Banana Splits Season 1 DVD September 21 (in the UK!)

Here is the latest report from The Banana Splits News (with Fleegle, "your Banana Splits reporter"): We finally have a BS DVD release, more or less, albeit in Britain! 8-)

Click here to dig further reports!

Now, if only we could have a release here in The States... :-)

Here are more details for the 6 disc set from the BBFC clearance

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/SearchClassifiedWorks/?SearchView&Query=%28%20[Title]%20contains%20%22BANANA%22_%29%20and%20[DatePassed]%20%3E=%2020/08/2009%20and%20%28%28%20[TypeOfMedia]%20contains%20Film%29%20OR%20%28%20[TypeOfMedia]%20contains%20Video%29%20OR%20%28%20[TypeOfMedia]%20contains%20DigitalMedia%29%20OR%20%28%20[TypeOfMedia]%20contains%20FilmAdvertisement%20OR%20FilmTrailer%29%20OR%20%28%20[TypeOfMedia]%20contains%20VideoAdvertisement%20OR%20VideoTrailer%29%29&SearchMax=500&SearchFuzzy=True

Richard Donner directed this?  Whoa....

I remember this as being very cheesy even when I was a kid.  Definitely in the Must Buy column for me.

I liked Liz Phair's cover version of the theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDwh9RoY1k

(um, there's no official video for it, this is someone's family photo album that just happens to use the song as background)

 Donner did the Danger Island serial. they shot it in Mexico.

Kinda disappointed that the boxset is nothing more than the syndication cuts - 6 DVDs? They could have had this on 4.

Richard Donner directed all the live-action in the first season, including the "Banana Splits" and "Danger Island" segments. The "Danger Island" segments were repeated in Season 2, and the new Banana Splits segments were done by a different director. The Season 2 closing credits were used on the syndicated half-hour cut-downs, so that gives the impression that Donner only directed "Danger Island." But he directed the Banana Splits too.

If it's true that this set is comprised of just the edited half-hours, that is indeed a major disappointment.

I received this DVD set last Friday and am working my way through it. The bad news is that these are indeed the half-hour edited versions -- not even the old syndicated half-hours, but the reconstructed Turner versions as currently seen on Boomerang. The good news is that the picture and sound quality are very good for the most part. But the set is subtitled "Complete Season 1," and it is clearly not that. (When I finish going through the shows, I'll add a list of the missing segments cut from these episodes, in case anyone's interested.) I believe all the "Danger Island" chapters are here, and nearly all the cartoons (although I recall that in the re-edited, re-mastered Turner copies, someone goofed and skipped one of the "Micro-Venture" cartoons and repeated another one twice -- I'll have to see if that's been fixed). All the missing parts are live-action routines with the Banana Splits -- it amounts to a couple minutes cut from each show.

There are no extras at all -- although there is a menu feature that allows you to watch just the Banana Splits segments and skip the cartoons and "Danger Island." I think this disc space could have been put to much better use if they had included the missing skits with the Banana Splits that were cut from these episodes -- or even whatever Season 2 Banana Splits segments they still have (since the cartoons and "Danger Island" were all repeats in the second season.

I am glad to at least have all the songs in great quality (certainly better than my old off-air tapes), although annoyingly, sometimes the beginning of a song (first few notes or so) are chopped, since these shows were reassembled from separate film segments back in the early 1990s for Cartoon Network. I really wish that while they were doing that, they would have reconstructed the full one-hour versions as well. Speaking of songs, fans looking forward to hearing the classic "Tra La La Song" theme will be disappointed -- the song is severely chopped up in these syndication/cable edits. Also worth mentioning, Richard Donner directed both the "Banana Splits" and "Danger Island" segments in the first season, but because these shows use the Season 2 credits, Donner is only credited for "Danger Island."

I would really like to see Warner Archive release a set of the complete one-hour shows. Even if the quality is not as good and they aren't restored, at least they'd be available.

I'm still glad I have the set, but it could have been so much better...