Free Republic

Children's TV classic The Banana Splits is getting a modern makeover. Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky are to star in new comedy shorts and music videos on the Cartoon Network and its website from September. A series of DVDs, live concerts, music CDs, and online games from the anarchic crew are expected to follow. "Everything that made The Banana Splits popular in the '60s is back, including the group's terrific humour and music," said Jordan Sollitto, of Warner Bros.

LONDON -- Jack Wild, the actor appeared who in the movie musical "Oliver!" as the irrepressible Artful Dodger, has died, his agent said Thursday. He was 53. Wild died Wednesday after a battle with mouth cancer, agent Alex Jay said. As a child actor, Wild appeared in a London stage production of "Oliver!", Lionel Bart's adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist." He was cast in the film as cheeky pickpocket the Artful Dodger, earning an Academy Award nomination at the age of 16. He was known to a generation of children as the hero of "HR Pufnstuf," a U.S. television...

Can This Fruit Be Saved? Dan Koeppel “A Banana,” says Juan Fernando Aguilar, “is not just a banana.” The bearded botanist and I are traipsing through one of the world’s most unusual banana plantations, moving down row after row of towering plants and ducking into the shade of broad leaves in an attempt to avoid the Central American midday heat. In an area about the size of a U.S. shopping mall, Aguilar, 46, is growing more than 300 banana varieties. Most commercial growing facilities handle just a single banana type—the one we Americans slice into our morning cereal. The diversity...