Return of The Banana Splits

[TeamFX]

This just in, direct from Warner Bros. Online (http://www.warnerbros.com).

This fall, The Banana Splits debut in all-new comedy shorts and music videos on Cartoon Network and Boomerang as step one of a multi-platform release from Warner Bros. Consumer Products that includes a new website (www.bananasplits.com), music, music videos, iTunes releases and a live show at Hard Rock Park in South Carolina.

Go Bananas at www.bananasplits.com (http://www.bananasplits.com)

On a related note, let me be the first to wish the Splits all the best in celebration of the big Four-0 this year. Rock on, guys.

:cool:

[Mandouga]

I'm not so sure this is a good idea for Boomerang. To me, this indicates that the Cartoon Network is considering expanding Boomerang's lineup to include original programming based on the H-B legacy. It's possible that this could be the kiss of death for BOOM. Would this lead to full-length (meaning half hour) original programming for BOOM (don't answer that, because there isn't an answer just yet)? If so, it could ultimately lead to making the channel ad-supported. If that were to happen at this point, BOOM could be left at the mercy of certain other people who might want the channel to be refocused to what those certain people perceive to be a "younger audience", not taking into account that viewers born 10 years ago might like and enjoy these classic programs. One thing could lead to another and BOOM could end up being no different than the current TOON is now. Further, this could tie-in with TOON also considering the idea of replacing BOOM with a completely new network with its own format and programming (i.e., this Banana Splits "revival"--such as it is--could be an indication of both possibilities), which I hope doesn't happen.

For these reasons among others, I've decided that I'm going to take a "wait and see" approach to this. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the "too good to be true" analogy may or may not apply here; there might be some sort of "catch" to all this.

[dth1971]

I know there will be a Banana Splits tour in 2009. Maybe a new music CD too?

[Nexonius]

I'm very impressed by the return of TBS. Finally, a relaunch of old H-B stars, even though it's Live Action.

[ZumbidoMetal]

I wouldn't over analysis this. The synergy just isn't there for this to have much effect on the future of Boomerang.

[Nexonius]

I wouldn't over analysis this. The synergy just isn't there for this to have much effect on the future of Boomerang.

Plus, it's based on a old Hanna-Barbera series, and that's not bad.

[hobbyfan]

Ya know, I had a vision about reviving the Splits to mark the 40th anniversary. Contrary to what some people are thinking, original programming for Da Boom might be a good thing, as long as it's confined to retaining and preserving the legacy of the classic characters, instead of distorting that legacy to suit certain groups of fanboys (yeah, I'm talking to you clowns at Williams St.).

Reviving action shows like Space Ghost & Birdman, discarding the Adult Swim treatments of those characters, would fit nicely on Da Boom. It just depends on who is in charge.

[Blackstar]

I know that some people hate the idea of Boomerang getting any kind of original programming, but if a Banana Splits revival will grab the Boom some viewers, I say, why not? It certainly can't make things any worse for the Boom.

My only real issue with a "new" Banana Splits is that, sadly, it will never be quite the same without the vocal talents of Paul Winchell and Daws Butler, who have both since passed on.

[Doyng]

Too bad I wasn't born around the early 60's to see the Splits in their glory. All I've seen was the butchered up episodes from CN since the 90's. No doubt, I would've enjoyed this if I was around in '68 ('76 was my debut year in the world).

The Banana Splits had jokes, music, fun and some adventurous shows (by today's standards, the cartoon segments, excluding left-overs from The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, would be rated Y7 for scary/fictional violence). At it's 40th birthday, the gang is still funny and charming. Thank You, Daws, Paul, and Allan for a job well done on the voices. RIP :sweat:

As for the new version, I love it. It keeps the spirit of the original series, with a few changes of course.

[Rick Jones]

I wonder if they can get Richard Donner back on board to direct something :D

Seriously, will this be an all new show or just shorts and music videos like we see a lot of on Boomerang anyway ?

Because either way, it's gonna be all cool to me

(btw Boomerang, it wouldn't hurt to see more Ruby Spears, Filmation or shows made before 1996 :evil:)

[BandRecord]

Hm... I'm not so sure this will be any good, they should have just let the original bask in its glory. I hope it doesn't turn into one of those highly anticipated events that become so popular that most people think it's the original.

[Mickialla]

Wait.... they're making NEW shorts based on an H-B property to air not only on Boom, but on Cartoon Network too??? A show that hasn't been seen or mentioned on the network in ages is coming back with new shorts??? Amazing. I didn't CN had it in 'em. You're sure this isn't only for Boomerang, right?? Because if the shorts are airing on CN proper too, then we could be seeing the same thing with other H-B properties.

[Mandouga]

Um, I hope that doesn't happen, actually. As I said before, this could possibly lead into Boomerang expanding it's lineup to include original programming, which would be the "kiss of death" I mentioned in my first post in this thread.

[greg!]

I love that they are trying to keep the characters alive. They seem to be as true to the original as possible. I will miss Paul Winchell the most because of that great laugh. I hope this is a trend. I would love to see updates of other shows.

[judyindisguise]

I actually know about the Splits, because my mom was a member of the fan club. She had a banner and some kind of club book she sent off for. I've told her of their revival, and she says that her big question about the show was how come Snorky (the elephant) got a shave? He used to be fuzzy, then suddenly he lost his hair! And her fave character was Drooper, the lion. She says she had a thing about lions when she was a kid. All her friends were into horses, but she liked lions. So anyway, personally I'm not surprised the Banana Splits are coming back, not because I like them (don't know much about them, frankly) but because everything in pop culture seems to get resurrected eventually. :shrug:

[Mr.Penguin]

Has anyone seen the new ad for this on CN? It just played after Wakko's Wish. It had a pretty long clip of them answering joke fan mail. It looks...exactly like the old show! :eek: ...:D

[Rick Jones]

Has anyone seen the new ad for this on CN? It just played after Wakko's Wish. It had a pretty long clip of them answering joke fan mail. It looks...exactly like the old show! :eek: ...:DIs that the one where they get flooded with "E-mail" ?

I think I saw that a couple of weeks ago

[Mr.Penguin]

Yeah, that's probably the one. The voices sound off, but it seems they got everything else down perfect. I think this looks pretty good; hopefully the other segments will be too.

[Mark The Shark]

I actually know about the Splits, because my mom was a member of the fan club. She had a banner and some kind of club book she sent off for. I've told her of their revival, and she says that her big question about the show was how come Snorky (the elephant) got a shave? He used to be fuzzy, then suddenly he lost his hair!

The Snorky character as seen in the new stuff is based on the later redesign of Snorky as seen in the second season...this is probably why that look seems unfamiliar (the Season 2 shows have not been shown in reruns since the original network run). The later set of costumes are seen in the show opening and closing on Boomerang (it's the Season 2 opening and closing cut down for Season 1 reruns). The later character designs also appear in the next-to-last show of the first season (the "buggy race" one). For many years, the later costume designs were used for almost all of the merchandising for the Splits (what little of it there was).

Last time they did a revival of the Splits (for the Web Premiere Toons a few years ago), they used the earlier (and now more familiar) version of Snorky.

I'm looking forward to seeing these new shorts...sounds interesting.

[Lavenderpaw]

I know there will be a Banana Splits tour in 2009. Maybe a new music CD too?

Isn't that that old costume show with the dogs?

[chdr]

Yep.

[Silverstar]

Isn't that that old costume show with the dogs?

Well, technically, only Fleagle (originally voiced by Paul Winchell) was a dog. The others were, respectively: a gorilla (Bingo), a lion (Drooper) and an elephant (Snorky).

[Old Guy]

They also need to bring back Danger Island.

[Mark The Shark]

They also need to bring back Danger Island.

How might that work...send Professor Hayden, Leslie and Link on another journey and have them encounter the same band of pirates 40 years later? Wonder what Morgan would be doing these days...I know what Chongo is doing, he coordinates stunts for movies...

[Rick Jones]

They also need to bring back Danger Island.that would be fun

especially if they don't play up the camp and make it pretty straightforward

They'd never do it

[Old Guy]

How might that work...

Re-start? :confused: Although it would be great if they brought back Richard Donner as ATLEAST a consultant.

[Mandouga]

After giving it careful thought, I personally would recommend against watching these new Banana Splits shorts at this time for two reasons:

1. Watching them on the Cartoon Network could be sending the message that we are okay with live-action on the Cartoon Network.

2. Watching them on Boomerang could be sending the message that we are okay with the Cartoon Network expanding Boomerang's lineup to include non-classic, original programming, which as I mentioned in a previous post could be the kiss of death for the network for the reasons described in said post.

Now before anyone mentions the original 1968 show, that is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with these new shorts whatsoever.

With that out of the way, it is my personal opinion that these shorts could actually be "test-marketing" for a possible full Banana Splits series. Further, Cartoon Network may actually WANT to show live-action on their network even though they KNOW us viewers are against it. While, and at the same time, TOON is seriously considering expanding Boomerang's lineup to include the aforementioned original programming, with the additional possibility of maybe even relaunching Boomerang as a completely different network with its own format and programming; a "Cartoon Network 2" of sorts.

If these shorts had been made made say, six years ago or so, then I would have watched them in a minute, but the fact that TOON started to show live-action programming in the first place (again the '68 show is irrelevant) simply shows that the network has no integrity, and for that reason are actually in favor of rebranding themselves as a general entertainment channel.

If they had been bumpers leading into and out of commercials or some context like that, that would be different, but these are standalone shorts designed to be shown as filler in between programs, and I think that watching these could be sending the wrong message to the Cartoon Network: a message I believe they hope to actually hear, but that's another story...

Although most of what I've said is speculation based on my personal intuition, one thing remains clear: we need to send the message that Cartoon Network is for cartoons, and that Boomerang is for (and I can't stress this enough) classic cartoons. As far as Boomerang is concerned, I don't know about anybody else, but while I personally would like Boomerang to have a little more variety, I am against taking the easy way out in order to do it.

And I really wanted to see these shorts too...

[Jave]

The way I see it, if someone REALLY wants to watch something and it's right there on TV, then I say go ahead and watch it.

Unless you have Nielsen, CN doesn't care about what you watch, regardless of your age.

[Old Guy]

1. Watching them on the Cartoon Network could be sending the message that we are okay with live-action on the Cartoon Network.

I said it once and I'll say it again. Turner messed up when he called the channel Cartoon Network. It just gives people an excuse to complain. The reality is that CN is a kids channel just like Nick and Disney. And, live-action is not only part of kids programming but it's the most popular at the moment. If CN wants to catch up it has to air live-action.

[Eric B]

Well, when Turner first launched it, he probably did not envision far into the future having to change the format to compete with Nick or Disney or others. He envisioned a network with both classic and new cartoons ("World Premiere Toons" was mentioned by him even before the station launched; when he was describing the proposed channel, though the new toons didn't arrive for about 3 years).

So at first, the idea works, but the new cartoons become popular, and he devotes more of the network to those; then, anime is demanded as well. The classic cartoons are crowded out, and a new network is formed for them. Then, apparently the other channels with mix of cartoons and live action become more popular, and they change further to compete.
all of that could not have been foreseen in order to not name it Cartoon Network. It was like an experiemt, that worked for a while, but then had to be changed.

I as much as anyone else dislike the contradictions, and I think the solution would be to rename this network, and perhaps move "CN" to what is now Boomerang.

[Old Guy]

Well, when Turner first launched it, he probably did not envision far into the future having to change the format to compete with Nick or Disney or others.

The reality is that live-action programs are nothing new. In the `90s, Nick had Clarissa, Salute Your Shorts, Pete & Pete, etc. And Disney had stuff like Kids, Inc and MMC. In addition, in 1993 we got the Power Rangers which was the biggest show for a few years.

The reality is that Turner started CN because he didn't have enough space on TNT Toons and TBS Disaster Zone to put his library of cartoons.

That's what CN was initally.

[Steve Carras]

The reality is that live-action programs are nothing new. In the `90s, Nick had Clarissa, Salute Your Shorts, Pete & Pete, etc. And Disney had stuff like Kids, Inc and MMC. .

Which goes all the way back to 1955!:D Aneete Funnicello, anyone? "A-Meeska, Moosk-a a Mouse-kartoon for you and me".And , syndicated (though on Disney-owned KHJ TV in L.A.), "Swans Crossing".(WITH Sarah michelle Gellar)!

[Old Guy]

Which goes all the way back to 1955!:D Aneete Funnicello, anyone?

And let's not forget Zorro.

[Tobias]

These shorts are now airing on CN. Thoughts?

Personally, I don't care for them. Whoever they got to replace Paul Winchell.. is NO Paul Winchell. The voice just doesn't do it for me. It's a pale imitation of what should essentially be Tigger.

[Dr. Zin]

Being cable-challenged, I haven't seen the new Splits material at all; then again, I was only a marginal Splits fan back in the original day.

That said, the Krofft-verse live action shows really were/are a core component of the Saturday morning kids' experience back then, even given that many of them were cheesy enough to support entire pizzeria chains, and I can't find it in my heart to be too upset about that sort of live material showing up on a "cartoon channel".

And in any case, my immediate question isn't actually about the Splits themselves. What I want to know is this: if they're bringing back the Banana Splits, can a revival of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp be far behind?

[hobbyfan]

The reality is that live-action programs are nothing new. In the `90s, Nick had Clarissa, Salute Your Shorts, Pete & Pete, etc. And Disney had stuff like Kids, Inc and MMC. In addition, in 1993 we got the Power Rangers which was the biggest show for a few years.

The reality is that Turner started CN because he didn't have enough space on TNT Toons and TBS Disaster Zone to put his library of cartoons.

That's what CN was initally.

Kids Incorporated was originally a syndicated series that Disney picked up after its original run ended.

[hobbyfan]

And in any case, my immediate question isn't actually about the Splits themselves. What I want to know is this: if they're bringing back the Banana Splits, can a revival of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp be far behind?

Actually, they tried reviving Lance a few years back, but under a different name with different characters. You might've heard of a little something on TBS called the Chimp Channel. El floppo.