Few shows are remembered as fondly as The Banana Splits. Combining live-action, costumed hijinks, classical animation, and rock music with pre-teen psychedelic imagery at a breakneck pace, this show spoke to a new generation of TV babies – and they listened.
The Banana Splits themselves were an ersatz rock band made up of a dog (Fleegle), a lion (Drooper), a gorilla (Bingo), and a baby elephant (Snorky).
The band was designed to resemble The Monkees (who, in turn, were designed, of course, to resemble The Beatles), and they hosted the show by appearing in live-action bumpers between the programme’s segments.
Their songs were Tin Pan Alley’s Fab Four retreads. The classic I Enjoy Being A Boy included the I Am The Walrus-style verse “I live in a purple plum mansion/In the midst of a strawberry stream/And mellifluous bells ring out softly/from a hill of vanilla fudge cream”.
William Hanna and Joseph Barbera hired some of the best voices in the business: Paul Winchell (aka Dick Dastardly) supplied Fleegle’s drawl, while Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound) voiced Bingo. Snorky only ever honked but was officially voiced by Don Messick (something Messick has since denied).
Allan Melvin voiced Drooper, the guitar-playing lion who answered the mail.
The furry foursome usually appeared in “music videos” (before music videos were even a thing) showcasing their antics in theme parks or in short sketches filled with playful puns.
Q: What’s yellow and manages a baseball team? A: Yogi Banana!
The show resembled the prime-time comedy hit Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, with its frenetic pacing, psychedelic graphics, and short comedy blackout sketches mixed with longer episodic features.
The phrase “Hold the bus” was the sign for the Splits to behave as if they had been driven mad by a mailbox that wouldn’t give Fleegle the mail, a bin that wouldn’t accept Drooper’s trash, and the odious Sour Grape girls.
For many, the most memorable feature segment was Danger Island.
A live-action segment filmed on location, it featured the shipwrecked Professor Irwin Hayden (Frank Aletter) and his crew as they outran dangerous cannibal natives, killer animals, and murderous pirates, and was famous for the cry of “Uh-oh Chongo”.
The action-packed show featured a young man named Michael Vincent, who would become teen idol Jan-Michael Vincent, and many episodes were directed by Richard Donner, who later helmed the Lethal Weapon saga.
Another segment was The Three Musketeers, a cartoon based on the classic novel, with Porthos, Aramis, Athos, and young D’Artagnan duelling through various adventures in the service of their Queen.
A new character, Tooly, was added to serve as a link between children and the Musketeers, showing how exciting their adventures could be.
Led by Prince Turhan and Princess Nida, the Arabian Knights were an odd group of heroes who battled the evil Bakaar to try to recapture Turhan’s throne.
A shapeshifter named Bez (not the one from Happy Mondays!), Fariik the magician, and a strongman called Raseem were the three characters who assisted the royal duo through an array of adventures. Along for comic relief – and an occasional well-placed mule kick – was Zazuum the donkey.
The Micro Ventures used real microscopic life as a background. Professor Carter and his children, Jill and Tommy, were shrunk to microscopic size so they could examine cellular life from the cell’s point of view.
The threesome also ran across giant animals, birds and insects, often forcing them to speed away in their microscopic dune buggy.
Spawning a myriad of toys and games, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was a landmark moment in children’s TV, and the show heralded the new youth culture poised to invade the living room and helped shape an entire generation.
The series ran for 31 episodes on NBC Saturday mornings from 7 September 1968 to 5 September 1970, and in syndication from 1971 to 1982 under the title of The Banana Splits and Friends Show.
A 45-minute made-for-television film was produced in 1972 – The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park – featuring live-action sequences shot at Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio, with animation.
The film follows the Splits as they attempt to rescue a young girl named Susie (Michele Tobin) who has been kidnapped by a wicked witch (Joan Gerber).
Fleegle, Drooper, Bingo and Snorky were all instantly recognisable characters.
Unfortunately, anyone could wear those furry outfits – A painful truth soon discovered by the guys in the suits on the show – brothers Jeffrey, Terence, and Dan Winkless (Fleegle, Bingo, and Drooper, respectively) and Robert Towers (Snorky).
When the Splits staged their very own national US concert tour, local actors were hired instead to save fees and expenses.
Fleegle
Paul Winchell (voice)
Jeffrey Brock (suit) Bingo
Daws Butler (voice)
Terence Henry (suit) Drooper
Allan Melvin (voice)
Dan Owen (suit) Snorky
Don Messick (voice)
Jay Larremore (suit)
One banana, two banana, three banana, four
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.
Over hill and highway the banana buggies go
Coming on to bring you the Banana Splits show
Making up a mess of fun
Making up a mess of fun
Lots of fun for everyone
Tra la la, la la la la, Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la, Tra la la, la la la la
Four banana, three banana, two banana, one
All bananas playing in the bright warm sun
Flipping like a pancake, popping like a cork,
Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snork
Making up a mess of fun
Making up a mess of fun
Lots of fun for everyone
Tra la la, la la la la, Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la, Tra la la, la la la la
Two Banana, four banana, one banana, three Swinging like a bunch of monkeys hanging from a tree Hey there everybody won’t you come along and see How much like Banana Splits everyone can be
Making up a mess of fun
Making up a mess of fun
Lots of fun for everyone
Tra la la, la la la la, Tra la la, la la la la
Tra la la, la la la la, Tra la la, la la la la
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The Banana Splits themselves were an ersatz rock band made up of a dog (Fleegle), a lion (Drooper), a gorilla (Bingo), and a baby elephant (Snorky).
The phrase “Hold the bus” was the sign for the Splits to behave as if they had been driven mad by a mailbox that wouldn’t give Fleegle the mail, a bin that wouldn’t accept Drooper’s trash, and the odious Sour Grape girls.
Another segment was The Three Musketeers, a cartoon based on the classic novel, with Porthos, Aramis, Athos, and young D’Artagnan duelling through various adventures in the service of their Queen.
The series ran for 31 episodes on NBC Saturday mornings from 7 September 1968 to 5 September 1970, and in syndication from 1971 to 1982 under the title of The Banana Splits and Friends Show.
Fleegle, Drooper, Bingo and Snorky were all instantly recognisable characters.
