Grampu facts for kids

Grampu is a fun character from the TV show Oobi. He is a special kind of puppet made from a hand with eyes. Grampu is the grandpa of the show's main character, Oobi.

He was created by Josh Selig and first appeared on TV in the year 2000. An actor named Tyler Bunch, who is a puppeteer, played Grampu.

Grampu's Role in the Show

Grampu is an older character in the show. He lives with his two grandkids, Oobi and Uma. You never see or hear about their parents or grandma. This means Grampu is the one who takes care of them.

He loves to teach Oobi and Uma about the world. He shows them how to do new things. A funny thing that often happens in the show is that Grampu is a bit unlucky. He usually ends up cleaning up messes that the kids make!

Grampu really enjoys cooking and growing plants. He has a lovely garden. When he's in the kitchen, he wears a big chef's hat and an apron. Grampu is also in love with Inka. She is an older woman from France who teaches Oobi how to play the piano. Grampu and Inka like to go on dates and eat special food together.

Grampu has hazel-colored eyes. He doesn't wear any clothes. His hand is shaped differently from the other characters. His fingers are curled into a fist. This makes him look taller and gives him a unique, toothless smile.

How Grampu Was Created

Grampu was created by Josh Selig. He is the person who made the entire Oobi show. Josh Selig wanted to show a different kind of family on TV. He wanted to show that families can be unique. That's why he thought of Oobi and Uma living with their grandpa.

When Oobi first started, it had short, two-minute stories. In these early episodes, Grampu was not a main character. He didn't appear very often. But when the show became a longer, half-hour program, Grampu got a much bigger part.

The people who wrote the show used Grampu to help the kids. He would give them advice. He also acted as a contrasting character to the kids. This helped show their different personalities. Grampu started appearing in almost every episode.

Tyler Bunch was the actor who played Grampu. Bunch is a skilled puppeteer. He is also known for his work on Sesame Street. To make Grampu look like an old, hairy man, Tyler Bunch never shaved his arm while filming. This was different from the other actors. They played kid characters and had to shave their arms. Bunch even had someone file his nails every week to keep Grampu's look just right.

Grampu in Other Places

Grampu has appeared in other places besides the Oobi TV show. From 2006 to 2013, you could buy toy versions of Grampu's puppet eyes. These eyes were made of acrylic material. They were sold online at a website called OobiEyes.com. You could get them in different sizes for kids' and adults' hands.

In 2007, Grampu was shown several times on a talk show called The Soup. This happened when the show featured clips from Oobi. These clips were part of a section called "What the Kids Are Watching." The host, Joel McHale, would make funny comments about scenes from kids' shows.

Grampu also appeared in a video made by the YouTube star Shane Dawson. This was in November 2009. Shane Dawson used his own hands to pretend to be Oobi and Grampu.

In 2012, a new show called Oobi: Dasdasi was made. It was a spin-off from the original Oobi show. In this new show, Grampu was changed into a character called "Grandpa." He had a very similar role to the original Grampu.

Images for kids

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  The main cast, from left to right: Tim Lagasse, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Tyler Bunch, and Noel MacNeal.

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  Plastic hand puppet eyes, like these, were given out at Oobi-themed events.