Why was there never a Bananaman video/computer game?

[dreamkatcha]

Did any of you watch the show as a kid? Does it hold up today?, and why do you think he never starred in his own game? How popular was he outside the UK?

I had my say here so won't bore you all rehashing it.

[alexh]

I think it can only be due to licensing issues. The BBC had a half functional games company around the time of the cartoon. Perhaps they owned the license and failed to deliver?

[Amigajay]

Yes i used to love it as a kid! I got the annual at Christmas too.
Pretty outdated now, but i guess because the original TV run finished in 1986, the original viewers had moved on by 92-93 when a conversion into a game was most likely, i know it was rerun for years after but it dated quite quickly, like Jimbo The Jetset!

Alternate Software would have been odds on favourite if it was at some point started as they had other British and BBC licenses at the time, maybe worth tracking down a member to ask?

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by dreamkatcha

Did any of you watch the show as a kid?

Yup, in Australia we had Bananaman

...and:

• Danger Mouse
• Inspector Gadget
• Monkey
• SuperTed
• The Trap Door
• etc...

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Yup, in Australia we had Bananaman

...and:

• Danger Mouse
• Inspector Gadget
• Monkey
• SuperTed
• The Trap Door
• etc...

And in the UK...

• Thundercats
• Ulysses 31
• Dogtanian
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Around the World with Willy Fog
• Mysterious Cities of Gold < MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE

[dreamkatcha]

Originally Posted by alexh

I think it can only be due to licensing issues. The BBC had a half functional games company around the time of the cartoon. Perhaps they owned the license and failed to deliver?

I don't think the Beeb would have been involved actually. DC Thomson (who produced the original comic book) also held the rights to the TV show so any requests to use the IP would have to go through them.

I did speak to DCT about potential game tie-in opportunities and they told me there had been a few over the years, but they never amounted to anything (beyond one game which includes Bananaman as a playable character). That's all in the linked article anyway.

I suppose the BBC would have had first refusal if they wanted to extend their license to develop/commission an accompanying game. Maybe one of the 'tentative enquiries' came from them. It then becomes a question of why an agreement never got off the starting blocks.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Foebane

And in the UK...

• Thundercats
• Ulysses 31
• Dogtanian
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Around the World with Willy Fog
• Mysterious Cities of Gold < MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE

"Mysterious Cities of Gold" was awesome

...don't think I ever saw "Dogtanian" or "Around the World with Willy Fog".

Yes to the rest though.

Oh, and what about Astro Boy, The Snorks and Gummi Bears

[dreamkatcha]

Originally Posted by Amigajay

Yes i used to love it as a kid! I got the annual at Christmas too.
Pretty outdated now, but i guess because the original TV run finished in 1986, the original viewers had moved on by 92-93 when a conversion into a game was most likely, i know it was rerun for years after but it dated quite quickly, like Jimbo The Jetset!

Alternate Software would have been odds on favourite if it was at some point started as they had other British and BBC licenses at the time, maybe worth tracking down a member to ask?

Good point re: the show's shelf life. Looking back at it now as an adult I've found it quite difficult to appreciate beyond scratching the nostalgia itch (I remember laughing my socks off as a kid). It was never really what you'd call 'topical' so hasn't dated in that way, but it was always aimed at very young kids who would quickly grow out of the simplistic humour.

I did speak to Dave Palmer from Alternative Software who told me they were planning on developing two Beano-based games (The Beano/Dandy are owned by DC Thomson too), though not a Bananaman one. He didn't go into the finer details so I don't know why it didn't appeal, or if it did, they couldn't reach an agreement with DCT.

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by DamienD

"Mysterious Cities of Gold" was awesome

...don't think I ever saw "Dogtanian" or "Around the World with Willy Fog".

Yes to the rest though.

Oh, and what about Astro Boy, The Snorks and Gummi Bears

Dogtanian (D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers) and Willy Fog (Around the World in 80 Days) were cartoons made by BRB Internacional, and they were famous for all of the characters being animals (not a human in sight).

I've never heard of The Snorks and I don't think Astro Boy was shown back then, but I definitely remember Gummi Bears.

As for being on-topic, I thought Bananaman was a cute and funny little cartoon, along the lines of The Family Ness (dig that theme song!). And if they can make a game based on Noel Edmonds' Mr. Blobby, then they could've, SHOULD'VE done it with Bananaman!

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by DamienD

• Inspector Gadget

Inspector Gadget, He-Man and Optimus Prime made me the man I am today.

... a huge nerd who loves classic cartoon shows.

[Amigajay]

Originally Posted by dreamkatcha

I did speak to Dave Palmer from Alternative Software who told me they were planning on developing two Beano-based games (The Beano/Dandy are owned by DC Thomson too), though not a Bananaman one. He didn't go into the finer details so I don't know why it didn't appeal, or if it did, they couldn't reach an agreement with DCT.

That’s probably the only hope out the window then as far as Amiga conversions at least, but probably the same for 8bit.

Just one of those things, they probably picked some more popular names at the time i.e Allo Allo, Thomas The Tank Engine and Dennis & Gnasher and went with them, had they sold by the bucketload them i guess there would be more likely hood of stuff like Bananaman being made.

[dalek]

Originally Posted by Foebane

And in the UK...
...

• Mysterious Cities of Gold < MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE

YES! Thank you for bringing this up - I haven't been able to remember it's name for years! [ Show youtube player ] loved it!

[S0ulA55a551n]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Yup, in Australia we had Bananaman

...and:

• Danger Mouse
• Inspector Gadget
• Monkey
• SuperTed
• The Trap Door
• etc...

And one of those was translated from welsh as was originally a welsh cartoon

[Amigajay]

Originally Posted by S0ulA55a551n

And one of those was translated from welsh as was originally a welsh cartoon

I guess SuperTed out of those?

When i lived in North Devon i picked up Welsh TV (HTV, S4C etc) so i used to watch Fireman Sam in Welsh before it got translated into an English version

[S0ulA55a551n]

Originally Posted by Amigajay

I guess SuperTed out of those?

When i lived in North Devon i picked up Welsh TV (HTV, S4C etc) so i used to watch Fireman Sam in Welsh before it got translated into an English version

Spot on

Fireman sam (sam Tan) was also S4C. he is from a fictional place called Pontypandy. Which is a mixture of Pontypridd and Tonypandy

[E-Penguin]

My son (5) and daughter (3) love Bananaman (and SuperTed - btw isn't Skeleton just flaming, couldn't get away with that these days). Although, frankly, they'd happily watch a video of paint drying as long as it was on my phone.

We've nearly worn out the Trapdoor DVD from watching it on repeat.

[SteveMoody]

Originally Posted by gimbal

Inspector Gadget, He-Man and Optimus Prime made me the man I am today.

... a huge nerd who loves classic cartoon shows.

I have quite a few of the 80s cartoon series on dvd, girlfriend thinks i'm strange for having them

Originally Posted by dalek

YES! Thank you for bringing this up - I haven't been able to remember it's name for years! [ Show youtube player ] loved it!

That's one of the dvd box sets i have, still enjoy it.

[robinsonb5]

A thread about 80s Kids TV nostalgia and Duckula hasn't been mentioned yet?

[dreamkatcha]

Originally Posted by E-Penguin

My son (5) and daughter (3) love Bananaman (and SuperTed - btw isn't Skeleton just flaming, couldn't get away with that these days). Although, frankly, they'd happily watch a video of paint drying as long as it was on my phone.

Good to hear they're getting a new lease of life today. I read a similar comment on Amazon on the review page for the DVD set.

I'm not sure I understand the comment about Skeleton, but you've got me intrigued now. SuperTed was another one I loved as a kid - such a simple premise, summed up in about ten seconds in the intro, so many fond memories.

[Foebane]

I personally love the SuperTed closing theme: [ Show youtube player ]

I don't know what is meant about Skeleton "flaming", neither - I only remember Texas Pete as the main villain, Skeleton as, well, a skeleton, and some obese man as the third villain, but rather a buffoon. I don't know, however, why they would go to such extremes in terms of weight with those two.