The Great Grape Ape Show facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Great Grape Ape Show |
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| Genre | Animation Comedy |
| Directed by | Charles A. Nichols |
| Voices of | Bob Holt Marty Ingels |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (10 minutes per segment) |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
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| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 6 – December 13, 1975 |
The Great Grape Ape Show is a fun animated TV show from America. It was made by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show first aired on ABC from September 6 to December 13, 1975. Reruns of the show continued to be shown until 1978.
Contents
Meet Grape Ape and Friends
The main character is a huge, purple gorilla named Grape Ape. He is 40 feet tall, which is about the height of a four-story building! Even though he is so big, he has the mind of a child. Bob Holt provides his voice.
Grape Ape's special saying is "Grape Ape, Grape Ape." He says this twice after almost anything someone else says. It is usually his way of agreeing or showing that he understands. He travels around with his best friend, a dog named Beegle Beagle. Marty Ingels is the voice of Beegle Beagle. Grape Ape calls his pal "Beegly Beagly."
Grape Ape's Big Size
Because Grape Ape is so huge, people often get scared when they first see him. Animals and people usually run away screaming, "YEOW! A gorill-ill-ill-ill-la!"
There was one person who was not scared, though. Her name was Rosie O'Lady, and she appeared in an episode called "The Indian Grape Call." When Beegle Beagle asked her why she did not yell, she simply said, "You've seen one 40-foot purple ape, you've seen them all."
In another episode, "Ali Beagle and the Forty Grapes," even a wooden city sign got scared! It started to show the "YEOW!" phrase as Grape Ape got closer. Beegle Beagle read the sign as it changed. After showing all the "ill[a]" syllables, the sign folded itself up and hopped away in fear.
How They Travel
Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle usually travel in a small yellow van. Beegle Beagle drives the van. Grape Ape sits on the roof, and somehow the van can hold his weight! A funny thing they often do is Grape Ape will "rev up" the tiny van. He does this like a child playing with a toy car. Then he hops on the roof as the van starts to move.
Another funny thing is that when Grape Ape walks, his big steps often make Beegle Beagle bounce into the air. But Beegle Beagle's legs keep walking in the air without missing a beat!
Grape Ape's Special Abilities
Because of his massive size, Grape Ape's sneezes are super powerful. They are like a hurricane! Also, when he cries, his tears can cause floods in areas. He sometimes cries when he misses his family.
When Grape Ape makes a mistake, he always says, "I'm sorry!" He says it so often that Beegle Beagle sometimes knows it is coming. Beegle Beagle will even say it along with him, often in a playful way.
Episodes of the Show
The Great Grape Ape Show had one season with 16 episodes. Each episode usually had two shorter cartoon stories. The show aired from September 6 to December 13, 1975.
One special episode, "S.P.L.A.T.'s Back," aired on Thanksgiving Day in 1975. In this two-part story, Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle have to stop a villain called The Chicken. The Chicken trains birds to steal things. Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle disguise themselves to catch him. They find out The Chicken is actually a birdkeeper in disguise!
Voices You Hear
Many talented actors lent their voices to The Great Grape Ape Show:
- Bob Holt as Grape Ape
- Marty Ingels as Beegle Beagle
- Joan Gerber
- Virginia Gregg
- Bob Hastings
- Allan Melvin
- Don Messick
- Alan Oppenheimer
- Hal Smith
- John Stephenson
- Lurene Tuttle
- Lennie Weinrib
- Frank Welker
- Paul Winchell
Grape Ape in Comics
The TV show was turned into a comic strip in the 1970s by Norbert Fersen. In French, it was called Momo et Ursul.
Grape Ape also had his own short comic book series. It was called The Great Grape Ape and had two issues in 1976. He also appeared in other comic books like Laff-A-Lympics and Hanna-Barbera TV Stars. These were published by Marvel Comics. Later, he appeared in Hanna-Barbera Presents from Archie Comics. Grape Ape even had three annual comics published in England!
Other Appearances of Grape Ape
Grape Ape has appeared in many other cartoons and shows over the years:
- He was part of "The Yogi Yahooeys" team in the Laff-A-Lympics segment. This was on Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics / Scooby's All-Stars from 1977 to 1979. His size changed in this show, sometimes being 40 feet and other times smaller.
- Grape Ape made a quick appearance in the episode "Nebuloc–The Prehistoric Planet" on Yogi's Space Race (1978).
- In the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Chubby Cheese," Grape Ape was one of the robot characters in a show.
- He also had a small role in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy in an episode called "Giant Billy and Mandy All Out Attack."
- Grape Ape was featured in the episode "Grape Juiced" of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.
- On Saturday Night Live, in a TV Funhouse cartoon called The X-Presidents, Grape Ape was shown helping in a fictional cartoon version of the Invasion of Grenada.
- In the Robot Chicken episode "I'm Trapped," Grape Ape was seen in a funny, silly scene.
- Grape Ape made a cameo in the Mad segment "Demise of the Planet of the Apes." He was staying at the Super Ape Motel.
- Both Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle appeared in a 2012 MetLife commercial called "Everyone."
- Grape Ape was mentioned on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014. Someone in Times Square said "grape" when asked to name animals, thinking of Grape Ape!
- Grape Ape appeared in Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak.
- He had a quick appearance on Cartoon Planet episode 10 "Tom Foolery."
- Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle also appeared in a DC Comics comic book, Nightwing/Magilla Gorilla Special #1.
- Grape Ape appears at the end of the movie Scoob!. He is shown as a new member of the Falcon Force team.
Grape Ape Around the World
Here are Grape Ape's names in other languages:
- French: Momo et Ursul (French)
- Italian: Gorilla Lilla (Italian)
- Persian: Gouril Angouri گوریل انگوری (Persian)
- Portuguese: João Grandão (Portuguese)
- Spanish: Simiolón y Listolín (Spanish)
