Grape Ape

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The Great Grape Ape was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that was broadcast on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The titular character is a 40 foot tall gorilla (voiced by Bob Holt) who loves grapes...so much, he goes bananas! His catchphrase is repeating his name twice ("Grape Ape, Grape Ape") after anything anyone says, usually as a form of agreement or acknowledgement of what was said. He travels the countryside with his canine pal (voiced by Marty Ingels), Beegle Beagle (whom he calls "Beegley Beagley"). Grape Ape's immense size tends to initially shock and frighten those unfamiliar with him, and his presence alone has often terrified people, animals, and even a road sign once, causing them to run off screaming invariably: "YEOW! A gorill-ill-ill-ill-la!". Grape Ape and his friend Beegle Beegle usually move in a small yellow car driven by Beegle Beegle while Grape Ape is sitting on the roof.

The show was originally broadcast as one of the segments of The New Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show during the 1975–1976 season. For the 1976–1977 season, the show became The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show, and in 1977 The Great Grape Ape Show became its own half-hour show on Sunday Mornings. 32 10-minute installments of Grape Ape were made; 2 were aired per show. In the 1980s repeats of The Great Grape Ape Show were shown on USA's Cartoon Express; they were later restored and run on Cartoon Network, and are currently shown on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang as part of the Boomerang Zoo package (unlike the showings on the USA Network, Boomerang [in America] only airs the individual 10-minute Grape Ape cartoons instead of the usual generic Great Grape Ape Show half-hour format).

Grape Ape also appeared as a member of the "Yogi Yahooies" team on Laff-a-Lympics, as well as in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, where he was accused of using anabolic steroids.

[edit] Episode list

"That Was No Idol, That Was My Ape" (prod. #79-2)/"The All-American Ape" (prod. #79-1) (first aired 9/6/75)
"Movie Madness" (79-3)/"Trouble At Bad Rock" (79-4) (9/13/75)
"Flying Saucery" (79-5)/"Thar's No Feud Like An Old Feud" (79-6) (9/20/75)
"The Grape Race" (79-7)/"The Big Parade" (79-8) (9/27/75)
"A Knight To Remember" (79-9)/"S.P.L.A.T"* (79-10) (10/4/75)
"G.I. Ape" (79-11)/"The Purple Avenger" (79-12) (10/11/75)
"Grapefinger" (79-13)/"Return To Balaboomba" (79-21) (10/18/75)
"Amazon Ape" (79-15)/"Grape Marks The Spot" (79-16) (10/25/75)
"The Invisible Ape" (79-18)/"Public Grape No. 1" (79-19) (11/1/75)
"The Incredible Shrinking Grape" (79-17)/"What's A Nice Prince Like You Doin' In A Duck Like That?" (79-22) (11/8/75)
"Who's New At The Zoo" (79-14)/"The Indian Grape Call" (79-24) (11/15/75)
"A Grape Is Born" (79-23)/"The First Grape In Space" (79-25) (11/22/75)
"S.P.L.A.T*'s Back" (Part 1) (79-20)/"S.P.L.A.T*'s Back" (Part 2) (79-26) (11/27/75**)
"To Sleep Or Not To Sleep" (79-27)/"Olympic Grape" (79-28) (11/29/75)
"Ali Beagle And The 40 Grapes" (79-29)/"Grape Five-O" (79-31) (12/6/75)
"The Purple Avenger Strikes Again" (79-30)/"The Grape Connection" (79-32) (12/13/75)

* Special Police-Licensed Animal Team.
**Telecast at Noon (EST), Thursday afternoon, November 27, 1975, a Thanksgiving, as part of ABC's Thanksgiving Funshine Festival.

[edit] Production Credits

Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
Directed by Charles A. Nichols
Creative Producer: Iwao Takamoto
Recording Director: Alex Lovy
Assistant Recording Director: Maxine Hoppe
Story: Tom Dagenais, Joel Kane, Jack Mendelsohn, Ray Parker, Duane Poole, Dick Robbins
Storyboard Direction: Don Sheppard, Paul Sommer, Tom Yakutis
Voices: Joan Gerber, Virginia Gregg, Bob Hastings, Bob Holt, Marty Ingels, Allan Melvin, Don Messick, Alan Oppenheimer, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Lurene Tuttle, Lennie Weinrib, Frank Welker, Paul Winchell
Production Design: Bob Singer
Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek
Graphics: Iraj Paran
Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
Layout Unit Supervisor: Owen Fitzgerald
Layout: Pete Alvarado, Dale Barnhart, Bob Givens, Alex Ignatiev, Bill Ignante, Dan Noonan, Tony Rivera, Terry Slade
Animation Supervisor: Jerry Hathcock
Animation: Steve Clark, Izzy Ellis, Hugh Fraser, Bob Hathcock, Bill Hutton, Lou Kachivas, Tony Love, Don Patterson, Ed Parks, Morrie Reden, Ken Southworth, Bob Trochim, Russ Von Neida, Ken Walker
Technical Supervision: Frank Pakier
Checking and Scene Planning: Evelyn Sherwood
Ink And Paint Supervision: Billie Kearns
Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West
Background Supervision: Fernando Montealegre
Background: Fernando Arce, Bill Proctor, John Currin
Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
Supervising Film Editor: Larry Cowan
Editors: Pat Foley, Joe Sandusky, James Yaras, Richard Allen, Terry Moore
Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
Post-Production Supervision: Joed Eaton
Production Manager: Jayne Barbera
Camera: Curt Hall, Roy Wade, Ron Jackson, George Epperson