Tra-La-La ... Banana Splits get a revival

"One banana, two banana, three banana, four ...."

U.S.-based Warner Bros. Entertainment has joined forces with Universal Music Group to revive the Banana Splits, the 1960s kids-TV costumed characters.

Comprising four costumed animal-like creatures, the Banana Splits were conceived by legendary animation creators Hanna-Barbera Productions to host breakfast-time cartoons sponsored by Kellogg's Cereals on the NBC TV network.

The popularity of their live-action comic sketches and song performances led to recordings on the then Decca Records, and some of the first pre-MTV music videos.

Now WB Entertainment has used its ACME Lab, launched in 2006 to revive WB's 1,000-plus dormant kids-TV properties, to breathe new life into an updated version of the Banana Splits.

The resurrected Banana Splits, filmed in Australia, will comprise 3-minute long shorts aired on the Time Warner-owned Cartoon Network, and on T-Works, a new multi-platform kids' social-networking service, designed to host all WB cartoons.

"Research shows that parents had a high awareness of the original and wanted their kids to see the show, which had also been a hit in Australia and the U.K.," said Richard Goldsmith, a WB Consumer Products senior VP, at a briefing at Cannes-based MIPCOM, the TV-industry confab, in October. "Universal Music (Group) has invested in the project worldwide to release a CD and DVD next year."

He said WB hoped to capitalize on the popularity of kids TV musicals such as Walt Disney Co.'s High School Musical and Hannah Montana.

source [Billboard]