THE GREAT GRAPE APE SHOW

 

THE GREAT GRAPE APE SHOW
(ABC, September 6-December 13, 1975)
 
Hanna-Barbera Productions

  

MAIN CAST:
Bob Holt – Grape Ape
Marty Ingles – Beegle Beagle

 

            Perhaps it was coincidence that a remake of King Kong was in production and set to be filmed and released the following year, but Hanna-Barbera ended up entering the giant ape business themselves with the creation of Grape Ape (Bob Holt).

Grape Ape riding atop Beegle Beagle's van.

            Grape Ape was a 40-foot-tall purple gorilla from the island of Balaboomba with a child-like mentality, emphasized by his catch phrase of saying his name twice, and a wild love of eating grapes. He was in the company of an anthropomorphic dog named Beegle Beagle (Marty Ingles), or as Grape called him “Beegly Beagly”. Like most other Hanna-Barbera programs, Grape and Beegle travelled around the world and found themselves in a series of misadventures; from joining a football team or the Army to becoming enlisted as crime-fighters against diabolical villains or astronauts for NASA. Their primary mode of transportation was a yellow van driven by Beegle, upon which Grape rode on the top. A recurring gag would sometimes see Grape revving up the van like a friction toy and then hopping aboard when it was on the move. Borrowing an element from the Casper the Friendly Ghost serials, another running gag featured those first encountering the gentle Grape crying out in fear and running away (with the exception of Rosie O’Lady from the segment “The Indian Grape Call”, voiced by Janet Waldo). Given his size and naivete, Grape often caused trouble either by accident or through manipulation and always followed it with a genuine “I’m sorry!” (which had become frequent enough for Beegle to say along with him in a playfully mocking way).

Grape and Beegle join the Army.

            The Great Grape Ape Show debuted on ABC on September 6, 1975. Each episode contained two story segments, with the exception of the special full-story episode “S.P.L.A.T.’s Back” (albeit broken up into two parts) that aired as part of ABC’s Thanksgiving Funshine Festival on Thanksgiving Day. Although only lasting for a single season, the series remained on the network for three years. For the first two, it was paired up with Hanna-Barbera’s rendition of cat and mouse team Tom and Jerry from The Tom and Jerry Show. They originally aired as the Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show, then were joined the following year by The Mumbly Cartoon Show to become the Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show. For its final year, Grape Ape aired independently under its own title after moving to the Sunday morning schedule. The series was written by Tom Dagenais, Joel Kane, Jack Mendelsohn, Ray Parker, Duane Poole and Dick Robbins, with music by Hoyt Curtin and Paul DeKorte. Other featured actors in various roles included Joan Gerber, Virginia Gregg, Bob Hastings, Allan Melvin, Don Messick, Alan Oppenheimer, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Lurene Tuttle, Lennie Weinrib, Frank Welker and Paul Winchell.

Grape goes for the flighty girls.

            The series featured a number of pop culture references; heavily borrowing on concepts for its story ideas and characters. The segment “Trouble at Bad Rock” had its title influenced by 1955’s Bad Day at Black Rock. Villain Doctor Dolottle, who utilized trained animals to steal from the segment “S.P.L.A.T.”, was based on Hugh Lofting’s animal-speaking Doctor Dolittle character (whom Holt previously voiced in DePatie-Freleng’s The Further Adventures of Doctor Dolittle). The segment title “Grapefinger” and its titular villain were based on the title and character from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger; and, as the name implied, he was obsessed with grapes rather than gold. The world’s greatest hunter seen in “Return to Balaboomba” and “Who’s New at the Zoo”, Bring ‘em Back Bogie, was based on a combination of actor Humphrey Bogart and animal collector Frank Buck. “Grape Five-O” took its title from police series Hawaii Five-O, and “The Grape Connection” from the 1971 film The French Connection.

Grape Ape: football hero.

           Although never again a headliner, Grape would appear as one of the featured characters in Laff-A-Lympics as a member of the Yogi Yahooeys alongside Hanna-Barbera’s other anthropomorphic animal stars. From there, Grape would only make guest appearances and cameos over the years. He appeared in an episode of Yogi’s Space Race, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Cartoon Planet and Teen Titans Go!; as an animatronic (voiced by Jeff Bennett) in an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory; alongside Beegle (Doug Preis) in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, voiced by John Michael Higgins; as the victim of a misunderstanding with police in an episode of Robot Chicken; in a parody of a pro-war propaganda cartoon as part of The X-Presidents recurring sketch in Saturday Night Live’s TV Funhouse segment, voiced by segment creator Robert Smigel; as an occupant of the Super Ape Motel in the Mad segment “Demise of the Planet of the Apes”; featured with Beegle in the 2012 MetLife commercial “Everyone”; as a guest in Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak voiced by Dave Willis; at the end of the film Scoob! as a new recruit to the super team led by Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg); as a public nuisance in an episode of Jellystone!, voiced by C.H. Greenblatt; and with Beegle in the 2021 special Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now.

Close encounters of the Grape kind.

            Charlton Comics published two issues of The Great Grape Ape in 1976. Grape next appeared in an Australian one-shot in 1977 from K.G. Murray Publishers and Marvel Comics’ Laff-A-Lympics and Hanna-Barbera TV Stars #1 (although he appeared on the cover for the next two issues) between 1978-79. K.G. would reprint TV Stars #1 as The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera TV Stars #1. During this time, he also appeared in three comic annuals in the United Kingdom from Stafford Pemberton Publishing Ltd. and in a comic strip adapted by Norbert Fersen under the series’ French-translated name, Momo et Ursul. Grape would return to American comics with Archie Comics’ Hanna-Barbera Presents #6 in 1996 and in slightly more realistic form with Beegle in the 2018 DC Comics special, Nightwing/Magilla Gorilla.

Grape rescues his parents.

            In 1976, Rand McNally published a Grape Ape storybook, followed by three coloring books the following year. In France, Junior Productions also released a storybook with stickers in 1977. McCall’s produced iron-on transfers of Beegle and Grape, and Milton Bradley a board game. In 1985, a 13” plush doll of Grape was distributed by a company called Presents. More recently, Funko would release figurines as part of their POP! and Vinyl Soda lines, a Pez dispenser, and a coin bank. “There’s No Feud Like an Old Feud”, “Ali Beegle and the 40 Grapes”, “Public Grape No. 1”, “A Knight to Remember” and “The First Grape in Space” were released on Super 8 by Techno Film in the United Kingdom. The first episode was released onto DVD by Warner Home Video on the compilation Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Vol. 2 in 2009, which was later collected with the other volumes in 2018. Full episodes are available for purchase on YouTube.

      

EPISODE GUIDE:

“That Was No Idol, That Was My Ape / The All-American Ape” (9/6/75) – A trip to Hawaii finds Grape replacing a purple idol…and inadvertently signaling that a volcano will erupt. / Grape ends up drafted onto a football team to help save their coach’s job, but a rival coach plans to thwart his plans and abducts Grape.

 

“Movie Madness / Trouble at Bad Rock” (9/13/75) – Grape is hired by a movie to replace a malfunctioning ape robot and its creator is none too happy about it. / Beegle ends up becoming the sheriff of a town besieged by a diminutive villain.

 

“Flying Saucery / There’s No Feud Like an Old Feud” (9/20/75) – Beegle and Grape are abducted by aliens, and their simple natures allow the aliens to think Earth is ripe for invasion. / In the countryside, Beegle and Grape get involved with an old family feud.

 

“The Grape Race / The Big Parade” (9/27/75) – Grape and Beegle agree to test a new state-of-the-art racecar, but their opponents would do anything to win. / Grape falls in love with a baby gorilla balloon a thief used to hide a stolen diamond.

 

“A Knight to Remember / S.P.L.A.T.” (10/4/75) – Grape and Beegle are sent back in time and end up helping King Arthur against evil sorceress Evil Lynn. / When Dr. Dolottle uses trained animals to rob Fort Knox, the police chief forms the Special Police-Licensed Animal Team to thwart him.

 

“G.I. Ape / The Purple Avenger” (10/11/75) – Beegle and Grape accidentally join the Army and their commanding officers would do anything to get rid of them. / Grape adopts a superhero identity to save a town from an over-taxing tyrant.

 

“Grapefinger / Return to Balaboomba” (10/18/75) – Grape his hired to put an end to a villain’s schemes to steal all the grapes in the world. / Beegle takes a homesick Grape home where they end up having to rescue his parents from a great hunter.

 

“Amazon Ape / Grape Marks the Spot” (10/25/75) – Beegle and Grape help a scientist find a lost South American city in the Amazon. / A pirate trails Grape and Beegle as they follow a treasure map.

 

“The Invisible Ape / Public Grape No. 1” (11/1/75) – Two thieves attempt to abduct a scientist who invented an invisibility formula, but end up with an invisible Grape instead. / A phony Beegle replaces the real one and tricks Grape into stealing national monuments.

 

“The Incredible Shrinking Grape / What’s a Nice Prince Like You Doing in a Duck Like That?” (11/8/75) – After being accidentally shrunken, Grape is captured by a ruthless ringmaster to be put in his circus. / Beegle and Grape must help a prince overcome a curse placed on him by an evil hermit.

 

“Who’s New at the Zoo / The Indian Grape Call” (11/15/75) – Grape must rescue his parents from the zoo. / Grape and Beegle work as Mounties and must protect a young girl’s land from an evil developer.

 

“A Grape is Born / The First Grape in Space” (11/22/75) – A talent show leads to Grape becoming a rock star that a shifty manager wants to take advantage of. / Beegle and Grape head to NASA with a desire to become astronauts.

 

“S.P.L.A.T.’s Back Part 1 / S.P.L.A.T.’s Back Part 2” (11/27/75) – S.P.L.A.T. is re-formed when a giant chicken and an army of birds commit crimes across the city. / Beegle goes undercover as part of the chicken’s gang while Grape secretly follows them.

 

“To Sleep or Not to Sleep / Olympic Grape” (11/29/75) – A promoter wants Grape to do the acrobatic stunts he does in his sleep over the Grand Canyon, but Grape is afraid of heights. / Grape must replace the snowed-in US Olympic team at the games all by himself against a robotic opponent from Evilonia.

 

“Ali Beagle and the 40 Grapes / Grape Five-O” (12/6/75) – Beegle and Grape must recover a magic lamp from a carpet-riding villain. / Beegle and Grape must stop Mr. Y from stealing Aloha Island to add to his own personal continent.

 

“The Purple Avenger Strikes Again / The Grape Connection” (12/13/75) – Grape dons his superhero identity again to help an oppressed village that mistakes hm for a local hero. / Beegle and Grape are hired to recover the world’s largest ruby that was stolen from a French museum.