[[quoteright:304:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/banana-splits.jpg]]
->''"One banana, two banana, three banana, four!\\
Four bananas make a bunch, and so do many more!\\
Over hill and highway the Banana Buggies go,\\
Coming on to bring you the Banana Splits show!"''

''The Banana Splits Adventure Hour'' was a Saturday morning series from HannaBarbera shown on Creator/{{NBC}} in the late 1960s. Live actors in full-body costumes portrayed Fleegle the dog (voiced by Creator/PaulWinchell), Drooper the lion (voiced by [[MagillaGorilla Allan Melvin]]), Bingo the gorilla (voiced by Creator/DawsButler) and Snorky the elephant. SidAndMartyKrofftProductions designed the Banana Splits' character costumes.

The foursome did comedy sketches, performed songs and introduced the following action segments:
* ''The Arabian Knights'': A FiveManBand of heroes fought evil in pre-Islamic Arabia.
* ''The Three Musketeers'': These short adventures were adapted from [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers the book]] by Creator/AlexandreDumas ''père''.
* ''Micro-Ventures'': A scientist and his two teenage children visited MouseWorld to observe insects up close.
* ''Danger Island'': This was the serialized live-action segment, set on and around a Pacific island. Memorable for the CatchPhrase, "Uh-oh, Chongo!". Directed by future-Goonie RichardDonner.

After the Banana Splits became popular, Hanna-Barbera tried to duplicate its success in 1977: ''{{Skatebirds}}'' on Creator/{{CBS}}. (Some sources had 1969's ''WesternAnimation/TheCattanoogaCats'' on Creator/{{ABC}} as live/animated with the Cats live costumes, but it was all animated.) When ''The Banana Splits'' was shown in broadcast syndication, and later on {{TBS}}, the following series were added to the package:
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAtomAntShow and SecretSquirrel''
* ''The Adventures of Gulliver''
* ''The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''

Interesting trivia: The Banana Splits title song (or rather, a high-speed cover version by The Dickies) puts in an appearance as Hit Girl's theme music in ''Film/{{Kick-Ass}}''.
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!!''The Banana Splits'' provides examples of:
* AnimatedAdaptation: Hardly surprisingly, the band appeared both in live action and in animated form in a full-length feature, ''The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park'' ([[TheDarkAgeOfAnimation 1972]]), on the animated anthology series ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie''.
* TheBigGuy: Raseem from ''The Arabian Knights''; Porthos from ''The Three Musketeers''
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: At least physically for Snorky, who originally started out as something of a wooly mammoth in Season One, and became a clean-shaven elephant in Season Two.
* ComicBookAdaptation
* DistressedDamsel: Leslie Hayden from ''Danger Island'', who was captured by Captain Mu-Tan's band or native headhunters in practically every episode and [[BoundAndGagged tied up]], although all the main characters get this treatment at one point or another, especially late in the serial.
* EasyAmnesia: Farik in the ''The Arabian Knights'' episode "The Coronation of Bakaar".
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Bingo
* FakeBand
* FlyingCarpet: Often used on ''The Arabian Knights''.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Ventriloquist Shari Lewis voiced Nida in ''The Arabian Knights.''
* HollywoodTorches: ''The Arabian Knights'' and ''Danger Island'' segments.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: ''Micro Ventures''
* KingOfBeasts: Averted. Drooper isn't the lead guy, Fleegle the dog is.
* MasterOfDisguise: Nida in ''The Arabian Knights''.
* MisplacedWildlife: On ''Danger Island''. Lions and leopards on an island, in the middle of the Pacific?
* OldShame: The ''Danger Island'' segments were directed by Richard Donner; Jan-Michael Vincent (credited as simply "Michael Vincent") appeared in them as "Link".
* OpenSesame: on ''The Arabian Knights''.
* PeopleInRubberSuits
* TheRedStapler: Don't tell me you didn't want a six-wheeled amphibious vehicle of your own as a kid.
* RuthlessModernPirates: Captain Mu-Tan and his rag-tag band of modern day pirates from ''Danger Island''.
* SuperBreath: Raseem in ''The Arabian Knights''.
* SuperStrength: Raseem again.
* ThemeTuneRollCall:
-->Flipping like a pancake, popping like a cork,
-->Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper and Snork!
* TheUnintelligible: Snorky spoke entirely in honking noises. Also, Chongo from ''Danger Island''.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It's so [[TheSixties sixties]] it hurts.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Bez from ''The Arabian Knights''.
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