Filmed over seven weeks and produced essentially like a three hour film directed by Richard Donner (best known now for the 1978 “Superman” film; Donner also directed the first season Banana Splits wraparounds), it was split into 36 serialized segments for TV, each ending with a cliffhanger. The agency had just struck a deal with Kellogg’s to sponsor an entire weekly hour of programming on NBC, but still needed the content, so they began asking various studios for pitches. While the show only lasted two seasons on NBC, it had a lengthy life in syndication, albeit in a shortened half-hour form under the name The Banana Splits and Friends Show. Segments were also added and removed, with other segments from “Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel” included, as well as “The Adventures of Gulliver” and “The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, two series that had aired separately in syndication a few years earlier. The theme song “The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)” was written by Kellogg’s jingle writer N.B. Of course, the segments involving the costumed characters were only one portion of the “Adventure Hour”, acting as wraparounds. It was that quick thinking which helped ensure the show was picked up, as Barbera would later recall that the Kellogg’s chairman was falling asleep during the actual pitch portion of the presentation.
At first, Hanna-Barbera made their pitch showed the concept art to Leo Burnett and NBC, but found it difficult to get them to understand it would be a live-action show and not animated. The deciding factor would be their pitch to Kellogg’s, and determined to sell the show, Joe Barbera made an eleventh hour decision to present the pitch to them with a costumed character in the room. It should be noted that, similar to other Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the time, each of these animated segments during the Banana Splits show had comic book artist Alex Toth onboard as character designer, and his distinct style is most apparent during this segment. One final hiccup did present itself shortly after the show was picked up, when it was discovered that the name “The Banana Bunch” was already taken by a book written by a Scottish author who wasn’t willing to let them use the name. The gaffer is assisted by their second-in-command, known as the best boy (but who doesn’t have to be male!).
If only ITV’s brightest minds had stopped to think, they might have realised Jesus is not that memorable a West End role in the first place. Anime lovers are always on the lookout for some contests for some contests or competitions where they can either cosplay their favorite characters or atleast have a gathering with people having similar interests. Find the perfect Cosplay costume for your next expo or convention! But basically costume parties are the most important part of any Halloween party and hence everyone go out on a shopping spree for buying out costumes before the eve of Halloween. Halloween is one of an occasion to get all dolled up and spice up the gathering. No one makes soda look as good as the Fanta Girls. We are not talking about bingo here, although it is a good choice in certain situations. Each week they’d meet at their clubhouse, joined by a talking cuckoo clock, a moose head named Banana Vac, and Goofy Gopher. They’d also often drive around in their Banana Buggies, modified all-terrain Amphicat vehicles; Joe Barbera was inspired to include these after seeing them demonstrated on the Johnny Carson incarnation of The Tonight Show. Knowing that nearly all the pitches would most likely be cartoons, Hanna-Barbera set out to do something really different to stand out from the pack, choosing to make characters similar to their in-house style except, instead of being animated, they’d be live-action costumed characters with real people in the suits.
It was much like other action cartoons Hanna-Barbera were producing around that time, such as similarly Arabian-themed “Shazzan”, though with a more comedic and non-violent tone to conform to the growing negative backlash towards action cartoons. The Banana Splits actually began life under the title of “The Banana Bunch”, and resulted as part of an opportunity presented to Hanna-Barbera by the Leo Burnett Agency in Chicago. Likewise, the unifying thread tying the Banana Splits characters together would be that they were a band of four members in a club. Lastly, there was “Micro Ventures”, a segment seen very infrequently with only four installments produced. Lastly, “The Three Musketeers” was dropped, being replaced with “Hillbilly Bears”, a segment from 1965“Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show”. All three were befitting of a champion-and that’s exactly what the teenager is. Likewise was “The Three Musketeers”, telling new stories involving the classical heroes and their fights to protect the royal family of France. The Three Musketeers, character sheet by Alex Toth. From his calm and cold demeanor to the way he wears that magnificent coat and bloody hook, there’s only one character it could possibly be.Even though the recent remake gives the character a more modern adaptation, Nia DeCosta couldn’t separate the legend from the reimagining.