Here Comes the Grump is an animated cartoon series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and aired on NBC from 1969 to 1971.

History

The main character was a small, grumpy wizard who had put a spell of melancholy on the kingdom of the Princess Dawn. The Princess and her friend Terry Dexter (a boy from the "real" world) searched for the Cave of the Whispering Orchids where they would find a crystal key to break the spell while the Grump tried to stop them.

The Princess also had a pet creature, Bip, who looked like a cross between a dog and an octopus, that could sniff clues like a hound dog. In most chapters, the Princess and her friends traveled in a flying car that was supported by a big balloon.

The premise of the series was that in each episode the Grump would fly on a dragon following Terry and Princess Dawn, searching for the cave. This led them to bizarre places with strange characters, such as the Blabbermouth of Echo Island, where the mountains were made of living Swiss cheese.

The series' artwork showed significant psychedelic influences, predominantly in the uses of the colors red and pink. The Grump himself wore a pink outfit and the Princess' creature was red. A recurring gag was that at the very last minute when the Grump was about to catch up with Princess Dawn, the Dragon would sneeze and burn the little wizard.

The character of the Grump was based upon Yosemite Sam; both were created by Friz Freleng. The Grump's Dragon was the same exact one Sam had in Knighty Knight Bugs, right down to the fiery nasal explosions upon its master.

The series was called Ahi viene cascarrabias in Spanish and was in re-transmitted up to the 1980s by Televisa.

The series lasted one season and was rerun, the most recent being the airing on the Sci-Fi Channel in the mid 1990s. The complete series was released on DVD on January 31, 2006.

Data

The series was broadcasted by NBC from September 6 to December 27, 1969. NBC continued to air reruns until December 28, 1970.

Episode Guide

There were 17 episodes, each containing two ten-minute shorts, giving a total of 34 separate cartoons.

1. The Bloodywine Battle (First aired: 9/6/1969)

2. The Great Grump Crunch (First aired: 9/13/1969)

3. The Great Thorn Forest (First aired: 9/20/1969)

4. The Eenie Meenie Miner (First aired: 9/27/1969)

5. The Good Ghost Ship (First aired: 10/4/1969)

6. Grump Meets Peter Paintbrush (First aired: 10/11/1969)

7. The Lemonade Sea (First aired: 10/18/1969)

8. Beware Of Giants (First aired: 10/25/1969)

9. Joltin' Jack In Boxia (First aired: 11/1/1969)

10. Visit To A Ghost Town (First aired: 11/8/1969)

11. A Mess For King Midix (First aired: 11/15/1969)

12. The Show Of Shoe-Cago (First aired: 11/22/1969)

13. Witch Is Witch? (First aired: 11/29/1969)

14. The Yuks Of Gagville (First aired: 12/6/1969)

15. Toilin' Toolie Birds (First aired: 12/13/1969)

16. Grand Slam Of Door City (First aired: 12/20/1969)

17. Under The Pea Green Sea (First aired: 12/27/1969)

18. Sugar And Spite (First aired: 1/3/1970)

19. The Great Shampoo Of Snow White City (First aired: 1/10/1970)

20. The Grump Meets The Grough-Grooch (First aired: 1/17/1970)

21. The Wily Wheelies (First aired: 1/24/1970)

22. The Blabbermouth Of Echo Island (First aired: 1/31/1970)

23. With Malice In Blunderland (First aired: 2/7/1970)

24. Apachoo Choo Choo (First aired: 2/14/1970)

25. A Hitch In Time (First aired: 2/21/1970)

26. The Shaky Shutter Bugs (First aired: 2/28/1970)

27. Sno Land Like Snow Land (First aired: 3/7/1970)

28. Good Grief, Mother Goose (First aired: 3/14/1970)

29. The Bailed Up Bloonywoonies (First aired: 3/21/1970)

30. Cherub Land (First aired: 3/28/1970)

31. Meet The Blockheads (First aired: 4/4/1970)

32. Hoppy Go Lucky Hippetty Hoppies (First aired: 4/11/1970)

33. Blunderland Flying Machine (First aired: 4/18/1970)

34. The Absent-Minded Wizard (First aired: 4/25/1970)

Voices

• Rip Taylor - The Grump
• Stefanianna Christopher - Princess Dawn
• Jay North - Terry Dexter
• Avery Schreiber
• Marvin Miller
• Athena Lorde
• Larry D. Mann
• June Foray

Staff

• Direction: Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis, George Gordon, Sid Marcus, Hawley Pratt, Grant Simmons
• Story Supervision: John W. Dunn
• Stories: Don Christensen, Nick George, Bill Lutz
• Layout: Pete Alvarado, Bob Givens, Herb Johnson, Jack Miller, Dick Ung, Don Sheppard, Martin Studler, Al Wilson
• Character Design: Art Leonardi
• Animation: Warren Batchelder, Bob Bentley, William Carney, Edward DeMattia, Xenia, John Gibbs, Manny Gould, Ed Love, Ed Rehberg, Manny Perez, Bob Richardson, Ed Solomon, Robert Taylor, Lloyd Vaughan, Don Williams
• Backgrounds: Richard Thomas, Mary O'Loughlin, Tom O'Loughlin
• Film Editing Supervised by Lee Gunther
• Film Editing: Allan Potter, Todd McKay, Lloyd Friedgen
• Music: Doug Goodwin
• Production Supervision: Jim Foss
• Prod. Coordinator: Harry Love
• Sound by Producers' Sound Service, Inc.
• Produced by David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng

External links

• DePatie-Freleng fansite