The Banana Splits Movie
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 When Warner Bros. lost the rights to Five Nights at Freddy's, they made this abomination.
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The Banana Splits Movie is a 2019 American parody horror comedy film directed by Danishka Esterhazy and written by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, based on the 1968 Hanna-Barbera children's television series The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. The film stars Dani Kind, Steve Lund, Finlay Wotjak-Hissong, Romeo Carere, Sara Canning, and the voice of Eric Bauza. The Banana Splits Movie premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 18, 2019, and was released on August 27, 2019, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Plot
The plot follows a family attending a live taping of The Banana Splits television series but trying to survive when the titular characters go haywire upon learning of their show's cancellation, starting a killing spree around the studio.
Why It Will Make You Go Bananas (Except In a Bad Way)
- Addressing Bingo out of the stage: The transformation of a cherished children's television show into an R-rated horror comedy film is inherently a contentious concept. While it may be considered somewhat novel, it has provoked the ire of numerous fans of the original series. Moreover, it is perceived as a significant affront to both the original series and its fanbase. While reimagining the Banana Splits as antagonists is acceptable, morphing them into homicidal animatronics is not an appropriate method to portray villainy.
- In that regard, the film comes across more as an elaborate parody, akin to a creepypasta or a dark piece of fan fiction, rather than a conventional movie.
- It is likely that the movie's fanbase is overshadowing the show's fans.
- If Fans want to see the Banana Splits as villains done the right way, C. H. Greenblatt did a much better job at it by portraying them as comedic bandits in Jellystone!.
- Yes, turning Hanna-Barbera properties into projects for adults has been done before, with Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021, and Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, but the difference was that those shows were funny and clever and treats their target audience of adults with respect, while this is just unnecessary since when they make it into a horror film that's nothing but overly gruesome and scary with non-stop shock content similar to how The Ren & Stimpy Show was turned into an adult cartoon that is nothing but raunchy entitled Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", it insults the fanbase very hard, as well as the original source material.
- The same type of concept happened to Winnie the Pooh and even Non Non Biyori. And no, it's not a joke.
- The idea of creating a film adaptation of The Banana Splits would have been more successful if it had stayed true to the original series, thereby providing nostalgia for longtime fans and attracting a new audience.
- Poor understanding of the original content:
- In the original series, the Banana Splits were humans in costumes, but in this adaptation, they are depicted as animatronics, a change that some may find unnecessary. Moreover, they are not portrayed by actual animatronics and do not closely resemble their 1960s versions or their 1999 and 2008 counterparts.
- The Banana Splits, with the exception of Snorky, are portrayed as completely out of character, depicted as malevolent serial killers who target a family and even try to eliminate Snorky when he attempts to shield them from danger.
- It aimed to be the ultimate slasher film parody, yet it failed remarkably.
- The motivations of Fleegle, Bingo, and Drooper in this film are illogical and trivial, as their killing spree is prompted by the cancellation of their TV series. The end of a television show does not signify the end of the world.
- Anachronism: The time period is undefined. Although the original show concluded in 1970, it includes HDTV sets and cellphones, which seems quite anachronistic and undermines the historical context.
- Despite the effects being passable for the most part, the fire sticks out like a sore thumb.
- The film has a slow pace, dedicating a significant portion to the journey to the studio and providing extensive background on the malevolent animatronics.
- False advertising on the poster for three reasons:
- Bingo is holding an axe on the cover, but he never uses one at all.
- Drooper has sharp teeth on the cover, but he never has those in the actual movie.
- The tagline is "Tra La La Terror," but there's barely anything scary about this movie.
- The conclusion seems to set the stage for a sequel, as Poppy, donning the costume of "Hooty," a previously unseen fifth member of the Banana Splits, is depicted driving off in a truck with the inoperative Banana Splits in tow, crooning the Banana Splits theme tune. Subsequently, Fleegle springs back to life and emits a sinister laugh, hinting that Poppy might intend to fix them.
- The film struggles to define itself as either a genuine horror or a black comedy film.
- The Splits themselves are very inconsistent in movement. Sometimes they move like an athletic person, other times they move like a cheap toy robot from the Dollar Store.
- It feels like Warner Bros. tried to make a movie like Conker by turning a kids' show into a dark-toned movie, but it lacks the charm Conker's Bad Fur Day had.
- It was only made to capitalize off of Five Nights at Freddy's. This is because Warner Bros. lost the rights to FNAF.
- The dialogue is usually hilariously bad, especially the quote "Yeah but it's old and stupid, and I wanna do something cool and edgy.".
- Numerous plot holes, inconsistencies, and logical failures:
- During a taping, Bingo attacks Andy in his room, and then seconds later Bingo is seen on stage at the same time. Wasn't Bingo supposed to be in the taping at that moment?
- The door to Andy's room closes and locks by itself (somehow).
- Before Mitch got into the building, he gave his phone to Paige. But then when he gets out, he pulls out his phone. It is never explained how he pulled it out of nowhere (Paige wasn't seen giving it back either).
- Drooper could easily tear off Andy's limbs and crush Steve's jaw (childhood ruined enough yet?), but he is seen struggling with choking Beth.
- How are the Banana Splits able to say almost anything? It is never explained how they can say all these things not said during the taping. It also wouldn't make sense if they hired a voice actor for the Splits. If they did, then how would they mimic their voice flawlessly while saying things that the voice actor did not record?
- As if things weren't silly enough, similar in vain to the infamous roaring shark from Jaws: The Revenge, Bingo, Drooper, and Snorky literally roar in this movie.
Qualities That'll Make You Go Bananas
- The film's opening serves as a fitting homage to the original series.
- As mentioned before, the special effects and gore are passable, except for the fire.
- The cover of the "Tra La La Song" by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump is just as catchy as the original, 1999 and 2008 versions (if not better).
- Some characters are found to be likable or at least tolerable:
- Snorky stands out as one of the few commendable characters in the film, remaining true to his original portrayal within the Banana Splits gang by preventing Bingo from harming the family; regrettably, he meets his demise in the act of saving them. His sole negative trait is the attempt to run over Mitch with the Banana Buggy.
- The child protagonists are also likable.
- The mother is a formidable force, battling the animatronics to safeguard her family... and she triumphs.
- Austin can be tolerable.
- The live-action acting for all of the characters here in The Banana Splits Movie is pretty passable, especially by the late 2010's standards.
- Eric Bauza, the voice actor for the Banana Splits, does an awesome job replicating the original voices.
- Some funny quotes such as "Silly Stevie, smoking's bad for ya health!" and "Banana Cadabra, Bitch!".
- It is an admittedly pretty funny movie and can be enjoyed by people who like bad movies, much like Sharknado.
Reception
Despite The Banana Splits Movie receiving generally positive reviews from critics, it has received mostly unfavorable reviews from fans who found it a horrible idea, to begin with. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67%, based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. On IMDb, it has a 5.1/10 rating.
Kat Hughes of The Hollywood News praised the film and its direction, saying "Danishka Esterhazy proves the breadth of her directional range. The Banana Splits is a fun-filled, cacophony of zany deaths and characters, that plays out as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for grown-ups". William Bibbiani of Bloody Disgusting gave a positive review saying that the film "offers a satisfying sequence of slasher slays" but that it "relies so much on the cognitive disconnect that never feels like more than an ironic kill count". Reviewer Jim Johnson, of Comic Book Resources, wrote that "it's a bold move that works, because, here in 2019, there's nothing better to do with the Banana Splits. And it's not like anyone else had a better idea". Russ Burlingame of ComicBook.com praised the performances and script, saying "The Banana Splits Movie will be controversial — especially among those who still have a fondness for the original series — but it mostly sticks the landing, buoyed by a great cast, script, and crew".
Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, writing that it is "far less crazy than it wants to be and far more soporific than a synopsis would suggest". Mike MGranaghan of Aisle Seat gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing "When it's doing what it's supposed to do, The Banana Splits Movie has some definite novelty, value. Unfortunately, that's only about 50% of the time, tops".
Trivia
- The film received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America due to horror violence and gore, marking it as the first R-rated movie adaptation of a Hanna-Barbera or Sid & Marty Krofft property.
- The movie is based extremely loosely on the TV show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968).
- Originally, Warner Bros. and Scott Cawthon were confirmed to make the film adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy's with Gil Kenan to direct. But the movie was canceled and had been reworked into The Banana Splits Movie. Months later, Blumhouse Production bought the project and hired Chris Columbus to direct, while Scott Cawthon is delaying the movie to rewrite the scripts three times.
- The sound FX used for the Splits is the same one used in 2001: A Space Odyssey, when Dave Bowman leaves the spacecraft Discovery One.
- It's also Eric Bauza's second direct-to-video movie based on an existing property after Woody Woodpecker (2017).
- One of the guest stars on the original TV show was The Monkees. Pay close attention to how the older son, Austin is dressed. He looks like the way Michael Nesmith dressed while on the The Monkees (1966), right down to the way he wears his knit hat. Deliberate homage or accident, it's the first thing that comes to mind when he is on screen.
- The movie has become extremely popular on the Internet, with people making their parodies of this movie.
- On February 12, 2021, a new movie called Willy's Wonderland came out and drew many comparisons to this movie and, of course, Five Nights at Freddy's, mostly due all of them having similar concepts.
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