''The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park'' is a 1972

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

made by Hanna-Barbera featuring the characters from ''

The Banana Splits ''The Banana Splits'' is an American television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red marching band hats with yellow plumes. ...

'' television series. Mixing live action sequences shot at

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expa ...

amusement park in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, with animation, the film follows the Banana Splits as they attempt to rescue a young girl who is kidnapped by a power-hungry witch. ''Hocus Pocus Park'' was first broadcast as an episode on the weekly program ''

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' — retitled ''The New Saturday Superstar Movie'' for its second season — is a series of one-hour animated made-for-television films (some of which also contained live action sequences), broadcast on the ABC ...

'' on November 25, 1972, and continued to air sporadically well into the 2000s, via cable networks Cartoon Network and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

, both of which also aired reruns of its parent series."The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park," AllMovie
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Plot

The Banana Splits are working as tour guides at

, but find no luck in getting any customers, until a girl named Susie approaches them to go on their tour. Meanwhile, a wicked witch wants to turn Susie into a witch like herself, so she uses a floating balloon to lure the girl into her (animated) world. When the balloon comes through a magic billboard and into the real world, Susie immediately chases after it around the park and into the billboard, with the Banana Splits going after her. Once Susie arrives, she gets captured by two inept wizards named Hocus and Pocus, who work for the Wicked Witch and trap her in a hat. The two learn about the Splits trying to find Susie, and attempt to stop them from their search, but end up failing every time mostly due to them arguing over which of them came up with the idea. Eventually, one of Hocus and Pocus' ideas get them trapped, and the Banana Splits find them and free them. Hocus and Pocus now have a change of heart and take the Splits to Susie's location, only to find that she has been kidnapped by the Wicked Witch and taken to her castle. Finally finding the Witch's castle, the Splits and the wizards try many different ways to get inside, and have one comical failure after another. After they finally they get in, the witch tells them that in order to save Susie, they have to face off against a knight, and gives them a suit of armor so one of them will be the knight, resulting in Fleegle and Bingo being the horse and Drooper being the knight. however, they become helpless upon discovering the knight is a robot on a giant mechanical horse, which chases the trio. Eventually, Susie's able to outsmart the Witch, and makes the horse malfunction and throw the knight off of it, defeating it. Finally reuniting with Susie, the group uses the horse to escape and get back to the magic billboard, while they're unfortunately getting chased by the Wicked Witch. The witch uses her magic to make a wall to block the billboard, but the group jumps over the wall while the horse and Witch crash into it. The Banana Splits and Susie return to their world, say farewell to Hocus and Pocus, and the Splits perform their scheduled concert at the amusement park, where they sing "Doin' the Banana Split."

Cast

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...

as Fleegle and Tree *

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...

as Bingo, Frog, and Octopus *

Allan Melvin Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of th ...

as Drooper * Don Messick as Dragon * Michele Tobin as Susie *

Howard Morris Howard Jerome Morris (September 4, 1919 – May 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Ca ...

as Hocus and Pocus *

Joan Gerber Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons. Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a ''Godzilla'' television episode ...

as the Wicked Witch

References

External links

* *
Tribute site to ''The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park The Banana Splits 1972 films The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Films scored by Hoyt Curtin Films set in amusement parks Films about apes Films about dogs Films about elephants Films about lions American television films 1972 television films 1970s English-language films