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Animal Kwackers

BRITISH VERSION of the BANANA SPLITS, where none was really needed. Midlands-oriented quartet of musical blokes-in-pantomime-animal-skins, Bongo, Rory, Twang and Boots, descended in animated titles from a flying saucer (this angle was never referred to in the programme), to regale kids with bland songs and a Jackanorian illustrated story about their “adventures”. Then they all fucked off back into the sky, in tacit admittance of the all-too-obvious fact that they needn’t have bothered. Travelling roadshow played a reasonable alternative to crappy pantos with Isla St. Clair and Little And Large, but not by much.

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Lee James Turnock

    April 30, 2010 at 5:05 pm

    Apparently, either Rory or Twang was inhabited (for live performances only) by one Bob Ponton, a member of the British sixties beat group Pandemonium…stranger and stranger. A few years ago I had the ‘pleasure’ of hearing a double album issued by the Kwackers at their height, and I couldn’t help but notice that virtually all the lead vocals sounded like Paul McCartney…

  2. bob ponton

    May 11, 2010 at 8:32 am

    to put the record right i only did the voice over for rory the lion in the second run and wrote the song brand new drum kit i was never in the lion suit only the sound best wishes bob ponton and pandamonium

  3. Lee James Turnock

    May 24, 2010 at 3:29 pm

    Well, that’s me told. I fucking love the internet.

  4. Martin M

    May 24, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    Second scariest thing on telly in the 70’s after Yootha Joyce

    • Joanne Gray

      November 12, 2017 at 9:25 pm

      Even scarier than the Testcard F girl? I still have nightmares about Testcard F.

  5. Lee James Turnock

    May 25, 2010 at 2:49 pm

    Glynn Edwards (the barman in Minder, Yootha Joyce’s real life husband) reckoned men were always after her because she was a terrible flirt. Make of that what you will. Incidentally, have you seen Yootha in the 1973 pilot episode of Open All Hours (screened as part of Ronnie Barker’s ‘Seven of One’ series)? She’s the dead spit of Amy Winehouse, black beehive and all.

  6. George White

    March 23, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    Wasn’t Gyles Brandreth in one of the suits?

    One of many myriad Banana Splits imitations, eg Animal Antics, a SOV Texan short, the only person in it being Kaci Fannin, who appeared with James Brown in a film and another film directed by the man behind MJ Simpson/SFX BBFC-baiting SOV “cult” film The Pope of Utah, one of those Screen Edge releases. Also in a PBS series with the chick who starred in Roger Corman’s Black Scorpion series.

  7. George White

    March 23, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    only person who did anything else, that is.

  8. George White

    April 29, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    Anyone still know if Brandreth was one of the Kwackers?

    Richard Linklater starlet Jo Perkins and Shondra Marie (Chris Evans’ Puncture, Dermot Mulroney’s Sacrifice, Ghosts of Hurdle Avenue) were in Kaci Fannin’s Angel of Mercy and Fannin’s webseries Royal Roundtable and Donque Deblanc from Dawna Heising’s Two Nations

  9. George White

    April 29, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    ice blue hbo 1992 Richard Linklater starlet Jo Perkins and Shondra Marie (Chris Evans’ Puncture, Dermot Mulroney’s Sacrifice, Ghosts of Hurdle Avenue) were in Amelia Rico/Kaci Fannin’s Angel of Mercy and Fannin’s webseries Royal Roundtable and Donque Deblanc from Dawna Heising’s Two Nations

  10. Joanne Gray

    November 12, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    Can I point out an error? Animal Kwackers was actually made by Yorkshire, not ATV.

    • Rachel Collins-Lister

      September 30, 2019 at 6:00 pm

      Aye, it was. They’ve probably made that mistake ‘cos of the band’s resemblance to Slade / Wizzard / ELO and the programme’s resemblance to early ’90s Wonder Stuff videos.

  11. Droogie

    November 15, 2017 at 3:52 pm

    The show really creeped me out as a kid. I adored The Banana Splits, but they had higher production values, and the speeded-up psychedelia of the show made it look more like a real-life cartoon. Animal Kwackers however just looked like a bunch of blokes in moth-eaten costumes.

  12. richardpd

    October 1, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    The live action Wonmbles were another furry costume band, with Mike “Bright Eyes” Batt & Chris “Motorbiking” Spedding among others in the suits.

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