I'm flyin' free!
Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (also known as Pontoffel Pock and His Magic Piano) is an animated television special written by Dr. Seuss and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Along with The Hoober Bloob Highway, it's the only Seuss-based special not to be based on one of his books or pre-existing characters.note
Pontoffel Pock is a quiet young man who just wants a simple job and to take care of his family's dilapidated house, but when he blows his first day at the local pickle factory, he wishes that he could just "get away from it all." With those words, he's visited by the Amalgamated Do-Gooding Fairies who gift him with a magical piano which allows its player to go anywhere in the world.
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Primarily Alliterative List though: The Amalgamated Do-Gooding Fairies "have branches from Boston to Bannock, Baltimore, Bangledesh to even down to Buenos Aires."
- The Alleged House: Comically exaggerated like only Dr. Seuss can. It's no wonder Pontoffel wants to get away.
- Alliterative Name: Pontoffel Pock
- Animation Bump: One of the more ambitious Seuss specials, with less Limited Animation (some of it is even on ones) and more expansive layouts and camerawork. The whole thing appears to be designed to resemble an old-fashioned Hollywood musical.
- "Arabian Nights" Days: Casbahmopolis.
- Arc Words: "Oh, how I wish, wish, wish I could get away from it all!"
- Author Appeal: When Pontoffel goes missing, one of the fairies who goes looking for him says he's spotted him in Dr. Seuss's hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts. Groogen is also clearly designed to resemble Germany, complete with oompah music and yodeling, in reference to Seuss's proud German ancestry.
- Bears Are Bad News: Pontoffel has a brief encounter with a polar bear while stuck in the Arctic.
- BFG: The Goomy Gun. Which shoots paint.
- Bizarrchitecture: Typical for a Seuss product, Pontoffel's house would be comically impractical even if it weren't in such bad condition.
- Book Ends: The special begins and ends with the song "Pull on the Pullum & Push on the Pushum" at the pickle factory, the only difference being that Neefa Feefa joins in and Pontoffel gets the gears working right.
- Broken Lever of Doom: On his first day working at a pickle factory, Pontoffel blows it by pushing on the pullem and pulling on the pushum. By pulling, he ends up breaking the lever off the pushum, causing everything to go haywire. This also results in him getting instantly fired.
- Bull Seeing Red: Pontoffel lands in an arena while trying to remember the button for Casbahmopolis. Unfortunately, a bull is there and because the piano is red, it starts trying to attack him. Thankfully, Pontoffel escapes.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The colored buttons on the piano determine where the player goes. Pontoffel has trouble getting back to Neefa Feefa when he can't remember which button took him to her in the first place.
- Damsel in Distress: Zig-zagged with Neefa Feefa. She sings that she hates working for the king and that she wants to get "out of this job," but it's unclear if she's his servant or his slave. Either way, she's clearly not thrilled to be there, and appears to have been trapped at the top of a tower once Pontoffel leaves.
- Dreadful Musician: The piano only requires the player to play six notes, and even then, it takes Pontoffel three tries to get it right.
- Epic Fail: Pontoffel pulls on pushum and pushes on the pullem, immediately after being told the opposite! It ends badly.
- Epileptic Flashing Lights: This happens when Pock first meets Neefa Feefa.
- Follow the Bouncing Ball: In the 90s, Fox released a sing-along version of the video under the "Pontoffel Pock and His Magic Piano" title.
- Gratuitous Yiddish: While dancing for the king, Neefa Feefa glances at the fourth wall, shrugs and gives an exasperated "Oy..."
- Hat of Flight: The Do-Gooding Fairies wear propeller hats that give them their flight.
- Impact Silhouette: When Pontoffel tries using the basketball hoop on his balcony (don't ask), the ball falls straight through the worn-out floor leaving a perfectly circular hole.
- Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: After causing mayhem at the pickle factory, Mr. Gill Gickler rips Pontoffel's junior-class badge off and tells him never to come back.
- Love at First Sight: Quite literally, complete with a close-up on the eyes. Pontoffel and Neefa Feefa, the eyeball dancer, need only look into one another's eyes to fall madly in love.
- Magic Music: The pianos that are provided by the Amalgamated Do-Gooding Fairies are magical and can take you anywhere in the world.
- Minsky Pickup: Playing this is the way to open the piano's array of buttons.
- Misspelling Out Loud: One of the fairies misspells Cincinnati as "C-I-N... C-I-N... A-T-T-I..."
- The Quiet One: Pontoffel, of course. He doesn't try to defend himself when Mr. Gill Gickler fires him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Magic flying pianos are bestowed upon down-on-their-luck people who just want to "get away from it all" and will take them to wonderful places all around the world. The head fairy himself tries to do this when searching for Pontoffel exhausts him.
- Standard Snippet: The homing-pigeon switch brings the piano's player home to the tune of "Home Sweet Home."
- Sultry Belly Dancer: Parodied with Neefa Feefa, an "eyeball dancer" whose outfit covers everything but her eyes, not unlike a burka.
- Title Drop: Twice.
- First when Neefa Feefa falls off of the piano as it takes off and calls after him "Pontoffel Pock! Where are you?" (although the more appropriate response may have been "where are you going?").
- Then there's the song, "Pontoffel Pock, Where The Heck Are You?"
- What the Hell, Hero?: After Pontoffel sees everyone in Groogen likes him, he decides to show off, which very nearly kills multiple people. This causes the fairy to call him out for his careless bravado.
- Wild Goose Chase: Mainly the second half of the story. Pontoffel tries to run away with Neefa Feefa, but she slides of the piano and now he tries to get back to Casbahmopolis, the only issue is that he doesn't remember the exact button until almost the end. Meanwhile, the Do-Gooding Fairies are chasing down Pontoffel as he keeps zipping around the world.
