Professor Grampy is an

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

cartoon character appearing in the ''

Betty Boop Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...

'' series of shorts produced by

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków, in Austrian Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development ...

and released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. He appeared in nine of the later ''Betty Boop'' cartoons beginning with '' Betty Boop and Grampy'' (1935). He had a starring role in the "Color Classic" '' Christmas Comes But Once a Year'' (1936). Grampy is an ever-cheerful and energetic senior citizen with a bald, dome-shaped head, white beard, and black nose (depicted with a red nose in color productions). One author speculates that the character's design may suggest he is

Ko-Ko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer. His first appearance as the main protagonist in ''Out of the Inkwell'' (1918–1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adven ...

in retirement. His primary activities include singing, dancing and building

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), better known as Rube Goldberg (), was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated ...

-esque devices out of ordinary household items. When presented with an unexpected problem, he puts on his thinking cap (a

mortarboard The square academic cap, graduate cap, cap, mortarboard (because of its similarity in appearance to the mortarboard used by brickmasons to hold mortar) or Oxford cap is an item of academic dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upo ...

with a

lightbulb Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James Bay * Electric Light ( ...

on top). In short order, the lightbulb lights up as Grampy exclaims, "Hooray, I've got it!" and builds a new gadget to solve the problem. The character was possibly based upon Max's brother, Charles, an inventor, one of whose creations was the clawing device that (in 2021) is still omnipresent in arcades and standalone toys. It is not clear whether Grampy is actually related to Betty Boop, because everyone calls him "Grampy" and he seems to be equally affectionate to almost everyone he meets. There is also some inconsistency as to living arrangements. In some cartoons like '' Betty Boop and Grampy'' and '' House Cleaning Blues,'' he and Betty live in separate houses. However, in '' The Impractical Joker,'' he lives in an upper floor. The identity of Grampy's voice actor has been subject to debate. The

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

credits

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Jack Mercer Winfield Bennett Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), known professionally as Jack Mercer, was an American voice actor. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and Felix the Cat. The son of vaudevil ...

, while the character's article on

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

indicated that standard reference sources didn't name Grampy's voice actor, aside from some isolated mentions crediting Everett Clark for the role. Grampy appeared in nine of the later ''Betty Boop'' cartoons in the mid-1930s, often having a larger role than Betty. He also made one appearance without Betty, in the aforementioned ''Christmas Comes But Once a Year''.

Filmography

*'' Betty Boop and Grampy'' (1935) *'' A Song a Day'' (1936) *'' Grampy's Indoor Outing'' (1936) *'' Be Human'' (1936) *'' Christmas Comes But Once a Year'' (1936) *'' House Cleaning Blues'' (1937) *'' The Impractical Joker'' (1937) *'' The Candid Candidate'' (1937) *''

Service with a Smile ''Service with a Smile'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 15 October 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on 17 August 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London.McIlvaine (1990), pp. ...

'' (1937) *'' Zula Hula'' (1937)

References

Animated human characters Fleischer Studios series and characters Fictional inventors Male characters in animation Film characters introduced in 1935 Animated characters introduced in 1935 {{animation-char-stub