| The Banana Splits Adventure Hour | |
|---|---|
 Original title card for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. |
|
| Also known as | The Banana Splits and Friends Show |
| Genre | Children's |
| Developed by | Sid and Marty Krofft |
| Directed by | Richard Donner (Season 1) Tom Boutross (Season 2) |
| Starring | Jeffrey Winkless (as Jeffrey Brock) Terence H. Winkless (as Terence Henry) Dan Winkless (as Daniel Owen) James "Jimmy" Dove Robert Towers |
| Voices of | Paul Winchell Daws Butler Allan Melvin |
| Theme music composer | Nelson B. Sid and Marty Krofft are a sibling team of prolific television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs particularly throughout the 1970s and early Richard Donner (born April 24, 1930) is an American Film director, and also a Film producer through the production company Terence H Winkless is a producer director and writer of motion pictures and television Paul Winchell ( December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) born Pinkus Wilchinski (the family later shortened it to Wilchin) Daws Butler ( Charles Dawson Butler; November 16, 1916 – May 18, 1988) was a Voice actor born in Toledo, Allan Melvin ( February 18, 1923 - January 17, 2008) was an American Character actor who appeared in several television Winkless, Jr. (credited to Ritchie Adams & Mark Barkan) |
| Opening theme | "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 31 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Edward J. William Denby "Bill" Hanna (July 14 1910 – March 22 2001 was an influential American Animator, director, producer, Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera (; March 24 1911 – December 18 2006 was an influential American Animator, director, producer Rosen (Season 1) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 7, 1968 – September 5, 1970 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Skatebirds |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, syndicated as The Banana Splits and Friends Show, was an hour-long package television program featuring both live action and animated segments, that ran for 31 episodes on NBC Saturday mornings from September 7, 1968 to September 5, 1970. Not to be confused with the BBC news magazine program Sixty Minutes (TV series. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Skatebirds was a 60-minute show on CBS Saturday mornings from 1977 - 78, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, the Banana Splits characters were designed by Sid and Marty Krofft and the series' sponsor was Kellogg's Cereals. Sid and Marty Krofft are a sibling team of prolific television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs particularly throughout the 1970s and early Kellogg Company (often referred to as simply Kellogg or Kellogg's, or even more formally Kellogg's of Battle Creek) is an American multinational
Contents |
Television series
The format of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was loosely based on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, a comedy-variety show airing on NBC at the time. Here Comes The Judge redirects here for the 1968 song see Shorty Long. Each show represented a meeting of the "Banana Splits Club," and the wraparounds featured the adventures of the club members, who doubled as a musical quartet (meant to be reminiscent of The Beatles and The Monkees). The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 For the group's self-titled album see The Monkees (album. For the TV series see The Monkees (TV series. The main characters were Fleegle, a beagle; Bingo, a gorilla; Drooper, a lion, and Snorky (called "Snork" in the theme song lyrics), an elephant. The Beagle is a breed of medium-sized Dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound but smaller Gorillas, the largest of the living Primates are ground-dwelling Herbivores that inhabit the Forests of Africa. The lion ( Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four Big cats in the Genus Panthera. Elephants ( family: Elephantidae) are large land Mammals of the order Proboscidea. Fleegle would assume the role as leader of the Banana Splits and presided at club meetings. The characters were played by actors in fleecy costumes similar to later Sid and Marty Krofft series such as H.R. Pufnstuf. HR Pufnstuf is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. (Krofft Enterprises designed the costumes and sets for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, and their work impressed NBC-TV executives, who picked up the Krofft's own H. R. Pufnstuf for the following season. ) Like most children's shows of the era, the show contained a laugh track.
The Splits' segments, including songs-of-the-week and comedy skits, served as wraparounds for a number of individual segments. In the United States, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour featured the first appearances of the animated segments The Arabian Knights, The Three Musketeers, and Micro Ventures. Arabian Knights is an animated segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Micro Ventures is an educational animated series created by Hanna-Barbera Productions which originally aired as a 4-minute segment on The Banana In the second season, The Three Musketeers segments were replaced with repeats of The Hillbilly Bears, a cartoon segment that previously appeared on The Atom Ant Show (1965-1968). The Hillbilly Bears is an Animated Television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Atom Ant is a Cartoon Ant and Superhero, created by Hanna-Barbera in 1965
Some of the live action segments (specifically those used during the musical segments) were shot at Six Flags Over Texas, an amusement park located in Arlington, Texas (during the first season) and, the following year, at the Coney Island amusement park, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Six Flags Over Texas is a major Amusement park located in Arlington, Texas ( USA) east of Fort Worth and about west of Dallas Arlington is a Suburb of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, Texas ( USA) within the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Coney Island is an Amusement park in the California neighborhood of Cincinnati Ohio and Anderson Township Hamilton County, on the banks Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads In many episodes The Banana Splits would be seen riding on the Runaway Mine Train rollercoasters, Log Flumes, Bumper Cars, Merry-Go-Rounds, and many other rides at Six Flags. Contrary to popular misconception, the amusement park scenes in the original series were not filmed at Kings Island, also in Cincinnati, Ohio, which did not open until 1972. Kings Island is a 364-acre (15 km² Theme park located in the city of Mason, in Warren County Ohio, USA. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Filming for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour wrapped in 1969. However, some of the rides seen in the series eventually were relocated to Kings Island (following a flood which led to the closing of Coney Island; the park later reopened on a smaller scale) and the live-action scenes in the 1972 production The Banana Splits In Hocus Pocus Park were indeed filmed at Kings Island in Cincinnati. Kings Island is a 364-acre (15 km² Theme park located in the city of Mason, in Warren County Ohio, USA. All of the live-action material filmed for the first season of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (including the Banana Splits and Danger Island sequences) was directed by future Superman director Richard Donner. Superman (also known as Superman The Movie) is a 1978 Superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the Richard Donner (born April 24, 1930) is an American Film director, and also a Film producer through the production company
The original show, as well as the syndicated package, also contained the live-action segment Danger Island, a cliffhanger serial starring a young Jan-Michael Vincent, billed as Michael Vincent, as Lincoln "Link" Simmons. Danger Island is a live-action Adventure serial produced by Hanna-Barbera and originally broadcast in 1968 as a segment on the A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a Plot device in which a movie, Novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending often leaving Serials in Television and Radio are series often in a weekly Prime time slot that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a serial fashion Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is an American actor most well-known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s Also, Ronne Troup, who later joined the cast of My Three Sons, played Leslie Haydn. My Three Sons is a Situation comedy about a Scots/Irish-American family (Douglas/ O'Casey that ran from September 29, 1960, to August (Each of the ten-minute chapters was cut into two five-minute segments in syndication. ) Danger Island was meant to be a live action equivalent to Jonny Quest, another Hanna-Barbera property. Jonny Quest (often referred to as The Adventures of Jonny Quest) is a Science fiction / Adventure animated television series
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was one of the first 2 Hanna-Barbera productions in 1968 in which William Hanna and Joseph Barbera received executive producer credits; the other being The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Edward Rosen served as producer on both series). William Denby "Bill" Hanna (July 14 1910 – March 22 2001 was an influential American Animator, director, producer, Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera (; March 24 1911 – December 18 2006 was an influential American Animator, director, producer Motion Pictures An executive producer of a Motion picture is typically a producer who is sometimes involved in creative or technical aspects of production The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a half-hour live-action/animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions on NBC Primetime The primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking They would not, however, assume the title full-time for another 5 years.
Season 1
During the first season, the Banana Splits segments often concerned the group's confrontations with a rival club: The Sour Grapes Bunch. The Sour Grapes were not seen on camera, but would send notes (usually a challenge or some other kind of threat) delivered by one of the "Sour Grapes messenger girls," who would dance into the Splits' clubhouse wearing purple leotards and go-go boots. Five young actresses appeared as the dancing messenger girls: Debra Thibodeaux, Colette Chenault, Julie Graham, Kathy O'Dare, and Shirley Hillstrom. Their dance instructor was Byron Gilliam. Only one of the girls (always called "Charlie" in the context of the show) would appear at a time, except for the performance of the song "Doin' The Banana Split" (the segment first appeared in show #5, originally telecast October 5, 1968) which featured all five girls dancing with The Banana Splits. Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
The Splits also occasionally were visited by the Mariachi-tuned Dilly Sisters (an actual musical act from Mexico), who would appear at their door playing guitars and singing "The Mexican Hat Dance" or "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay". The Jarabe Tapatío, known in English as the Mexican hat Dance, is the title of the musical piece and the dance that accompanies it which is accorded the title of the "national "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" is a Vaudeville and Music hall song copyrighted by Henry J In other recurring features during the first season, Drooper and Bingo offered advice to viewers in the "Dear Drooper" segment, while Fleegle served as the reporter for Banana Splits News.
Season 2
In the second season, all new live-action segments were produced with the Banana Splits characters, while the animated segments and Danger Island serial were repeats. (Arabian Knights and Danger Island were reprised from Season 1, while The Three Musketeers would be replaced by repeats of The Hillbilly Bears, previously seen on The Atom Ant Show. ) For the new season, the set was slightly modified, and the Splits' recurring routines were all new: Fleegle attempted (quite unsuccessfully) to perform magic tricks as alter ego The Great Fleegali, while Super Drooper fought crime and Coach Bingo kept the rest of the group active in sports competitions. Other new elements included School Time, Nursery Rhymes and a Gag Wall segment (reminiscent of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), as well as Fan Club meetings where the Banana Splits would read viewer mail. Here Comes The Judge redirects here for the 1968 song see Shorty Long. Goofy Gopher (voiced by Paul Winchell) would pop out from a flower pot to deliver the occasional one-liner, joining the Cuckoo Clock and Banana Vac as secondary characters. The characters' costume designs also received an overhaul (introduced in the next-to-last Season 1 episode, The Great Banana Splits Buggy Race), with Snorky now sporting a yellow and blue striped vest.
Syndication and cable
In syndication, the show was re-edited into a half-hour format and retitled The Banana Splits And Friends Show. That package consisted of 125 half-hours, including 36 Banana Splits Adventure Hour cutdowns (edited from the 18 original first season shows; 13 additional episodes produced for the 1969-1970 season were not included in the syndicated package; reconstructed versions of the 36 syndicated edits continue to air on Boomerang today). Boomerang is a 24-hour American Cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System (a division of Time Warner) Four other Hanna-Barbera series (originally unrelated to The Banana Splits, apart from having been produced by the same studio) were folded into the syndicated series as well: Atom Ant (26 half-hours, also featuring Precious Pupp and The Hillbilly Bears), Secret Squirrel (26 half-hours, also featuring Squiddly Diddly and Winsome Witch), and The Adventures of Gulliver (17 half-hours), as well as The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (20 half-hours, originally seen in prime-time and here introduced as The Adventures Of Huck Finn) which combined live-action with animation. Atom Ant is a Cartoon Ant and Superhero, created by Hanna-Barbera in 1965 Precious Pupp is an animated cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera and first broadcast as part of The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show on October 2 The Hillbilly Bears is an Animated Television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Secret Squirrel is a Cartoon Squirrel created by Hanna-Barbera. Squiddly Diddly is an anthropomorphic animated Squid created by Hanna-Barbera, who was featured in his own cartoon segment on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Winsome Witch is a television series produced by Hanna Barbera Studios. The Adventures of Gulliver is a Television Cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, created in 1968. The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a half-hour live-action/animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions on NBC Primetime The four unrelated shows in question can occasionally be seen on Boomerang in their original, non-Banana Splits configurations. (The syndicated Atom Ant, Secret Squirel and Gulliver episodes had a rotation of eight repeating clips edited into them, with Paul Winchell redubbing Fleegle's voice to introduce various cartoon segments. This footage, all one and a half minutes of it, originated from Season 2 shows, as did the syndicated series' opening and closing titles. It was the only Season 2 material included in the syndicated package. )
Although fewer episodes were produced during the second season (13 compared to 18 in the first season), NBC repeated five Season 1 episodes (re-edited to feature the final five chapters of Danger Island) to maintain continuity of story line immediately following the first run of the 13 Season 2 episodes.
After the cancellation of the original series, the characters were revived in the TV special The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park, which first aired as an hour-long installment of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie on Saturday, November 25, 1972. The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie — renamed The New Saturday Superstar Movie in its second season — was a series of one-hour animated TV-movies A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Unlike the television show, The Splits spent most of the film in animated form.
Music
The Banana Splits' bubblegum pop rock and roll was provided by studio professionals, including Joey Levine ("I Enjoy Being a Boy", "It's a Good Day for a Parade"), Al Kooper ("You're the Lovin' End"), Barry White ("Doin' the Banana Split"), and Gene Pitney ("Two Ton Tessie"). Bubblegum pop (also known as bubblegum rock, bubblegum music, or simply bubblegum) is a genre of Pop music whose classic period ran from 1967 Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Joey Levine is a prolific songwriter producer and performer of pop music starting around 1966 Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, February 5 1944, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Songwriter, Barry Eugene White (born Barrence Eugene Carter, &ndash) was an American Record producer, Songwriter and Singer. Gene Francis Alan Pitney ( February 17 1940 &ndash April 5 2006) was an American Singer and Songwriter. The music director was prolific songwriter and producer Mark Barkan along with Ritchie Adams. The main theme, "The Tra-La-La song," was written by Nelson B. Winkless, Jr. (on all record releases as well as the TV show's closing credits, the song is credited to Adams and Barkan strictly because of contractual arrangements irrelevant to reality regarding who wrote what). Despite this, Winkless is credited as co-writer, along with Hoyt Curtin, of "The Beautiful Calliopa" (also called "My Beautiful Calliopasaxaviatrumparimbaclaribasotrombaphone"), which was featured several times in the television series and also issued on record.
The Banana Splits theme song, "The Tra-La-La Song," made it as far as Jamaica, where Bob Marley cited it as his influence for the bridge to the Wailers' hit song "Buffalo Soldier. Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley OM (February 6 1945 – May 11 1981 was a Jamaican Musician, Singer-songwriter and Rastafarian " Buffalo Soldier " is a Reggae song co-written by Bob Marley and Noel G ")
Cast
- Jeffrey Winkless (billed as Jeffrey Brock) - Fleegle (actor)
- Paul Winchell - Fleegle, Goofy Gopher, Cuckoo (voice)
- Terry Winkless (billed as Terence Henry) - Bingo (actor)
- Daws Butler - Bingo (voice)
- Dan Winkless (billed as Daniel Owen) - Drooper (actor)
- Allan Melvin - Drooper, announcer, Banana Vac (voice)
- James "Jimmy" Dove - Snorky (actor, in Season 1 song segments)
- Don Messick - Snorky (voice)
- Robert Towers - Snorky (actor, in most other segments)
- Nick Shapoo - Child
NOTE #1: Although Snorky's voice often has been mistakenly credited to Don Messick, the character never actually spoke. Paul Winchell ( December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) born Pinkus Wilchinski (the family later shortened it to Wilchin) Daws Butler ( Charles Dawson Butler; November 16, 1916 – May 18, 1988) was a Voice actor born in Toledo, Allan Melvin ( February 18, 1923 - January 17, 2008) was an American Character actor who appeared in several television Donald "Don" Messick ( September 7, 1926 &ndash October 24, 1997) was one of the most prolific voice actors of the second half Donald "Don" Messick ( September 7, 1926 &ndash October 24, 1997) was one of the most prolific voice actors of the second half Messick did perform Drooper's voice in some portions of The Banana Splits In Hocus Pocus Park, with Allan Melvin voicing the character in other scenes).
NOTE #2: Jeffrey, Terry, and Dan Winkless are brothers, the sons of N. B. Winkless Jr. , a jingle writer for the show's sponsor, Kellogg's. Winkless composed some of the memorable Kellogg's cereal jingles, including "The best to you each morning," and also co-wrote (with Hoyt Curtin) "The Beautiful Calliopa," a song used on the series. The actors' names were changed in the show's credits to avoid the appearance of nepotism (Jeffrey Winkless died of cancer at age 65 on June 26, 2006). Nepotism is the showing of favoritism toward relatives and friends based upon that relationship rather than on an objective evaluation of ability Meritocracy or suitability Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled
NOTE #3: Ironically, James Dove, the original Snorky, was previously a voice-over artist. He was hired as a result of his small stature, and has stated that he was fired as a result of not being able to get along with the Winkless "kids". Jimmy resented the nepotism in the industry. James Dove currently suffers from end-stage Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease or PD) is a degenerative disorder of the Central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's He lives in assisted care in Los Angeles. Dan Winkless currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
DVD release
Earl Kress, a reputable source in the animation industry who holds close ties with the Hanna-Barbera crew, posted on his blog that The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was tentatively scheduled to be released on DVD in 2007. After further research had been done on available master materials needed to reconstruct the shows for proper DVD release, the project was cancelled. [1]
References
External links
- Banana Splits at the Internet Movie Database
- Banana Splits at TV.com
- Doin' The Banana Split! featuring interviews with the original cast
- Nostalgia Central
- Banana Splits site
- Puppet Wikia: Banana Splits
- Banana Splits' music
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