I remember watching this as a young five-year-old. My mom recorded it, so I was able to watch it constantly... I had a few of the dolls and the little hugglits so having a movie with the dolls, moving around and talking was absolutely awesome to me! And I would imagine that I was on the journey with them for those berries every time! I do remember being freaked out a couple of times, but I would just hit fast forward lol
I made my son watch it a few years back, thinking he would roll his eyes and say that it was a stupid movie, but he surprised me by saying he liked it, even the creepy stuff... if you can find a copy, I recommend watching.
14 Reviews
Ahhhh..........Relief!!
ladylissa12319 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I think I just lifted a huge weight of anxiety. Like many posters before, I almost thought I made this up, because only one other person I know vaguely remembers anything remotely similar. What a relief it was to find this! Now I must buy it. I have two children, and I want to use them as an excuse for me to watch it over and over like I did as a child.
Wow. This has to be at least 12 years of relief!! lol.
I need to see the breakfast scene and see what exactly it was that she was putting all over her pancakes the grossed her brother out....
& after she lost all her cherries...haha...didn't her grandma just tell her that getting old was a part of life?? Great Movie!! Remember the sideways sidewalk??? Whats funny is, through all my searches, I was the only one who actually remember the HUGGA BUNCH (just couldn't remember their name) which is probably why people have such a hard time accessing their memory of the title, because they don't remember the small cherub faced creatures. I did. but didn't remember the title had anything to do with them.
But problem solved and I can live a better life now!! hahahaha
Wow. This has to be at least 12 years of relief!! lol.
I need to see the breakfast scene and see what exactly it was that she was putting all over her pancakes the grossed her brother out....
& after she lost all her cherries...haha...didn't her grandma just tell her that getting old was a part of life?? Great Movie!! Remember the sideways sidewalk??? Whats funny is, through all my searches, I was the only one who actually remember the HUGGA BUNCH (just couldn't remember their name) which is probably why people have such a hard time accessing their memory of the title, because they don't remember the small cherub faced creatures. I did. but didn't remember the title had anything to do with them.
But problem solved and I can live a better life now!! hahahaha
Excellent Movie
seo2a9 October 2002
As a child, I watched Hugga Bunch quite religiously. I believe my parents and siblings could all quote the movie because they watched it with me so often. One great aspect of this movie, aside from the story, is the puppets which are quite adorable. The film is very pleasing to the eye once the main character enters the land of huggs. It is very colorful and cute. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is lucky enough to get his/her hands on it (it is sadly out of print, hard to find, and quite expensive on ebay).
Made me laugh, made me cry, made me deathly afraid of mirrors when I was 6.
jrf910 July 2004
This was a great fantasyland adventure that I still enjoy watching at 21 years old. I remember I loved the adventure the little girl took into the hugga bunch world and it reminded me of the room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where the kids could eat everything. The witch gave me nightmares for about a week when i was 6 and the idea of an entire world existing behind my bedroom mirror completely freaked me out, but I still loved it! I remember wanting to be that girl so badly! This movie is one of those childhood memories that I won't ever forget and I can't wait to show it to my kids some day! It's just an all around great movie that any kid will love!
I am not alone after all
krisa97721 July 2006
Oh my gosh I think we should form a support group there are so many of us who saw this and forgot the name of it. I used to rent it all the time when I was little. I am so glad I am not the only one who remembers it!!!!!!!!!! I want to get a copy of and I am trying but since it is so hard to get it is very expensive. I think my favorite part was towards the end when they had the fruit and some of it fell. Then when the meet the bookworm I thought he was so cool. I hope I can get a copy of it because I would really enjoy seeing it again. I put a question out on yahoo to help me find the title of it and most of the people said it was labyrinth or the dark crystal but I own both so I knew it wasn't either of those. Then one day I drove by a road sign that said huggins and it made me think of the title hug then I came home checked my email and there was the answer the hugga bunch movie from someone.
I wish my kids had more shows like this
dragon-5297311 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
When the movie showed my mother said I'd go walking around saying "oopseefootnote" about as fast as I could, no pause just all the words strung together. It took them forever to figure out what I was saying and where I got it from! Many MANY years later it's still a joke to my WHOLE family!! I have tried on both my kids to get them to watch this movie, THEY CANT SIT STILL! It's not CGI'ed or ANYTHING like what today's shows and movies are filmed at...my point is, our kids don't respect what it took to go from the hugga bunch to today's shows! Ask any kid now who was born in the 90's what to do with a CD and they'd think it was a frizbee!!
The #1 requested title in movie forums!
simnia-110 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
You have to respect this movie. It may be "just a dumb kid's movie" but it's the #1 most frequently requested film title in online movie forums, requested by people who remember the story but can't remember the title. Therefore what follows is a much-needed, detailed plot description, since I haven't been able to find such a description anywhere else on the Internet.
A typical 2-story house is shown in suburbia. 7-year-old Bridget narrates about suspecting something is going on since she and her 11-year-old brother Andrew are getting presents from their parents for no apparent reason. Bridget's present is a stuffed penguin that she immediately names Sweet William. Bridget describes her relatives: Aunt Ruth, a bossy nurse taking care of grandmother, Grams the hugging grandmother who makes dolls out of socks, and her brother Andrew, who's into electronics and is grumpy. Grams accidentally hangs up on the lieutenant-governor, which indicates she's getting in the way while living with the family. The two children eat breakfast while the adults discuss moving Grams to a retirement home. Bridget makes an awful-looking pancake sandwich containing cereal, eggs, bacon, strawberries, and syrup, as Andrew looks on incredulously. The two kids then discuss Grams, and Andrew says bluntly that Grams is being "put out to pasture." Bridget talks with Grams in the attic, has a play tea party with Sweet William in her bedroom, then a living doll unexpectedly pops out of her bedroom closet mirror.
Bridget and the living doll become acquainted. The curly-haired living female doll is named Huggins and lives in Huggaland. Bridget gives Huggins a baseball cap from Andrew's room. Huggins hides under some laundry when Bridget's mother comes by, then the mother throws the laundry into the washing machine with Huggins in it. Bridget rescues Huggins and dries her off with a hair drier. They discuss the problem with Grams getting old and having to move away, Huggins says Bridget could talk to the bookworm in Huggaland about it, since he knows everything. They step through the mirror to visit Huggaland, but one of Bridget's tennis shoes becomes lodged in the mirror.
Rather than walk around with one shoe, Bridget goes without shoes in Huggaland. They immediately meet Hugsy, a curly-haired living boy doll in Huggaland. Huggins gives Hugsy the baseball cap. They also meet Tickles, Bubbles, Impkins, and Tweaker, and all the dolls sing a song while sitting on a bridge. Hugsy takes Bridget and Huggins in his hugwagon to see the bookworm, who lives atop a stack of giant books. The bookworm consults "the old encyclopedia" and finds that old age can be cured by eating the fruit of the "youngberry tree." However, only one such tree exists, and it's in the country of Shrugs, ruled by the mad queen of quartz. The only way to travel to Shrugs is to jump down a deep hole that is located inside a nearby giant book.
Bridget and the two dolls gulp three times, jump down the hole, and tumble out. Soon they walk down a sideways sidewalk, hear the sea of glass breaking, and fall off the sidewalk when the sideways gravity ends. They encounter "the hairy behemoth," which looks like a mastodon, has four tusks, and breathes fire out its trunk. But Hugsy boldly goes over and hugs the behemoth, who thereby turns into a baby elephant whose name is Hodgepodge. Hodgepodge had been under a spell by the queen, and owes Hugsy a favor, so they all ride on Hodgepodge's back to the castle. They enter the castle, are surrounded by troll-like beings, the queen (Queen Admira) comes, and Bridget asks for a few youngberries. The queen refuses, then eats one for herself, and brags about her own youthful good looks while looking in a hand mirror. Hodgepodge faints when the queen says he should be "digested." The queen is upset when Bridget mentions that wicked witches should have warts, so the queen freezes Bridget and orders the three others to be taken to the dungeon. But the queen carelessly leaves the key to the youngberry tree's dome by the lock to the dome-lifting apparatus.
Hodgepodge wakes up in the dungeon and uses his "noodle" (trunk) to pull the jail's door down, thereby freeing himself and the two dolls with him. They find Bridget standing petrified, the dolls hug her, which causes Bridget to be revived. Before they flee, Bridget finds the left-behind key to the youngberry tree dome, lifts the dome off, and they pick some glowing youngberries and put them in a jar. The queen catches them, but the queen's arm is trapped under the descending dome while reaching for the key that Bridget left on the ground. The queen suddenly turns very old since she is deprived of the youth-giving berries, and appears to die. Soon Bridget steps back through the mirror into her bedroom but trips on the bottom of the mirror, spilling the berries onto her floor, and the berries quickly vanish into smoke, one by one. Her mother calls for her and Andrew to say goodbye to Grams, who is leaving for a retirement home. Andrew drops his usual grumpy, standoffish facade and hugs Grams, telling her he loves her and that he doesn't want her to go away. Their father is moved, and decides to keep Grams there after all, and everybody hugs and cries, including Aunt Ruthie, who had been the main person pressuring Grams to move out.
Andrew asks Bridget for his St. Louis Cardinals cap, Bridget starts to explain how she gave it to Huggins of Huggaland, but Andrew doesn't want to listen to what he believes are her fantasy stories, so he turns around to look for it in her bedroom. One of the dolls secretly hands the cap back through the mirror to Bridget, Bridget puts the cap on Andrew's head, Andrew is mystified, and leaves her bedroom without saying anything. Bridget cheerfully waves at the mirror.
A typical 2-story house is shown in suburbia. 7-year-old Bridget narrates about suspecting something is going on since she and her 11-year-old brother Andrew are getting presents from their parents for no apparent reason. Bridget's present is a stuffed penguin that she immediately names Sweet William. Bridget describes her relatives: Aunt Ruth, a bossy nurse taking care of grandmother, Grams the hugging grandmother who makes dolls out of socks, and her brother Andrew, who's into electronics and is grumpy. Grams accidentally hangs up on the lieutenant-governor, which indicates she's getting in the way while living with the family. The two children eat breakfast while the adults discuss moving Grams to a retirement home. Bridget makes an awful-looking pancake sandwich containing cereal, eggs, bacon, strawberries, and syrup, as Andrew looks on incredulously. The two kids then discuss Grams, and Andrew says bluntly that Grams is being "put out to pasture." Bridget talks with Grams in the attic, has a play tea party with Sweet William in her bedroom, then a living doll unexpectedly pops out of her bedroom closet mirror.
Bridget and the living doll become acquainted. The curly-haired living female doll is named Huggins and lives in Huggaland. Bridget gives Huggins a baseball cap from Andrew's room. Huggins hides under some laundry when Bridget's mother comes by, then the mother throws the laundry into the washing machine with Huggins in it. Bridget rescues Huggins and dries her off with a hair drier. They discuss the problem with Grams getting old and having to move away, Huggins says Bridget could talk to the bookworm in Huggaland about it, since he knows everything. They step through the mirror to visit Huggaland, but one of Bridget's tennis shoes becomes lodged in the mirror.
Rather than walk around with one shoe, Bridget goes without shoes in Huggaland. They immediately meet Hugsy, a curly-haired living boy doll in Huggaland. Huggins gives Hugsy the baseball cap. They also meet Tickles, Bubbles, Impkins, and Tweaker, and all the dolls sing a song while sitting on a bridge. Hugsy takes Bridget and Huggins in his hugwagon to see the bookworm, who lives atop a stack of giant books. The bookworm consults "the old encyclopedia" and finds that old age can be cured by eating the fruit of the "youngberry tree." However, only one such tree exists, and it's in the country of Shrugs, ruled by the mad queen of quartz. The only way to travel to Shrugs is to jump down a deep hole that is located inside a nearby giant book.
Bridget and the two dolls gulp three times, jump down the hole, and tumble out. Soon they walk down a sideways sidewalk, hear the sea of glass breaking, and fall off the sidewalk when the sideways gravity ends. They encounter "the hairy behemoth," which looks like a mastodon, has four tusks, and breathes fire out its trunk. But Hugsy boldly goes over and hugs the behemoth, who thereby turns into a baby elephant whose name is Hodgepodge. Hodgepodge had been under a spell by the queen, and owes Hugsy a favor, so they all ride on Hodgepodge's back to the castle. They enter the castle, are surrounded by troll-like beings, the queen (Queen Admira) comes, and Bridget asks for a few youngberries. The queen refuses, then eats one for herself, and brags about her own youthful good looks while looking in a hand mirror. Hodgepodge faints when the queen says he should be "digested." The queen is upset when Bridget mentions that wicked witches should have warts, so the queen freezes Bridget and orders the three others to be taken to the dungeon. But the queen carelessly leaves the key to the youngberry tree's dome by the lock to the dome-lifting apparatus.
Hodgepodge wakes up in the dungeon and uses his "noodle" (trunk) to pull the jail's door down, thereby freeing himself and the two dolls with him. They find Bridget standing petrified, the dolls hug her, which causes Bridget to be revived. Before they flee, Bridget finds the left-behind key to the youngberry tree dome, lifts the dome off, and they pick some glowing youngberries and put them in a jar. The queen catches them, but the queen's arm is trapped under the descending dome while reaching for the key that Bridget left on the ground. The queen suddenly turns very old since she is deprived of the youth-giving berries, and appears to die. Soon Bridget steps back through the mirror into her bedroom but trips on the bottom of the mirror, spilling the berries onto her floor, and the berries quickly vanish into smoke, one by one. Her mother calls for her and Andrew to say goodbye to Grams, who is leaving for a retirement home. Andrew drops his usual grumpy, standoffish facade and hugs Grams, telling her he loves her and that he doesn't want her to go away. Their father is moved, and decides to keep Grams there after all, and everybody hugs and cries, including Aunt Ruthie, who had been the main person pressuring Grams to move out.
Andrew asks Bridget for his St. Louis Cardinals cap, Bridget starts to explain how she gave it to Huggins of Huggaland, but Andrew doesn't want to listen to what he believes are her fantasy stories, so he turns around to look for it in her bedroom. One of the dolls secretly hands the cap back through the mirror to Bridget, Bridget puts the cap on Andrew's head, Andrew is mystified, and leaves her bedroom without saying anything. Bridget cheerfully waves at the mirror.
I own it!
jessica_cliff8130 July 2008
This was one of my favorite movies as a child. FuzzBucket as well. My brother bought me a copy of Hugga Bunch on VHS online a few years ago. It isn't the best copy but it works. I would be happy to sell it cheap if anybody is interested. :) Its not as good when you are 27. I think this is a great movie for kids. It taught me to appreciate my elders at a young age. I also love when one of the dolls ends up in the washing machine. So cute. The magic cherry tree, the long windy road to the castle, the curlers in the dolls hair... It made me believe my dolls could come alive at any second. I had toy hugga bunch dolls that would clip on to things in my room. I used to rent this movie every time I would go to a video store.
Traumatized
emmastadey5 July 2021
I remember I used to rent this movie from Blockbuster on a weekly basis. I am 26 years old now and still think about this movie often...too often. Growing up we had a small living room area with a walk in closet. On the door to the closet was a full length mirror. I have VIVID memories of glaring into that mirror, with the fear of being sucked into the Hugga Bunch land. For some reason, I cannot remember any scenes from the movie - only the name and the cover art. I will never forget it. I cannot fairly rate it as I do not remember the plot exactly, I just know it has stuck with me my entire life Lol.
A Great Movie for Young Children
shelberrs3 January 2003
Loved It
butterflydiva82929 August 2006
Man I loved this movie as a kid... it was the best. Years later, watching it as an adult I was surprised to see exactly how scary it was at points (ie the burning mastodon), and just the fact that those cute little huggabunch were actually lil freaky. Maybe it's just an adult mind stepping into an kids movie but man... I still love it. : ) It had an endearing quality to it and I wish I could find it to watch it again. Too bad it's hard to find because this was truly an 80's classic that should be shown to our kids in this generation. It holds an innocence movies today don't seem to have..which is sort of sad. Movies/Shows today just aren't what they used to be. We need to go back to the innocence of our own childhoods and bring back the magic to kids in this day and age.
I loved it!
robn-27 July 2000
One of my favorite movies as a kid!
K_S_Cofer6 December 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I remember my sister and I used to watch this all the time! Our mom taped it when it came on TV once, and it became a weekly ritual of ours to watch it. Our favorite part was when she goes through the mirror and you get the first glimpse of the Hugga Bunch land. I also remember something about the little girl trying to find a magic fruit to keep her grandmother young, and some kind of bookworm that she goes to for advice. I also remember being scared of the witch on the mountain, and I think she freezes the little girl to try and steal her youth. I haven't seen this movie in probably 11 or 12 years, as our VHS copy was lost in a move. I would love to see it again, if just for nostalgic reasons!
A little sweetie of a film
NuttyBaby10 May 2023
Okay this was mentioned on a supernatural channel as being a "creepy" film that gave many children nightmares and today's adults remember this with trauma. Okay I've never seen it before and have never heard of it so I watched it for the first time this evening. I found the film just adorable and well made, with a very nice story and a wonderful fantasy sets in the magic land. Its just too sickly for me but I appreciate it was made during an era of puppet movies that were really the in thing during the 80's, and everything was hand made, crafted and sewn, not like today's CGI. The only thing I found scary was the little creature popping through the mirror.
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