One banana, two banana, three banana, four: “The Banana Splits” are back again — this time with a bit of gore. Warner Bros. announced Tuesday that the formerly kid-friendly animal band “The Banana Splits” are getting a new horror movie. In this new thriller, a boy named Harley is spending his birthday with his family at a taping of “The Banana Splits” TV show. But the outing takes an unexpected turn that involves a rising body count. It’s definitely a different take from “The Banana Splits” that most fans will remember. Advertisement The original Banana Splits first appeared on television in 1968 as hosts of the classic children’s variety show “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.” The program was a team-up of sorts between executive producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and Sid and Marty Krofft, who designed the costumes for band members Fleegle the beagle, Bingo the gorilla, Drooper the lion and Snorky the elephant before they went on to produce “H.R. Pufnstuf.” More recently the Banana Splits were back on the air in new shorts on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in 2008. In addition to Bingo, Fleegle, Snorky and Drooper the new movie will star Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (“The Kindness of Strangers”) as Harley, Dani Kind (“Wyonna Earp”) as Harley’s mother Beth, Romeo Carere as Harley’s brother Austin, Steve Lund (“Street Legal,” “Schitt’s Creek”) as Harley’s father Mitch and Sara Canning (“The Vampire Diaries,” “A Series of Unfortunate Events”) as the show’s producer Rebecca. “The Banana Splits” is directed by Danishka Esterhazy from a script by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas. Produced by Warner Bros. Television Group’s Blue Ribbon Content, “The Banana Splits” will premiere later this year through Warner Bros. Home Entertainment before it makes its TV debut on Syfy. tracy.brown@latimes.com Twitter: @tracycbrown<doc-sep>Bingo, Fleegle, Drooper and Snorky, the zany collective better known as The Banana Splits, are coming back with a vengeance — and with a body count? As revivals go, this one may be as audacious as it is unexpected: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Syfy are bringing back the Banana Splits, the trippy-dippy characters introduced back in 1968 as the anthropomorphic hosts of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour variety program. This time around, however, the Banana Splits are being served up in a horror thriller. The original movie will premiere this year from Blue Ribbon Content, Warner Bros Television Group’s digital studio, via a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release that will be followed by the television debut on Syfy. The official synopsis: “In the upcoming horror thriller, a boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth, and father Mitch) attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn — and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?” The Banana Splits revival stars Dani Kind (Wyonna Earp) as Beth, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (The Kindness of Strangers), Romeo Carere as Austin, Steve Lund (Schitt’s Creek) as Mitch and Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries) as Rebecca. Danishka Esterhazy (Level 16) is directing the horror project from a script by Jed Elinoff & Scott Thomas (Raven’s Home). The Banana Splits is produced by Blue Ribbon Content in association with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and SYFY. The Banana Splits membership features a lion, a beagle, an elephant and an orange gorilla. On the old television series, their signature theme song was Tra La La (One Banana, Two Banana), which might qualify as motive for murder after repeat listenings. The characters were created by the Krofft Brothers for Hanna-Barbera, which produced 31 episodes of the NBC show (which was a mix of live-action and cartoons) that originally aired from 1968-70. The show gave the Kroffts a foothold success in television, which they followed with a raft of daft fantasy shows, among them H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, The Lost Saucer, and The Bugaloos. The last major revival of a Krofft-related brand: Will Ferrell’s numbing Land of the Lost expedition in 2008 , which ranks among the biggest flops in recent Hollywood history.<doc-sep>Doesn't take a lot for me to imagine that creepy dancing Fleegle killing folks. Bloody Disgusting: In a bizarre move that was surely inspired by the success of Five Nights at Freddy's, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Syfy are bringing back the characters from Hanna-Barbera's variety program "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" for… a horror movie? ! As reported by Deadline, kid-friendly (originally, at least) animal characters Bingo, Fleegle, Drooper and Snorky will return in an original movie that's set to "premiere this year from Blue Ribbon Content, Warner Bros Television Group's digital studio, via a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release that will be followed by the television debut on Syfy." In the upcoming horror thriller, "A boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth, and father Mitch) attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn — and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?"<doc-sep>
The Banana Splits: Hanna-Barbera series revived as horror movie It’s not April 1st just yet, but Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and SYFY have announced that the cult kids program The Banana Splits will return as an original movie …but with a horror twist. The film will bring back the classic characters first introduced to audiences in 1968 with The Banana Splits Adventure Hour variety program. In the upcoming horror thriller, a boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth and father Mitch) attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn — and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape? The Banana Splits stars Dani Kind (Wyonna Earp) as Beth, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (The Kindness of Strangers) as Harley, Romeo Carere as Austin, Steve Lund (Street Legal, Schitt’s Creek) as Mitch, and Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries, A Series of Unfortunate Events, War for the Planet of the Apes) as Rebecca. The beloved Bingo, Fleegle, Snorky and Drooper from the original series will also appear. The new film is written by Jed Elinoff & Scott Thomas (Raven’s Home, My Super Psycho Sweet 16) and directed by Danishka Esterhazy (Level 16). The Banana Splits is produced by Blue Ribbon Content in association with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and SYFY. The Banana Splits movie will debut in stores and home media from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in advance of its television debut on SYFY.