BANANA SPLITS

'''The Banana Splits Adventure Hour''', syndicated as '''The Banana Splits and Friends Show''', was an hour-long American 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. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; the Banana Splits characters were designed by Sid and Marty Krofft; the series' sponsor was Kellogg's Cereals.

Contents

Television series

Season 1

Season 2

Syndication and cable

Music

Cast

DVD release

Trivia

References

External links

Television series

The wraparounds featured the adventures of a musical quartet, meant to be reminiscent of The Beatles and The Monkees, consisting of 'Fleegle', a beagle; 'Bingo', a gorilla; 'Drooper', a lion, and 'Snorky' (called "Snork" in the theme song lyrics), an elephant. Fleegle would often assume the role as leader of the Banana Splits. The characters were played by actors in fleecy costumes similar to later Sid and Marty Krofft series such as ''H.R. Pufnstuf''. (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.)
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''. 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).
Some of the live action segments (specifically those used during the musical segments) were shot at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington (during the first season) and, the following year, at Coney Island located in Cincinnati. In many episodes you would see The Banana Splits riding on the Runaway Mine Train rollercoasters, Log Flumes, Bumper Cars, Merry-Go-Rounds, and many other rides. Contrary to popular misconception, the amusement park scenes in the original series actually were not filmed at Kings Island; Kings Island did not open until 1972, while 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. 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.
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. Also, Ronne Troup, who later joined the cast of ''My Three Sons'', played Leslie Haydn. (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.

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 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. 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". 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. 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. 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; this is the version that continues to air on Boomerang today). 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. 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. Unlike the television show, The Splits spent most of the film in animated form.

Music

Main articles: Banana Splits discography

The Banana Splits' bubblegum pop rock and roll was provided by studio professionals, including Al Kooper ("You're the Lovin' End"), Barry White ("Doin' the Banana Split"), and Gene Pitney ("Two Ton Tessie"). 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.)

Cast

★ Fleegle: actor: Jeffrey Winkless (as Jeffrey Brock); voice: Paul Winchell

★ Bingo: actor: Terrence Henry; voice: Daws Butler

★ Drooper: actor: Dan Winkless (as Daniel Owen); voice: Allan Melvin

★ Snorky: actor: James "Jimmy" Dove, later replaced by Robert Towers (Although Snorky's voice often has been mistakenly credited to Don Messick, the character never actually spoke. 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).
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. (Sadly, Jeff Winkless succumbed to cancer at age 65 on June 26, 2006.)
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. He lives in assisted care in Los Angeles.

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]

Trivia

The Banana Buggies were modified Amphicat 6x6 ATV's.^[2]
Costumes used for touring and personal appearances (not used in the show) appear to have been originally made by Scollon Productions, Inc.
Fleegle was the only character that did not wear eyeglasses.
Snorky was the only character that did not talk. He made a sound like a bicycle horn, the meaning of which was interpreted by the other characters. Multiple sets of costumes were created for the four Banana Splits; the last version of Snorky's costume (used primarily during Season 2) looked significantly different from the costume seen in earlier episodes. The "Season 2 versions" of the characters became the official models for licensed merchandise long after the original series ceased production.
The song "Wait Till Tomorrow" (written and sung by Ritchie Adams and Mark Barkan) appeared in two different episodes during the first season. On one airing (Show #7, first aired October 19, 1968) the footage was filmed in San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf area, which is frequented by tourists. The other airing's footage (Show #6, first telecast October 12, 1968) was shot at Six Flags Over Texas, most notably on the Log Flume and the rowboat attraction.
The group originally was to be called "The Banana Bunch," but legal concerns resulted in the name being changed to "The Banana Splits" before the show went on the air. (The name was already in use for a show airing in the UK.) This necessitated the scrapping of a sizable number of Kellogg's cereal boxes promoting the show.

References

1. http://www.mynameisearlkress.com/weblog/?p=151
2. http://www.route6x6.com/museum/Amphicat/acatphotos/acatpicts.html

External links

★ Doin' The Banana Split! featuring interviews with the original cast

★ Nostalgia Central

★ Banana Splits site

★ Puppet Wikia: Banana Splits

★ Banana Splits' music

★ The Dilly Sisters singing Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay (begins at 1:59)