Banana Splits ??? (Still planned for 2007?) (1 Viewer)

[Mark Y]

Haven't heard any further details beyond the announcement of several Hanna-Barbera shows (including Wally Gator, Quick Draw McGraw, another season of Scooby-Doo, Banana Splits and several others) which were being "tentatively planned" for DVD release by WB in 2007.

I know Earl Kress made one remark on his weblog that one thing against "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" (correct original title of the show) being released is the current state of the original elements, and he said the show "is going to be very difficult to piece back together."

The "Splits" having been my favorite show as a child, that statement kind of scares me a little (especially in light of how other H-B shows have come out on DVD with key elements lost or missing...or in some ways worse yet, still in some archive somewhere but with the compilers not willing to make the effort to find it).

I've heard they "can't find" the original Season 1 show opening and closing credits. I've stated this publicly before...I have this in 16mm and they are welcome to it. (Let's give Richard "Superman/Lethal Weapon" Donner rightful credit for directing the entire show--apart from the cartoons--not just "Danger Island.") I also have some "Quick Draw McGraw" interstitials in 16mm. They are welcome to that too. So far no one has approached me, and it's not a big deal, but seeing how "Magilla Gorilla" went out with no show opening or closing at all, and "Huckleberry Hound" had some segments which they had to copy from multi-generation VHS tape dubs...if I can help in some small way to make any of these releases better, then by all means I want to volunteer to do that...they don't even have to pay me.

I have compiled a pretty thorough episode guide for "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour," with full run-downs of at least the Season 1 shows, and an attempt to reconstruct Season 2 with TV Guide listings and original scripts. The Season 2 portion is still a work in progress...but if the folks trying to do these DVDs want to refer to this list....if it helps in any way to get it right...here's the link:

http://bananasplits.4t.com/EpisodeGuideMain.html

The site also has a link to a video clip (from a Brazilian site) of the original Season 1 opening. I have it in better quality than that, on an original film print.

 

[Mick Tees]

That's great Mark! I too am a BIG fan of the Splits. I hope they get in touch with you and tap into the wealth of information and archival footage that you have.

The more this set is like the original the better, just like we remember watching it growing up in the 1970's.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Fa la la, fa la la la...

I loved this show as a kid, which I lump in with memories of JP Patches and his ICU2 TV, which I never got as a kid...

 

[James_S]

I also loved this show also. I remember wanting to go on a big slide and play around like in ti opening. But never got a chance.

Nice looking site Mark!


PS: February 2008 will mark the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of The J.P. Patches Show!

 

[Mark Y]

Well, it's "Tra La La," but that's OK...

I've not seen "JP Patches." Is that a local show?

 

[Mark Y]

Thanks for the compliment on the site. It was down for a few years because of some issues with the server...I'm trying to put it all back together and add a lot of stuff, including a lot of the original scripts for the "lost episodes." Still working on it, trying to clean it up and make it more readable and accessible.

The amusement park scenes in the show opening were filmed at Coney Island in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was closed down in the early 1970s. However, a lot of the attractions were moved to King's Island (where the costumed characters could be seen walking around in suits for a number of years after the show ended, though I'm told they are long gone now). The big slide seen in the show opening also was there, but it's been gone for a while too. "The Banana Splits In Hocus Pocus Park" was filmed at King's Island.

 

[Mark Y]

I'm with you on that...but if your memory is of the 70s version, that's the chopped up version. Which ironically, is the version most people probably remember.

I really wish WB would ask someone to look these DVD sets over before they get released. Someone familiar with the shows would spot the mistakes immediately. Like releasing something called "The Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour: The Complete Series," with a few lines quoted from the original theme song on the back cover, and then on the DVDs are the cut-down half-hour episodes of "The Scooby-Doo Show" and "Dynomutt Dog Wonder," and the "Dynomutt" shows are mysteriously three minutes shorter than the "Scooby Doo" shows. I shake my head at this...but if I were a big Scooby fan, I'd be pretty disappointed.

Other things found on the WB Hanna-Barbera DVD sets include:

"Wacky Races"
Each half-hour is cut into two separate "episodes" (each original show had two cartoon storylines), each with a separate show opening and show closing. The mid-show commercial interstitial is on the set, from 16mm, but it's an "Easter Egg."

"Huckleberry Hound" and "Yogi Bear"
A serious effort was made to recreate the original shows with the long-unseen interstitials, and I am very grateful to the team for their work on this. However, somewhere along the way, a lot of the original masters were lost, along with records of which segments were in which shows. The "Huckleberry Hound" DVD set has all the cartoons (from Season 1) on the set separately, with long theatrical-style opening credits for most of them (this is not how they originally aired, but they were seen this way in reruns, and I consider it more complete). To maintain a semblance of the original running order, the first twelve cartoons are repeated later on in the set, and then some of the first half-hour episodes are reonstructed...some from original color masters, some in B&W, some from 16mm, and some from multi-generation tape dubs. Some of the segments are in the right original episodes and some aren't. Some are in the right sequence and some aren't. The show closings are "freeze-framed" towards the end to eliminate the Screen Gems name, and the effect is jarring. Some vintage Kellogg's commercials are inserted into the first episode (mostly from a home tape source), but they clearly are from a later time. Other interstitials are added on a separate menu. With the repeated cartoons on the main discs along with the "reconstructed" shows, the first twelve cartoons appear on the set three times each. I am very grateful to have this material and the set stands proudly on my shelf next to "Yogi Bear" and "Magilla Gorilla." I applaud the efforts to assemble this. But it's so sad that with the H-B library having changed hands so often down the years, that a lot of material got lost in the process. I even read (I don't know this myself) that when the current owner of the H-B library took posession of the original elements, they threw away all the black and white master material...including the original half-hour show masters as originally aired...and unfortunately, that was the only master material for a lot of the interstitials, which now had to be sourced from tape dupes. Also, even though they did have superior color 35mm masters for a lot of the segments, the original show masters could have been used to identify which segments went with which shows.

So I reiterate.....knowing the above, if I can help in any way...if I can provide them with any material they don't have...even if they DON'T REALIZE they don't have it and DON'T REALIZE the versions they have are not as originally aired, or DON'T REALIZE that "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" did indeed run two seasons...I want to do whatever I can to help them make these sets the best they possibly can be.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I figured I was wrong on the Fas or Tras, oh well that's the 50/50/90 law at work - if there's a 50/50 chance, 90% of the time you'll choose the wrong one.

I commend your enthusiasm to try to make any Splits release as complete as possible, and hope you are taken up on the offer. It's been a few years since I watched it (probably the '70s version). I wouldn't be surprised if this show was one of my first incentives to join a band - I wanted to be the drummer...

AFAIK JP Patches was aired out of Seattle, which I would have watched here in Canada on KVOS (I think - again that was a while ago). Was anyone else confused by the ICU2 TV?

 

[Mark Lx]

Of all the unreleased shows I'm interested in (there aren't many actually), the Banana Splits is the one I most look forward to. I don't know if I saw the original "Adventure Hour". I know I watched at least as early as 1969/70, because we had hand puppets of the characters (came in cereal boxes) when I was in play-school (kindergarten). I already knew the characters at that time. I also remember seeing all the serials and cartoons listed on the "Adventure Hour" at some time or another.

Oh, and J.P. Patches was a Seattle show on a Seattle station (I'm in Victoria). He showed cartoons. It followed or preceeded Romper Room in the late 60s and ran at least a few years into the 70s.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

In looking at your website, I'm pretty sure I saw this when it originally aired, as I recognize the S1 opening and the Jack Wild appearance (also watched Pufnstuf back then). It would be cool to revisit this show again.

I don't remember Romper Room much, but the Splits, Friendly Giant, JP Patches, Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Dressup were all parts of my childhood (along with Sesame Street and Electric Company later on). I can't say that any of the more recent productions I've seen live up to their quality.

 

[Mick Tees]

Ok we have to play the hand were delt... we're not going to get any more Sid & Marty Krofft releases for the time being but what about The Banana Splits?

Has anyone heard anything about this classic recently?

 

[RoyM]

I read somewhere online (and I can't recall now, so don't know how authoritative the source was) that the original masters of the Banana Splits shows were in very bad shape and Warner Brothers wasn't sure if it was even worth it to restore them. The story was that WB had supposedly only postponed the rumored plans for release for now, but it seemed pretty dim that they would revisit a possible release given the expense and tiny potential market for a DVD of the show.

 

[Mark Y]

Here's the deal on the Banana Splits, from what I've been told:

Somewhere down the line, the original masters of the shows were all chopped up into separate segments. The Hanna-Barbera archives are said to be in terrible shape, and a huge mess, making it very difficult to find anything. (See some of the existing Hanna-Barbera DVD sets for evidence of this.) Supposedly, they do have the majority of the footage from the series in 35mm, but the shows themselves would have to be reassembled into the correct running order, which is a big project requiring research as to what goes where, etc.

There are two sets of extant masters for the Season 1 shows (#1-18). They have a set of 16mm film prints, which were made for foreign syndication. These versions also have the original opening and closing title footage. WB could just release these film prints as is, but then people would be screaming about how they're unrestored, unremastered, etc.

The other source is a set of one-inch video masters (copied in the late 1980s from two-inch Quad masters, which no longer exist). I have seen dubs of these and the quality is good, but as Earl Kress has pointed out, there is occasional color banding on some of the shows, particularly noticeable when there is a lot of red in the image. The other thing with the video masters is that they are different edits of the shows, used for reruns late in the NBC run. The first show has the first few minutes completely replaced with other footage from other episodes. The openings, closings and bumpers are from Season 2, and some of the Banana Vac one-liners are spliced in from Season 2 shows also.

Season 2 itself (shows #19-31) is presently MIA. I am assuming the footage exists (a few clips showed up in the "Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits" music video special) but if it does, it would be among the chopped-up 35mm segments, and good luck reassembling those into the correct format. (The Banana Splits segments were all new and all different from Season 1, but the cartoons and "Danger Island" were all repeats, which could possibly explain why those episodes were never syndicated.)

The easy way out would be to just use the half-hour "Banana Splits And Friends" cutdowns that air on Boomerang. (The versions shown on Boomerang are remastered and reassembled, largely from 35mm material. This was done back in the early 1990s and in their wisdom, they chose to reconstruct the half-hour cut-downs instead of the original one-hour versions, and still didn't include any Season 2 material.) As a huge lifelong fan of the show, I am relieved that they didn't decide to go with this option, because there still would be a few minutes missing from each show, the theme song is ruthlessly butchered, and at the end of the day, this is not the original show as originally aired...anyone who wants a set of these versions can record them from Boomerang.

At this point, I'd be happy if they just used the 16mm one-hour prints and put them out as close to the original format as possible.

http://bananasplits.4t.com

 

[Mick Tees]

I'm totally bummed... I thought for sure this series would come out on DVD and now it's sounds like it may not happen at all. Between this news and the Krofft series releases in limbo it's not a good week for TV Shows on DVD.

 

[Corey3rd]

at least they still run the 30 minute cut of the Banana Splits on Boomerang.

 

[Mick Tees]

I know the purists wouldn't like it but I would rather see watered down 30 minute cuts compiled into some kind of set versus nothing at all.

According to sources on this board there's only season one that could be put into a complete season set, season two is missing.

 

[Corey3rd]

season 2 isn't much of a season. It's not like they came up with new songs. It's just a few new bits with the Splits. the second season elements should be bonus features.

although having seen them all on Boomerang, if the DVD consisted of only Danger Island and the Splits, I'd be more than happy.

 

[Scooter]

Believe it or not, I saw the "Live"...many years ago. Took my sister's kids to The Papermill Playhouse and they performed their "hits"!

Funny...I was remembering that show a day ago....

 

[Mark Y]

Actually, more than "a few new bits." I have a collection of original Season 2 scripts, and they fill a three-inch-thick binder (and it's not even complete). All the live-action with the Splits was newly-produced for Season 2 (except, as noted above, the song segments, which were probably repeats). And the new segments were all different from the recurring features in the first season.

I agree that the best way to approach these would be to use them as bonus features on the DVDs (that is, if the footage can be located). Especially since all indications are that if they are extant, they exist in the form of the individual segments anyway. (This would be a great selling point for a DVD set too...this footage has not been seen in 37 years!)

In case anyone's interested (any lurkers with access to WB's Hanna-Barbera archives?), here is a list of the Season 2 scripts. (Disclaimer: "Coach Bingo" was a Season 2 recurring segment, but I don't have any scripts for it.) As you'll see, certain segments (such as "The Great Fleegali" and "Super Drooper") were featured in every show, and others rotated from one week to the next. The scripts are grouped together according to the individual show segments and I assume that's the way they were filmed. (The numbers definitely do not reflect the running order. If I know which show a segment appeared in, it's in parentheses after the title.)

"Banana Vac Gags" (Numbered B. V. #7 through B. V. #18)
(This is the guy on the wall who looks like a mounted moose head, who would pop in with a one-liner here and there.) (#1-6 were renumbered as "Wall Gags," see below)

"Club Opening"
(The opening segment at the top of the show where Fleegle calls the meeting to order. This was a little more streamlined in Season 2. The Sour Grapes Bunch do not appear, and these segments follow a pretty standard format, with the Splits reviewing a different rule in the "Banana Splits Code Of Conduct" each week.)
C. O. #1 (Beachballs)
C. O. #2 (Oak leaf)
C. O. #3 (Balloons)
C. O. #4 (Pin)
C. O. #5 (Duck call)
C. O. #6 (Paper)
C. O. #7 (Ring)
C. O. #8 (Flower)
C. O. #9 (Pocket)
C. O. #10 (Bounce)
C. O. #11 (Cotton)
C. O. #12 (Foam)
C. O. #13 (Funny)

"Club Closing" (End of the show segment)
C. C. #1 (A good note)
C. C. #2 (Banana with wheels)
C. C. #3 (A motion)
C. C. #4 (In good taste)
C. C. #5 (Running late)
C. C. #6 (Lost gavel)
C. C. #7 (Wind up)
C. C. #8 (Rousing cheer)
C. C. #9 (Let's hear it)
C. C. #10 (Say "something")
C. C. #11 (Salute)
C. C. #12 (A little order)
C. C. #13 (Cards & letters)

"Cuckoo Clock" (Just a short punch-in with the cuckoo like in Season 1)
C. U. C. #1 (Sixteen o'clock)
C. U. C. #2 (Tea time)
C. U. C. #3 (Tickle time)
C. U. C. #4 (Silly time)
C. U. C. #5 (Nap time)
C. U. C. #6 (Hop on one foot)
C. U. C. #7 (Fall on your face)
C. U. C. #8 (Headache time)
C. U. C. #9 (Jumping time)
C. U. C. #10 (Running time)
C. U. C. #11 ("Muggy")
C. U. C. #12 (Bandage your nose)
C. U. C. #13 (Time to get up)
C. U. C. #14 (Time to go to bed)
C. U. C. #15 (Four gongs)

"Dresser Drawer" (Kind of like the familiar "Take out the trash" bits)
D. D. #1 (Nail the drawer)
D. D. #2 (Tail caught)
D. D. #3 (Alternating drawers and long drawer)
D. D. #4 (Flying towel)
D. D. #5 (The camping trip -- long drawer)
D. D. #6 (Rubber ball)
D. D. #7 (Ping pong)
D. D. #8 (The magic knobs)
D. D. #9 (Stacked towels)
D. D. #10 (Out the window)
D. D. #11 (Serpent)

"Exercising" segments
EX. #1 (Barbell)
EX. #2 (Up-Down)
EX. #3 (Legs Up)

"Fan Letters" (This took the place of "Dear Drooper" in the second season)
F. L. #1 (Training wheels)
F. L. #2 (Fall down)
F. L. #3 (One of the bunch)
F. L. #4 (Skate key)
F. L. #5 (Snorky blows bubbles)
F. L. #6 (Banana peelings)
F. L. #7 (Little Kong)
F. L. #8 (Fanletter)
F. L. #9 (Trunk of bananas)
F. L. #10 (Favorite Banana Split) (Show #26)
F. L. #11 (Zipper banana)
F. L. #12 (Drooper's tail)
F. L. #13 (Who can rap the gavel)
F. L. #14 (Snorky's peanuts)

"Fan Letters To Super Drooper"
F. L. S. D. #1 (More powerful than*a locomotive)
F. L. S. D. #2 (Baby Drooper)
F. L. S. D. #3 (Cannon ball)

"The Great Fleegali" (Magic with Fleegle and his assistant, Snorky)
G. F. #1 (Disappearing cloth)
G. F. #2 (Pocket watch) (Show #22)
G. F. #3 (Tablecloth pull)
G. F. #4 (Handcuffs)
G. F. #5 (Rope escape)
G. F. #6 (Magic goldfish)
G. F. #7 (Magic rope)*(Show #28)
G. F. #8 (Change heads)
G. F. #9 (The mind reader)
G. F. #10 (The bunny rabbit)
G. F. #11 (Magic bananas)
G. F. #12 (Colored silks)
G. F. #13 (Milk bottle)

"Mailbox"
M. B. #1 (Gavel)
M. B. #2 (Long handle gavel)
M. B. #3 (Serpent)
M. B. #4 (Bowling ball)
M. B. #5 (Birthday) (Show #30)
M. B. #6 (Moby Dick)
M. B. #7 (Phono record) (Show #29)
M. B. #8 (Chain letter)
M. B. #9 (Boxing lessons)
M. B. #10 (Ski lessons)
M. B. #11 (Cream pie)

"Miscellaneous Gags"
MISC. #1 (Fishing in picture)
MISC. #2 (The frog)
MISC. #3 (Tug of war with doubles)
MISC. #4 (Two tug of wars)
MISC. #5 (The dentist)
MISC. #6 (The barber) (Show #24)
MISC. #7 (Pickle jar)
MISC. #8 (Invisible basketball)
MISC. #9 (Homework)
MISC. #10 (The serpent at the door)

"Nursery Rhymes"
NR #1 (Hickory dickory dock)
NR #2 (Four & twenty blackbirds)
NR #3 (Peter Peter pumpkin eater)

"The Radio"
RAD. #1 (The home run)
RAD. #2 (Weather report)
RAD. #3 (Newscast)

"Safety Hints"
S. H. #1 (Swing)
S. H. #2 (Hammer and nail)
S. H. #3 (The ladder)

"School Time"
S. T. #1 (Hippopatamus) (sic)
S. T. #2 (The train)
S. T. #3 (Mississippi)
S. T. #4 (Distance between L. A. and N. Y.)
S. T. #5 (Spell Saskatchewan) (Show #19)
S. T. #6*(Patrick Henry)
S. T. #7 (Subtracting apples)
S. T. #8 (Joplin-Chicago-North Pole)

"Super Drooper"
S. D. #1 (Innertube inflater)
S. D. #2 (Trash tipper) (Show #22)
S. D. #3 (Blasts)
S. D. #4 (Steam roller sneak) (Show #23)
S. D. #5 (Banana bandit)
S. D. #6 (Feather filcher)
S. D. #7 (Fish net nabber) (Show #25)
S. D. #8 (The home run) (Show #24)
S. D. #9 (Window slammer)
S. D. #10 (Pickle puncher)
S. D. #11 (Clothes clutcher) (Show #21)
S. D. #12 (Rodeo roper)
S. D. #13 (Two Super Droopers) (Show #31)

"Wall Gags" segments (73) (They had a "gag wall" like on "Laugh-In;" in fact, the shows shared a couple of writers)

 

[Corey3rd]

but that sounds like a little more than a hour of screen time which is why such material would do better as bonus feature. They can split it up so it's evenly run over the 4 DVDs.

I do know enough middle aged folks who would buy this set just so they can finally see Danger Island in order.