the snow and you have one REALLY GREAT SET of memories, oh and Sigmund too!!!

This was a cute show,too. I also saw it on Pufapaloosa. I forgot to tell you that Charles Nelson Reilly is the Voice of The Dirty Bubble,that is Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's nemisis on Spongebob Squarepants.

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!