If you grew up watching old re-runs on Cartoon Network, then it’s possible you caught a glimpse of The Banana Splits, a Hanna-Barbera live-action show done in the style of The Monkees. Originally premiering in the last 1960s, the show follows four anthropomorphized animals (really, just people in animal suits) who get into shenanigans and play music. So it’s a little strange that some twenty years later, SYFY is producing a movie of the show that looks like this:
If you have ever seen or played the ridiculously popular Five Nights at Freddy’s games, then this whole scenario should seem familiar. Kids are drawn to a happy place where animatronics perform, but they have a mind of their own and they start murdering everyone. The most likely reason for their rampage is the cancelling of their show, which will somehow not happen if they commit homicide.
The four original characters from the show, Fleegle the Beagle, Bingo the Gorilla, Drooper the Lion, and Snorky the Elephant, are back and now terrifying. No word on how much, if any, of the original cast or creative team is on this new production but given that there’s no exultation in the trailer about it, I’m guessing the answer is none.
It’s kind of cool, and a little creepy, that when I bring up this show to other people, they look at me like I must have hallucinated it. And yeah, when you see the grainy footage after watching this gorey trailer then it does seem like the wild fever dream of a seven-year-old up past her bedtime. And, not going to lie, I always felt a little creeped out by the show, but now I feel like I’m living in a creepypasta. Thanks for making the dream come true SYFY.
And yes, weirdly enough, there will be a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie coming out in the near future, so we’ll just have to consider this a good test of how this plot could work out on film.
The Banana Splits Movie will premiere on SYFY sometime in 2019.
