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The Bootleg Files: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

BOOTLEG FILES 600: “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour” (1968-70 television series).

LAST SEEN: Bits and pieces can be found on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is a bit complicated.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not in its original form.

Contemporary children’s television is a fairly boring scene that offers little in the way of genuine fun for the young viewers. Indeed, some shows are so lacking in energy and personality that you can’t help but wonder if the programming is designed to narcotize the kiddie audience into a state of numbness.

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Mike Tyson Mysteries: Season One Uncensored (DVD)

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“Mike Tyson Mysteries” isn’t just a fun self aware satire of Mike Tyson, who seems to have a good time poking fun at himself, but is also a really clever poke at Hanna Barbera. Everything from a talking animal sidekick (incidentally a talking pigeon), a snooty ghost, geeky teen detective, and absurd mysteries make “Mike Tyson Mysteries” a hilarious series. Even the notion of basing a series around a random celebrity is typical seventies Hanna Barbera. Even the DVD for the first season is sorted out like one of the Hanna Barbera Archive releases for one of their many obscure series. That much attention to detail just has to be appreciated.

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The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1979)

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I fondly remember renting “Meet Rockula and Frankenstone” quite often from our local videos store when I was a kid, and thankfully the movie genuinely holds up. Like all great comedy series, the Flintstones have had their share of crossovers, and this time they have the misfortune of meeting Dracula and Frankenstone. Or their stone age counterparts, as it were. While it’s not raucously funny as when Abbot and Costello met them, it’s a darn good short movie with the Flintstones doing what they do best.

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Scooby Doo Meets KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015)

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If you’re one of the many KISS fans that have always wondered what a sequel to “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park” would look like, look no further. “Scooby Doo Meets KISS” should be more aptly titled “KISS Meets the Crimson Witch featuring Scooby Doo.” In all honesty, while this is primarily a cartoon for the Scooby Doo franchise, the majority of the film is based around KISS and their magical presences. Even the opening sequence is comprised of wonderful animated KISS montages with “Rock and Roll All Night” playing rather than the Scooby Doo theme song.

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Scooby-Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery (2014) [DVD/Blu-ray/Digital]

The Scooby gang have come across almost every popular star since they were introduced on television. From the Harlem Globetrotters to Batman and Robin, no one was off limits to them. Surely enough with WWE ruling the sports world currently, their crossover with the Scooby gang was not only inevitable but it makes perfect sense, when you consider it. They met The Harlem Globetrotters. Mike Piazza. KISS. This was a long time coming.

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Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: The Complete Series (DVD)

c-cavemanPretty much all of the later series from Hanna Barbera included a group of snot nosed teens solving crime along with some odd sidekick. After “Scooby Doo” the company repeated the successful formula thirty times with varied results. Often times it was incredibly awful like “Jabberjaw” and sometimes it was fun like “Space Ghost.” One of the last Hanna Barbera shows to feature that awkward laugh track addition, “Captain Caveman” mixes the studios odd fixation on the stone age, with crime solving teens, and the whole “Scooby Doo” formula to create a pretty decent animated adventure show.

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Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch!: The Complete Animated Series (DVD)

h-bearsHelp! It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!” is best left for nostalgia fans and animation collectors. While it’s by no means the worst of the Hanna Barbera animated shows, it’s yet another of their derivative titles. If you think you’ve seen Help! It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!” before then you have. It was called “Yogi Bear.”

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