n their quest to come up with an original premise for a cartoon Hanna-Barbera Productions outdid themselves when they thought up the 40 foot tall purple primate called Grape Ape and his best pal Beegle Beagle (or, "Beegly Beagly" according to Grape Ape). The two traveled around in a yellow van, with Beegle Beagle driving and the oversized Grape Ape crouching on top. They of course regularly found themselves in interesting and unusual predicaments, which allowed for Grape Ape to showcase his immense height or strength when overcoming obstacles.

A common sight gag involved Beegle Beagle introducing himself with Grape Ape standing right beside him - but the gorilla was so big that people failed to see him. When Beegle Beagle then pointed out his tall friend the other person would notice him for the first time and freak out exclaiming, "Yikes! It's a goril-l-l-l-l-la!" (accompanied by the mandatory feet off the ground and bug-eyed look essential to good comedy). The person then panicked and dove for a place to hide. They never needed fear though, because Grape Ape was a gentle giant without a mean bone in his body.

As a side note, even though Grape Ape's stated height was 40 feet, the animators varied his size pretty considerably depending on the situation he was in. At times he could stand in a room, and at other times he exceeded the height of objects like the Washington Monument (555 feet 5 inches). His size could change drastically from one scene to the next, but then again, are there any authorities on giant purple gorillas who can dispute the animators' credibility? Probably not.

Grape Ape ........................................... Bob Holt

That Was No Idol, That Was My Ape / The All American Ape

Movie Madness / Trouble Of Bad Rock

Flying Saucery / There's No Feud Like An Old Feud

The Grape Race / The Big Parade

A Knight To Remember / S.P.L.A.T.

G.I. Ape / The Purple Avenger

Grapefinger / Return to Balaboomba

Amazon Ape / Grape Marks The Spot

The Invisible Ape / Public Grape No. 1

The Incredible Shrinking Ape / What's A Nice Prince Like You Doing In A Duck Like That

Who's New At The Zoo / The Indian Grape Call

A Grape Is Born / The First Grape In Space

S.P.L.A.T.'s Back, Part 1 / S.P.L.A.T.'s Back, Part 2

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep / Olympic Grape

Ali Beagle And The Forty Grapes / Grape 5-O

The Purple Avenger Strikes Again / The Grape Connection