Uncle Grandpa is an American animated surreal comedy television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network that ran from September 2, 2013, to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from The Cartoonstitute. Uncle Grandpa is also a spin-off of Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, which was in turn a spin-off of The Cartoonstitute short. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios.
The show is a surreal adventure comedy that relies extensively on visual gags and catchphrases. Creator Pete Browngardt has cited the work of cartoonists Virgil Partch, Don Martin, Harvey Kurtzman, Gary Larson, and Robert Crumb, as well as Golden Age–era animators such as Tex Avery and Max Fleischer when it came to developing the style of the show. Browngardt also credited John Kricfalusi for his works. Each 11-minute episode is presented in a unique format, consisting of a main seven to nine-minute story, some short bumpers typically composed of a quick visual joke, and an original short that focuses on the show's side characters.
Cartoon Network renewed the series for the fourth and fifth seasons: first splitting the second season (of 52 episodes) into two halves, which respectively became the second and third season, then dividing in half the already announced third season into the fourth and fifth season (of 26 and 23 episodes, respectively), which served as the final seasons.
The series premiered on Cartoon Network on September 2, 2013. While the pilot was nominated in 2010 for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program, the show itself was awarded in 2014 for the work of Nick Edwards in the category of Outstanding Individual in Animation. Kevin Michael Richardson was also nominated for a Annie Award in 2016 in the category of Best Voice Acting for an Animated TV/Broadcast Production for his work as Mr. Gus in the show. The show on itself received mixed reviews from critics by the time of its release, with praise toward the show's animation and visual humor, while also receiving criticism for its pacing. Retrospective reviews have been more positive, especially after the release of Browngardt's Looney Tunes Cartoons, with critics and viewers alike praising its concept, humor, deranged animation and overall tone.
Plot The series centers on Uncle Grandpa, a comically dumb, yet magical man who claims to be the uncle and grandpa of everyone in the world. He travels in a large RV and appears without warning in the lives of children who are facing personal problems. These problems are often simple at first, such as fear, insecurity, or confusion. Uncle Grandpa attempts to help, though his methods are chaotic and illogical.
Uncle Grandpa is joined by several regular companions. These include Mr. Gus, an anthropomorphic dinosaur who often acts as the voice of reason. Pizza Steve is a loud, arrogant slice of pizza who believes he is extremely cool. Belly Bag is a fanny pack worn by Uncle Grandpa that can produce almost any object. Giant Realistic Flying Tiger also appears as a recurring character and serves as the mode of transportation for the group.
Episodes usually follow a loose structure. Uncle Grandpa arrives, causes disorder, and eventually resolves the child's problem in an unexpected way. The resolution often comes through surreal events rather than clear lessons. The show does not follow continuity. Each episode stands alone, and events reset afterward.
The humor relies on absurdism, slapstick, visual gags, and meta jokes. The series frequently breaks the fourth wall and ignores normal rules of time, space, and logic. Animation styles may change within episodes for comedic effect.
Characters
Main
Uncle Grandpa (voiced by Peter Browngardt), a comically unintelligent, yet magical human who loves helping children with their problems. He wears black overalls with rainbow shoulder straps, a white collar shirt, and a blue propeller hat. His catchphrase is "Good Morning". Mr. Gus (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), a calm, collected, green muscular dinosaur who wears a white sleeveless shirt and usually serves as the voice of reason among Uncle Grandpa's crew. In the episode "Belly Bros", Uncle Grandpa mentions Mr. Gus as being his bodyguard, however, he is rarely seen putting his life on the line to protect him. Pizza Steve (voiced by Adam DeVine), an anthropomorphic prideful slice of pepperoni pizza with sunglasses and a member of Uncle Grandpa's crew of which Uncle Grandpa idolizes. He deems himself to be one of the coolest people in the world and goes out of his way to let others around him know it, even if it means making things up or getting under peoples' skin. Giant Realistic Flying Tiger (voiced by Grey DeLisle), a static photographic cutout of a live-action tiger that Uncle Grandpa rides on to get around and communicates by roaring. The only female of the group, her personality is shown to be that of a stereotypical teenage girl. Belly Bag (voiced by Eric Bauza), Uncle Grandpa's talking red magic fanny pack and best friend that can produce almost any object.
Recurring Tiny Miracle the Robot Boy (voiced by Tom Kenny), Uncle Grandpa's hand built remote control robot that does tasks around the RV. Beary Nice (voiced by Audie Harrison) and Hot Dog Person (voiced by Eric Bauza), are the anthropomorphic bear and hot dog respectively who are the stars of their own recurring segment, "New Experiences". In "Afraid of the Dark", Susie's Beary Nice plush temporarily turns into the monster caused by Susie's and Uncle Grandpa's imagination. Charlie Burgers the Ball-Loving Dog Next Door (voiced by Brian Posehn), a talking dog that befriends Uncle Grandpa and his friends. Santa Claus (voiced by Bob Joles), the famous figure for Christmas and is revealed to be Uncle Grandpa's brother whom he had a troubled relationship with since 1983 in the Christmas special. Frankenstein (voiced by Mark Hamill), based on the character created by Mary Shelly, a tag-along with Uncle Grandpa in his adventures. Xarna, She-Warrior of the Apocalypse (voiced by Eric Bauza), is a muscular female warrior who is on a mission to get gas for her Mad Motorcycle. She is a parody of Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess. Evil Wizard (voiced by Rob Schrab), a wizard who goes around trying to make everyone's day horrible by humiliating them but he actually makes their lives better and his worse. Priscilla Jones (voiced by Lena Headey), Uncle Grandpa's nemesis with a British accent and the main antagonist of the series under the pseudonym "Aunt Grandma", who wants revenge on him for ruining her science project and to usurp him as Aunt Grandma. Crispin Mulcahy (voiced by Michael Dorn), a miniature strongman who gets preserved in gold and becomes the RV's lamp. He later reports on the RV presidential election in "Uncle Grandpa Runs for President". Timmy (voiced by Tom Kenny), is a boy who wanted a "My Chum Charlie" doll in the episode "Christmas Special", and even slept by the Christmas tree to wait for Santa.
Minor Funny Face Head is a villainous mythical photographic cutout of a live-action human head created by Uncle Grandpa that cannot be trusted as seen in the episode of the same name. Bottom Bag (voiced by Tommy Chong), is a villainous fanny pack who is similar to Belly Bag. He is jealous of Belly Bag for being popular and more flexible and tries to replace Belly Bag. Ule Gapa (voiced by Tom Kenny), an unfriendly blue big-mouthed alien with four sharp teeth who is constantly yelling at people. He appears first in an intermission when Uncle Grandpa tells Mr. Gus that his own logo is an imposter and destroys it using magic, and he comes out saying "Hey! YOU'RE NOT ULE GAPA, I'M ULE GAPA!". Tiny Michael (voiced by Tom Kenny), is a human who primarily appearing in the segment "Tiny Michael the Human Boy". Tiny Michael makes tiny Michael happen whenever somebody needs them. Usually, he ends up making things worse in a comical fashion. His catchphrase is "Did somebody say Tiny Michael?".
Human children and adults Belly Kid (voiced by Zachary Gordon), an boy who has a big belly. He was first ashamed of it, but Uncle Grandpa taught him the best features of having a big belly. He appeared in "Belly Bros". Caleb (voiced by Jonathan Adams), a boy that Uncle Grandpa takes out of a math test to go battle Evil Wizard in outer space. He appeared in "Tiger Trails". Melvin (voiced by Jarid Root), a bossy boy who likes to play Space Emperor, with him being the emperor. When Uncle Grandpa accidentally sent him into another dimension, he was sent to a planet where he's the emperor. He discovered what it's like being a servant, and learns his lesson after Emperor Krell bosses him around. He loves dinner sandwiches, and hates mayonnaise. He appeared in "Space Emperor". His catchphrase is "I decide who does what!" Melvin's babysitter (voiced by Grey DeLisle), an attractive teenage girl with braces who babysits Melvin in the episode "Space Emperor". Eric (voiced by Eric Bauza), a boy who doesn't have a nickname, so Uncle Grandpa helps him be legendary to get his nickname. In the process of becoming legendary, he becomes tall and muscular (as a nod to He-Man). In the end he gets the nickname, "Cupcake", because he loves cupcakes. He is named after his voice actor and only appears in "Nickname". Mary (voiced by Pamela Adlon), a nervous teenage girl. She takes her driver's test, but fails. Uncle Grandpa takes her on a test and helps her pass. Uncle Grandpa gives her her own "Freedom and Independence USA" truck for passing her test. She first appears in "Driver's Test". Dennis (voiced by Tom Kenny), a kid who wanted to finally pass his teacher's hard class and avoid going to summer school, until Uncle Grandpa comes and inadvertently eats his homework, which is Great Pyramid of Giza diorama, and putting Dennis in danger of going to summer school. So Dennis and Uncle Grandpa go to Egypt to get one of the pyramids to make sure Dennis gets an A++++-+ on his project. Dennis appears in "Uncle Grandpa Ate My Homework!". "Dr. Ice Cream" (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), is an anthropomorphic ice cream cone disguised as a licensed human medical doctor who gets tricked by Mr. Gus into telling Uncle Grandpa he is at an ice cream parlor, that way, because Uncle Grandpa is afraid of doctors and shots and blows up hospitals because of this, he won't cause any trouble. Mrs. Numty (voiced by Grey DeLisle), Dennis' teacher. She appears in "Uncle Grandpa Ate My Homework!" and "1992 Called"'. Guillermo (voiced by Eric Bauza) – Guillermo is a boy who had an awesome new bike until the Perpetual Persistence crushed it. In Uncle Grandpa and Belly Bag's absence, Mr. Gus and Pizza Steve help Guillermo by giving him a trashcan and saying it was a "Magical Uncle Grandpa Bike". Guillermo appears in "Uncle Grandpa for a Day". Susie (voiced by Grey DeLisle), a little girl who was afraid of the dark, but learned how to combat her fears by imagining herself as a scary monster. She appears in "Afraid of the Dark". Adam (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), is a kid who couldn't become the master of a very hard video game, until Uncle Grandpa and Pizza Steve shrink to get inside his brain to become better at video games. He would always have his eyes barely open showing that he's been playing video games too much, and his eyes are sore from playing too much. Adam appears in "Brain Game". Angry Man Johnson (voiced by Roger Craig Smith), is a grumpy old man who hates Charlie Burgers. Judging by his name, he is always angry at everyone, including Uncle Grandpa. Johnson appears in "Charlie Burgers" and "Fleas Help Me". Austin (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui), is a boy who had a lot of imperfections so he asked Uncle Grandpa to turn him into a cyborg called Austin 2.0 to become the most perfect kid, and to eliminate all imperfections. Austin only appears in "Perfect Kid".