The Great Grape Ape Show

The Great Grape Ape Show
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 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	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 6, 1975 – September 3, 1978

The Great Grape Ape Show is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on ABC from September 6, 1975 to September 3, 1978.

The title character is a 40-foot purple gorilla (voiced by Bob Holt) with the mind of a child. His catch phrase is saying 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 Beegle Beagle (voiced by Marty Ingels), whom he calls "Beegly Beagly".

Grape Ape's immense size tends to initially shock and frighten those unfamiliar with him, and his presence alone has often terrified people and animals, causing them to run off screaming invariably: "YEOW! It's a gorill-ill-ill-ill-la!". The only exception to this was the character Rosie O'Lady (voiced by Janet Waldo), who appeared in Episode 11, "The Indian Grape Call". When asked by Beagle why she didn't yell in fear like everyone else did upon seeing Grape Ape, she simply said, "You've see one 40-foot purple ape, you've seen them all."

Grape Ape and his friend Beegle Beagle usually move in a small yellow van driven by Beegle Beagle with Grape Ape sitting on the roof which can support his weight. A recurring bit of business would be for him to 'rev up' the tiny vehicle like a child with a friction toy, then hop aboard as the van would start on its way. Also, Grape Ape's steps would often bounce Beegle into the air, where his legs would keep walking without breaking stride.

Given his size, Grape Ape's sneezes were equivalent to a hurricane; and when he cried, which was sometimes when he was homesick for his family, his tears could cause flooding in areas.

The Great Grape Ape Show was broadcast in these following formats on ABC:

The show was originally broadcast as a segment of Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show during the 1975–76 season; for the 1976–77 season, the show became Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show, and in 1977–78, The Great Grape Ape Show became its own half-hour show on Sunday mornings. Thirty-two 10-minute installments of Grape Ape were made; two were aired per 30-minute episode.

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