Tra-la-la, you’re dead!!

Wow.  When I was a kid, I regularly watched “The Banana Splits”.  The worst thing about the show at that time was that it was a little hokey while trying to be cool.  They invented catch-phrases like “Hooold the bus!” and “Uh oh, chongo!”

It wasn’t really a bad show though.  You could say it was kind of like “Laugh In” for kids.  Wacky comedy bits were interspersed with mini-episodes of adventures.  The “hosts” were four costumes characters — a beagle, a silent elephant, a gorilla, and a lion — the last two with sunglasses (“cool”).  One of them was voiced by Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger from the Winnie the Pooh cartoons.

Anyway, a somewhat typical, maybe a little far out, Saturday morning kids’ show.  So now, here come the Banana Splits again, only this time as a horror movie!  Warner Bros. and Syfy are bringing back the characters, this time as part of a little boy’s nightmare scenario.  He goes with his family to a taping of the show (presumably back in the 60’s) and things take a turn for the much worse!

In my mind, it actually makes more sense than one might think.  If you look at the characters (https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-banana-splits-horror-movie-20190220-story.html), it’s not hard to imagine them as part of a nightmare.  I was fine watching them on TV, but if I had run into them in real life, I’m not sure how I’d have reacted.  You’ve seen the way some kids react to Santa Claus, and he’s human!

I’m kind of looking forward to checking out the movie when it’s released later this year.  But maybe it’s a good idea not to watch it right before bed.