Here Comes the Grump

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Here Comes the Grump was an animated cartoon series created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. 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 travelled 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 was very creative for its time (1969-1971) and the colors had psychedelic influences, predominantly 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 lasted one season and was rerun, the most recent being the airing on the SciFi Channel in mid 1990s. The complete collection DVD was released in January 31, 2006.

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