I have to admit that when I first heard about SYFY making The Banana Splits Movie my inner child was quite excited  but maybe also a little trepidatious, especially when I learned that it was being done as an R-rated horror movie. After all, the Banana Splits were originally the bizarre costumed hosts of a Hanna-Barbera anthology show meant for kids.
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour debuted in the late ’60s –right at the height of recreational drugs, mind you — and ran in syndication throughout the ’70s where impressional kids (like me) would be entertained by the hosts in between serialized cartoon and live action segments. Maybe it’s no surprise that the costumed creatures were a collaboration between William Hanna and Joseph Barbera along with Sid and Marty Krofft, whose costumed TV characters like H.R. Pufnstuf also helped entertain kids of the ’60s.
Personally, I loved the Danger Island adventure series that ran during the hour, and frankly, that might make a much better movie but anyway…
SYFY has now released the first trailer from this experiment, and man, it looks pretty weird.
You can see it for yourself below, but apparently, parents take their families to see “The Banana Splits Show” where they’re slaughtered by the Hanna-Barbera anthology show hosts, because let’s face it, they were always kinda scary.
The Banana Splits Movie is directed by Danishka Esterhazy (Level 16) from a screenplay by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, and let’s face it. The original movies that SYFY produces probably won’t be competing for Oscars (or Emmys) any time soon, as they’re meant to be entertaining B-movies you watch while sitting at home with nothing else to do.
Maybe that’s also why it will be available on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital, rather than showing on SYFY proper. (This also explains why it has a MPAA rating, rather than the typical TV rating.)
Check out the trailer below and let us know in the comments what you think. Have you seen the original TV show or do you only know the Banana Splits from their fairly recent appearance in DC Comics’ Hanna Barbera team-up comics?

6 COMMENTS

  1. I could whine about my childhood being ruined, but I’m a bit too old for that. (Yes, I saw “Banana Splits” when it was a new Saturday morning show.)

  2. This reminds me of when they did slasher movies with Santa Claus. I too remember the old show, and yes Danger Island was one of my favorite segments. Also any dance number with the Sour Grapes Bunch. This leave me cold, with no desire to see it.

  3. Some pieces of pop culture should be left in the past.
    Judging from the terrible reviews the new “Shaft” movie is getting, Shaft also belongs in the past.

  4. I only hope that this movie will show us how “Danger Island” was filmed in front of a live studio audience.

  5. I expect an “H.R. Pufnstuf” reboot where the characters sit in a crash pad, drop acid and listen to the Grateful Dead all day.

Comments are closed.