Line #84 WesternAnimation/Bananaman


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bananaman1412.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Eric is Bananaman, ever alert for the call to action!'']]
3
4	->''This is 29 Acacia Road, and this is Eric, a schoolboy who leads an exciting double life. For when Eric eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs!''
5
6	The cartoon that ran during the mid-1980s based on ''ComicStrip/{{Bananaman}}''. It features voice talents of ''Series/TheGoodies''. It ran for 3 seasons and had a total of 40 episodes.
7	----
8	!!This cartoon provides example of:
9	* AceOfSpades: In "Harbour of Lost Ships", Bananaman picks a card from General Blight. He gets the ace of spades, or the dead man's card, but as the viewers can see, all of Blight's cards are the exact same. He is then forced to WalkThePlank.
10	* AdaptationNameChange: Eric Wimp is known as Eric Twinge here.
11	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: In "The Kidnap Caper".
12	-->'''Narrator:''' O'Reilly's clever coppers cuffed the crafty criminal and carted him off to the clink!
13	* AnimateInanimateObject: A pair of pyjamas in "The Snowman Cometh" attempts to run away when the snowman shoots a beam at them.
14	* AntiClimax: At the end of "Auntie's Back in Town", Crow states that he thinks that after what they've gone through (Bananaman's supposed death), the situation is [[{{Pun}} an Auntie-climax]].
15	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom" shows that Dr. Gloom's lab has poison, more poison, even more poison, nasty stuff, and cod liver oil.
16	* {{Balloonacy}}: The titular sidekick in "The Banana Kid" follows him by attaching almost a dozen balloons to himself and flying.
17	* BananaPeel: Bananaman used them on two Nerks in "The Alien Planet" after eating two bananas.
18	* BigBad: General Blight, the villain of most of the episodes, and the leader whenever a VillainTeamUp happens.
19	* BookEnds: The same animation is used for the first and last time we see General Blight in season 1.
20	* BoundAndGagged:
21	** The Chairman in "The Kidnap Caper" is ChainedToARailway with a rope and has a gag in his mouth. Bananaman lifts the latter temporarily so he can say "Hurry up!"
22	** "Tunnel of Terror" has two fun fair staff members unable to do their jobs due to being tied up and having gags on their faces because of General Blight and Dr. Gloom.
23	* BridalCarry: At the end of "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas", Bananaman carries Fiona home in his arms.
24	* BruceWayneHeldHostage: In the episode "Trouble at the Mill", Appleman helds Eric and his cousin Samantha hostage in an attempt to force the former into telling him where Bananaman is.
25	* BookcasePassage: In "House on Hangman's Hill", Bananaman pulls a book in the house at Hangman's Hill's library, causing him to find the Heavy Mob's hideout.
26	* BreakingTheFourthWall: In "Night of the Nerks", a bus with "If you can read this, you are watching ''Bananaman''" shows up and drives quickly away.
27	* BrickJoke: In "Battle of the Century", Bananaman swings a ball so hard it lands in the North Pole and is grabbed by someone in an igloo. At the end of the episode, the person shows up and asks if the ball is his.
28	* TheBrute: Morris acts as the muscle of the Heavy Mob.
29	* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: In "Tunnel of Terror", only the characters' eyes are visible in the tunnel at some points, except that Dr. Gloom wears glasses so they show up instead.
30	* CatchPhrase: "This banana's loaded, and I won't hesitate to use it!" when Bananaman threatens the Heavy Mob with the banana gun.
31	* ChainedToARailway: "The Kidnap Caper" has General Blight kidnap the Chairman of the United Nations club committee and chain him to a railway, with Bananaman having to get the combination to free him for ransom money.
32	* ClipShow: The episode "Memory Lane" has Bananaman appear on Fiona's show with the same name, which shows clips from previous episodes regarding Bananaman's endeavors, the villains' schemes (primarily focusing on General Blight, Dr. Gloom, Appleman, and Auntie), and one time Crow helped save Bananaman from falling down. It also has no title card and Bananaman turns back to Eric at the end, but the episode ends right as that happens and is likely non-canon.
33	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: At the end of "Disaster at Devil's Cove", Bananaman puts General Blight and Dr. Gloom as targets above a cartboard cutout for children to throw coconuts at them.
34	* CueTheFlyingPigs: At the end of "Intergalactic Olympics", Crow tells Bananaman that pigs don't fly. The episodes cuts to a whole sounder of swine with wings.
35	* ColorfulContrails: Bananaman often has yellow trails behind him when he flies.
36	* ConspicuouslyLightPatch: The bricks Bananaman breaks through in "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom" are clearly much brighter than the rest of the wall.
37	* ConveyorBeltODoom: Samantha is tied to a log on a conveyor belt moving towards a saw in "Trouble at the Mill".
38	* CounterfeitCash: "House on Hangman's Hill" has the Heavy Mob use the printing press to make fake banknotes. They're accurate in every detail, except for the fact there's no such thing as a nine-pound note.
39	* CuteButCacophonic: Bananaman as a baby in "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom" may be considered sweet by Dr. Gloom, but even the villain can't stand him crying, partially since it doesn't let him have a call with General Blight.
40	* DamselInDistress:
41	** "The Alien Planet" starts with Bananaman hearing literal calls of distress from a girl trapped in a tower it. As it turns out, it's just a recording by General Blight.
42	** Fiona is kidnapped by a giant gorilla in "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas", so Bananaman flies to the jungle to save her.
43	* DarkIsEvil: Dr. Gloom's clothing mostly has black and purple on it and he's one of the show's main antagonists.
44	* DastardlyWhiplash: General Blight is a typical villain of this sort with his scheming, mustache, and tone of voice. The only thing that's different is his military outfit.
45	* DeliveryStork: In "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom", Crow carries Dr. Gloom as a baby back to General Blight like a stork.
46	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The page quote above is actually the second version of the shorts' intro. The first had both "amazing double life" and "amazing transformation".
47	* DestructiveSavior: The police department had a character whose whole job was fixing the holes in the wall Bananaman would make whenever they called him for help.
48	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Bananaman plays a part of the theme song on a piano in "Jaws of Steel", which O'Reilly considers terrible.
49	* DreadZeppelin: Weatherman has an airship with a pilot cabin that can also dive underwater.
50	* DressedToPlunder: General Blight dresses as a pirate and the Heavy Mob as crewmates in "The Pirate TV Station". So does Bananaman in "Harbour of Lost Ships".
51	* DressingAsTheEnemy: Bananaman dresses as King Zorg in "Night of the Nerks".
52	* DudeInDistress: In "The Kidnap Caper", General Blight captured the Chairman of the United Nations club committee and tied him to a railroad.
53	* EarlyBirdCameo: Appleman shows up for the first time for a split-second in "Jaws of Steel" among the other villains, but he wouldn't make an official debut until season 2's "Trouble at the Mill".
54	* EdibleThemeNaming: Our hero Bananaman, but there also some villains, like Appleman and Captain Cream.
55	* ElongatingArmGag: "Battle of the Century" has the Heavy Mob get caught by the long arms of the law after attempting to steal baked desserts, with their length going beyond the screen.
56	* EpisodeTitleCard: Every episode starts with a title card presented on a blue background with yellow words. The only exception is "Memory Lane", which uses a white background and fancy-looking blue words.
57	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: The aliens from planet Nerk are willing to capture Bananaman, but they still like to talk to their mother.
58	* FamedInStory: Bananaman is known to have a lot of Banana Fans in the city who tend to wear merchandise of him and are always excited to see him. It turns out that even undersea creatures are Bananaman's greatest fans, with an octopus being pleased to see him in "The Pirate TV Station". Even Banana Kid becomes popular and actually gets into pictures thanks to Herman B.
59	* FountainOfYouth: In "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom", Dr. Gloom turns Bananaman into a toddler with a beam. He turns back into an adult with the help of a banana and rebounds the beam back at Dr. Gloom.
60	* FourFingeredHands: Sometimes characters have four. Other times they have five. Sometimes characters have four fingers on one hand and five on the other.
61	* FromBadToWorse: Bananaman manages to escape from snakes in "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas", only to end up captured by a giant gorilla.
62	* {{Gasp}}: Bananaman reacts with a loud "GASP!" when he sees the train riding to its doom in "The Kidnap Caper".
63	* GiantSpider: "The Web of Evil" has Dr. Gloom accidentally turn a spider giant thanks to his potion, which is then used to cover the Police HQ in web.
64	* GirlInTheTower: The girl in "The Alien Planet" is seemingly captured in a tower. Of course, when Bananaman goes after her, it turns out to be a recording by General Blight and the tower turns into a rocket and flies off to space.
65	* GoKartingWithBowser: "Battle of the Century" has the Heavy Mob play a cricket match with Bananaman.
66	* GreenAndMean: The Nerks are a race of green-skinned aliens who oppose Bananaman and take over the city in "Night of the Nerks".
67	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In "Wall of Death", Weatherman shoots a banana-seeking torpedo at Bananaman, but he manages to bend a tube and send it through, making it return to the villain and destroy his submarine.
68	* HoldYourHippogriffs: Bananaman exclaims "Great barbecued bananas!" upon seeing all the controls in the Nerk mothership.
69	* HollywoodMagnetism: In "The Final Orbit", King Zorg uses a magnet to attract Earth in space, causing it to spin the other way. A magnet in the North Pole manages to beat it.
70	* HumanCannonball: In "The Alien Planet", Bananaman does an interplanetary re-entry back to Earth by shooting himself out of a cannon.
71	* HumanPopsicle: As shown in "Ice Station Zero", Weatherman has a ray gun which freezes people or puts them in ice cuboids.
72	* IdeaBulb: When the eponymous sidekick in "The Banana Kid" comes up with an idea how he can follow Bananaman, a bulb hits his head.
73	* ImplausibleDeniability: In "The Night Patrol", the Heavy Mob pretends they're schoolboys at a costume party and the stolen valuables are just some trophies. Surprisingly (or not), Bananaman is completely fooled.
74	* ImpossiblePickleJar: In "Auntie's Back in Town", O'Reilly has significant difficulties with opening a bottle of ketchup, which Bananaman manages to do, but it splatters in his face.
75	* InconsistentColoring: It doesn't seem like there's any consistency to Fiona's sclerae color, or if she even has them.
76	* IntrepidReporter: In "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas", Fiona takes part in an expedition to the Banana Republic and films them herself.
77	* {{Invisibility}}: In "Visibility Zero", General Blight uses Dr. Gloom's machine to turn himself invisible to cause trouble for Chief O'Reilly and Bananaman, until he's made visible and frozen by plaster.
78	* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Downplayed. In "The Kidnap Caper", General Blight on a poster is proud of being called mean and malicious by O'Reilly, but when he calls him incredibly ugly, he gets angry and thanks him sarcastically.
79	* JailBake: In "The Big Breakout", The Heavy Mob tries to use a cake to escape, putting several tools inside (though the metal detector only notices three). Eddie the Gent tries to pass it off as healthy, with lots of iron.
80	* JungleDrums: "The Peril of Ping Pong" has a native of the Tapioca Tribe play a message on the drums from Chipolata, their chief, with Bananaman interpreting the message perfectly, including its interpunction.
81	* JustBetweenYouAndMe: After freezing Bananaman in "Ice Station Zero", Weatherman takes his time to explain how his weather-controlling machine works.
82	* JustInTime: In "Battle of the Century", it seems that the Heavy Mob is about to win at 99 points, but here comes Bananaman to beat them at cricket.
83	* KidSidekick: A young boy applies to be a swimmer, but is meant to be Bananaman's sidekick in "The Banana Kid". Then again, Eric not transformed into Bananaman is a teenager as well.
84	* KingKongCopy: A giant gorilla kidnaps Fiona in his hand in "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas", so Bananaman has to rescue her only to also get kidnapped, and it turns out he doesn't really want to hurt them.
85	* LaserGuidedKarma: At the end of "A Tank Full of Trouble", children pelt Captain Cream with the same ice cream with cod liver oil he tried to serve them.
86	* LaughablyEvil: Most of the villains have humorous voices, a tendency to gesticulate, or make humorous schemes. What do General Blight and Dr. Gloom want to do with the Police HQ in "Tunnel of Terror"? Make a rocket that will cover it with lumpy porridge!
87	* LaughingAtYourOwnJokes: Crow laughs at his own jokes all the time, like the "stool pigeon" one in "Jaws of Steel".
88	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: In "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom", after getting hit on the head with a large hammer by Dr. Gloom and before being rendered unconscious, Bananaman only responds with a small, delayed "ouch".
89	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Gloom may or may not be a real doctor, but he does seem to be into surgery and tries to get rid of Bananaman on numerous occasions.
90	* MotorMouth: The policewoman in "Jaws of Steel" speaks so fast that Bananaman can only state that she's simply doing her job.
91	* {{Narrator}}: A deep-voiced narrator describes the events and characters in certain scenes.
92	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Beyond his usual FlyingBrick abilities, the animated shorts tended to give Bananaman whatever banana-themed gadget would be most helpful at the time.
93	* NoTimeToThink: In "Ice Station Zero", Bananaman decides he has no time to look for an instruction manual and just bends the cold/heat exchange pipes randomly.
94	* NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou: In "Auntie's Back in Town", Crow mourns Bananaman comically after he's been driven over by a roller, but it turns out Bananaman is alive when he mentions intelligence as one of his best qualities.
95	* ObliviouslyEvil: The giant gorilla in "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas" kidnaps Bananaman and Fiona because he thinks they're Tarzan and Jane. When he finds out who they really are, he apologises, states he must be in the wrong film, and lets them go.
96	* PianoDrop: "Jaws of Steel" has Auntie drop a piano on Bananaman. He manages to dodge by accident, but is still hit by a stool.
97	* PieInTheFace: In "Ice Station Zero", Bananaman throws a "heavier than air" custard pie at Weatherman's face.
98	* PlayingWithFire: In "The Big Breakout", Bananaman uses his thermal finger to cut an outline through a steel door. He still has to blow on it to extinguish it, though.
99	* PowerUpFood: Bananas let Eric transform, but Bananaman could eat them when already transformed if he needed a sudden burst of power.
100	* RedheadInGreen: Fiona always wears a green outfit as a reporter and has red hair.
101	* RefugeInAudacity: The Heavy Mob's plane in "The Great Air Race" has "STOLEN PROPERTY" written on it, but none of the audience members watching the air race care about that.
102	* RememberedICouldFly: In "The Kidnap Caper", Bananaman tries to remember what the combination for the lock was, until Crow reminds him that he has SuperStrength, which he uses to break it.
103	* ARottenTimeToRevert: It's not unknown for Bananaman to run out of transformation time in the middle of a crisis and revert to Eric the schoolboy, usually forcing him to hastily eat another banana before whatever villain he's up against mops the floor with him. Of course, it doesn't always happen in battle: in one episode, Bananaman reverts to normal during a live TV interview.
104	* SecurityCling: When Eric gets scared by a spider at the end of "Tunnel of Terror", he jumps into Samantha's shoulders.
105	* SentientVehicle: The Heavy Mob's vehicle in "The Great Air Race" turns distressed and then angry after getting damaged by reflected picnic lunch.
106	* SkewedPriorities: In "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom", Fiona explains that if Bananaman doesn't negotiate with Dr. Gloom, the world will be in danger and '''the midnight movie will be cancelled!''' When our hero shows up to talk to the Doctor, he makes sure to mention the movie.
107	* SinisterSilhouettes: "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom" has General Blight and Dr. Gloom first show up as shadows visible through a window.
108	* SleepMask: "Destination Danger" shows Crow wearing a heart-print mask on his eyes while sleeping.
109	* SlipperySoap: In "The Pirate TV Station", Eddie the Gent holds a bar of soap, which he drops and General Blight slips on it. Then Bananaman tosses it to trip up the other members of the Heavy Mob.
110	* {{Snowlems}}: Weatherman has a robot snowman standing guard at Ice Station Zero.
111	* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: In "Double Trouble", Crow asks Bananaman and his clone a question to determine which one is real. Due to the way Bananaman spots the trick question, he determines that's the real one.
112	* SplitScreenPhoneCall: When Dr. Gloom converses with General Blight in "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom", the screen is split into two triangular areas.
113	* SquashedFlat: In "Auntie's Back in Town", she drives over immobilised Bananaman with a roller, causing him to become flat, but he survives.
114	* TheStrengthOfTenMen: The animated series has the narrator point out that Bananaman has the strength of twenty men. Adds Bananaman, "Twenty ''big'' men."
115	* TakeThat: When King Zorg is about to grab a slow-moving satellite, General Blight asks if it’s Russian.
116	* TallyMarksOnThePrisonWall: "The Big Breakout" shows that the Heavy Mob has several tally marks in their cell, usually in sets of seven.
117	* TestYourStrengthGame: The rocket's ignition in "Tunnel of Terror" is a test your strength game. It's normally meant to make it go space, but the villains intended it to fly to the police HQ.
118	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: When Eric turns into Bananaman, a distinct and triumpthant theme plays.
119	* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: The tape left by General Blight for Bananaman in "The Alien Planet" seemingly knows when Bananaman would realise it's his trap.
120	* TheTelevisionTalksBack: Fiona the newsreader would announce that some terrible new danger had arisen, and then reach out of the TV set, give Bananaman a prod and point out that this was his cue to go into action. He appreciated this, and gave her bouquets from his side of the wall.
121	* ThisIsADrill: The Mole uses a huge drill machine in "The Big Breakout".
122	* ThreateningShark: Bananaman has to deal with hungry sharks in "The Banana Kid". The sidekick just fishes them up.
123	* TransformationSequence: Triggered when Eric eats a banana, during which he sprouts muscles and grows two feet.
124	* TrapDoor: In "Destination Danger", the king of aliens presses a button on his throne to make him fall down a trapdoor when he gets sick of him listing all his titles.
125	* UnsoundEffect: A series of {{Written Sound Effect}}s representing a fight between Bananaman and Captain Cream in the pitch dark in "A Tank Full of Trouble" eventually ended in "ETC!"
126	* VerbalBackspace: When Eric wants to tell O'Reilly that Bananaman is coming, he'll often say "I'm on my, er, he's on his way!"
127	* AVillainNamedZrg: Zorg, the king of the Nerks, a race of aliens who have tried to stop Bananaman.
128	* VillainousFriendship: As established in "Bananaman Meets Dr. Gloom", General Blight's and Dr. Gloom are schoolchums who work together to stop Bananaman.
129	* VineSwing: In "The Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas" and "The Last Banana", Bananaman swings on a vine and lets out a long scream. He ultimately ends up stuck hanging upside down, then falls down.
130	* WalkThePlank: Bananaman is forced to walk the plank, blinded and tied up, in "Harbour of Lost Ships".
131	* WantedPoster: O'Reilly has several wanted posters in his office. They're normally empty, but in "The Kidnap Caper", it shows a portrait of General Blight which reacts to what he says.
132	* WaterGeyserVolley: At the end of "Fog of Fear", Bananaman is seen having "a whale of a time" by lying on a whale spouting out water.
133	* WeatherControlMachine: Weatherman specialises in contraptations that change the weather, like the one that causes snow in "Ice Station Zero" and the one that causes rain in "Wall of Death".
134	* WeirdWeather: In "Wall of Death", it's literally raining buckets and the rain forms poodle-shaped puddles.
135	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Appleman has a fear of maggots (because they are known for eating inside apples), which makes him run away in "Trouble at the Mill".
136	* YouCanSayThatAgain: In "The Kidnap Caper", Eric exclaims "Blistering banana skins!" and O'Reilly says "You can say that again!", but just as he's about to do so, he interrupts him.
137	* YouExclamation: After watching the tape recording of a girl shouting "Distress!" in "The Alien Planet", Bananaman exclaims "It's you! General Blight!"

Context WesternAnimation / Bananaman