Grami's Circus Show

Grami's Circus Show (Korean: 그라미의 서커스 쇼; RR: Geuramiui seokeoseu syo) is a South Korean slapstick comedy 3D animated television series produced by Studio Gale. It aired on KBS1 and is available on Netflix.^[1][2]

Grami's Circus Show
Hangul	그라미의 서커스 쇼
RR	Geuramiui seokeoseu syo
MR	Kŭramiŭi sŏk'ŏsŭ syo
Genre	Slapstick comedy
Written by	Hyeonjung Lee Seungmin Lee Changhwan Shin
Directed by	Changhwan Shin
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	None
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20 (71 segments)
Production
Executive producers	Changhwan Shin Joongmin Park
Producers	Hana Kim Eunee Park Gihyuck Yoon
Editor	Kihing Gil
Production companies	Studio Gale KBS Media
Original release
Network	KBS1
Release	2012 (2012) – 2017 (2017)

Synopsis

Grami, Nemo and Sam, a trio of three lions and a ringmaster Jack train for and perform their circus show.

Characters

Main characters

• Grami (voiced by Yeo Min-jeong): Grami is the title character of the show. He's a lion cub who is very optimistic, never takes anything seriously and never gets upset or sad.
• Jack (voiced by Seok-pil Choi [ko]): Jack is a strict, dignified and hot-tempered ringmaster who wants to get rich by performing circus shows with lions.
• Nemo (voiced by Seok-pil Choi [ko]): Nemo is a lion who came from Africa. He's jealous of Grami. He's dumb, bossy and only uses his power to solve problems. He always wants to gain recognition from Jack.
• Sam (voiced by Um Sang-hyun and Jeon Tae-yeol [ko]): Sam is a weakling lion who used to live in a zoo. Nemo picks on Sam since Sam is tenderhearted and weak. He always wants to relax and sleep.

Recurring characters

• Baboo (voiced by Seok-pil Choi [ko]): Baboo is a baboon who is working as an intern at the circus.
• Rabbits (voiced by Kim Hyeon-ji [ko]): Rabbits are the audience of the circus show.

Voice cast

• Yeo Min-jeong as Grami, various characters
• Seok-pil Choi [ko] as Jack, Nemo, Baboo, various characters
• Um Sang-hyun as Sam, various characters
• Jeon Tae-yeol [ko] as Sam, various characters
• Kim Hyeon-ji [ko] as Rabbits, various characters

Crew

• Director: Chang Hwan Shin
• Writers: Heong Myeong Choe, Chang Hwan Shin
• Producers: Eunee Park, Jun Oh and Yu Kyung Lee
• Executive Producers: Chang Hwan Shin
• Supervising Animator: Ki Hong Gil
• Art Director: Seung Min Lee
• Story Board: Hyeon Myeong Choe, Hye Lim Chun and Seung Min Lee
• Animator: Eun Hee Jung and Gwang Hyun Jung
• Modeling: Kwang Il Ahn
• Lighting Supervisor: Young Suk Kim
• Lighting: Suk Jin Kim, Tae Hwan No, Jun Ho Kim and Hyoung Mo Cho
• Composite: Min Hyeong Chang
• Music By: Mint Condition
• Sound Design: Ji Hee Kim
• Recording & Mixing: Hee Jung Kang

Episodes

Series overview

Series	Segments	Episodes		Originally released
				First released	Last released	Network
1	44	11		18 March 2012 (2012-03-18)	26 July 2014 (2014-07-26)	KBS 1
2	27	9		21 January 2017 (2017-01-21)		Netflix

Season 1

Episode No.	Title
1a	"Juggling"
Grami and Nemo have a juggling contest.
1b	"Tightrope"
Nemo chases Grami across a tightrope.
1c	"Grami & Jack"
Jack has problems with a ladder.
1d	"Grami as a Baby Bird"
Grami is very hungry and sees a bird nest. He tries to get in the nest but the mother bird chases him away. He tries again, this time wearing a baby bird costume. A snake tries to attack the nest but Grami beats up the snake. The snake attacks again but Grami punches the snake away, but breaks an egg in the process. The mother bird and other baby birds beat Grami and throw him out of the nest.
2a	"A Magic Box"
A magic box splits Nemo in half.
2b	"A Merry Go Round"
Grami rides a strange merry-go-round.
2c	"Baboo"
Baboo joins the circus.
2d	"A Rainy Day"
A thunderstorm causes big leaks under the big top.
3a	"Gladiator"
The lions become gladiators.
3b	"A Voodoo Doll"
Baboo stumbles across a voodoo doll.
3c	"Throwing Stars"
Jack discovers that Sam has is very talented with throwing stars and starts a new show with him where Jack puts apples on his head and Sam aims at the apples without hurting Jack. Sam remembers all atrocities Jack committed on him and knowingly misses his target.
3d	"Gomtang, the Courier"
A special delivery puts Nemo on edge.
4a	"Moses Basket"
Jack asks Grami to babysit.
4b	"Pair Skating"
The lions put on an ice skating show.
4c	"Gomtang Band"
Imaginary instruments inspires real rock music.
4d	"The Grim Reaper"
The Grim Reaper visits Jack but Jack is ready and starts beating Grim Reaper. Grami snatches the bone which is hanging around Grim Reaper's neck. Grim Reaper switches clothes with Nemo and Jack mistakenly beats Nemo up. The Grim Reaper takes Grami away instead of Jack.
5a	"The Swan Lake"
The circus performs "Swan Lake."
5b	"Lightning"
A storm livens things up.
5c	"An Excalibur"
A legendary sword causes turmoil.
5d	"A Match Boy"
Grami goes begging in the streets.
6a	"Hello, Nancy"
The circus gets a puppy, but she isn't as harmless as she looks.
6b	"Love Story"
Grami hides from his new admirer.
6c	"A Horrible Vacation"
A vacation goes wrong.
6d	"About Nancy"
Nancy becomes very rich.
7a	"Chameleon"
Nemo finds a chameleon. The chameleon bites Nemo and he gets the colour changing power of chameleon. He plays tricks on his friends using his powers, but he can't control his instinct to eat a fly, gets caught and loses his powers. Others beat him up.
7b	"A Treadmill"
The lions try out a treadmill.
7c	"Astronauts"
The lions undergo astronaut training.
7d	"Horang, The Sergeant Tiger"
A new and tough trainer arrives.
8a	"Guitar Players"
Grami and Nemo play music.
8b	"A Toilet"
The lions get a bathroom lesson.
8c	"A Rubber Duck"
Bath toys go berserk.
8d	"Three Lion Cubs"
The lions learn about when they were cubs.
9a	"Escape from Watertank"
Nemo struggles to escape from a water tank.
9b	"My Lovely Chick"
Grami tries to protect a chick.
9c	"A Ring of Fire"
The lions jump from a ring of fire.
9d	"Alarm Clocks"
New alarm clocks make sleep difficult.
10a	"Jack and the Beanstalk"
Jack climbs a beanstalk and finds a giant Grami.
10b	"Pro-Wrestling"
The lions try out pro wrestling.
10c	"Blowing out Candles"
Nemo has trouble blowing out candles.
10d	"Peter Sam"
The lions put on a play.
11a	"Kung-Fu Fighting"
11b	"Fists of Fury"
11c	"A Trapeze"
11d	"Circus Hero"

Season 2

Episode No.	Title
1a	"A Little Armadillo"
1b	"Nemo in a Swamp"
1c	"A Monster Plant"
2a	"A Mosquito Grami finds a mosquito."
2b	"Captain of the Vine"
2c	"Hula Hoop Show"
3a	"Jungle Fishing"
3b	"Cork, the Baby Elephant"
3c	"Spider's Revenge"
4a	"King of the Jungle"
4b	"Hiccups"
4c	"Strange Vines"
5a	"Jungle Musicians"
5b	"Bananas"
5c	"A Magic Trunk"
6a	"Ice Climbing"
6b	"A Freezing Day"
6c	"Jack's Nightmare"
7a	"Flying Kites"
7b	"Ice Sculpture"
7c	"Saving the Bonfire"
8a	"Grami as a Circus Master"
8b	"A Baby Harp Seal"
8c	"A Despicable Penguin"
9a	"Grami, the Superhero 1"
9b	"Grami, the Superhero 2"
9c	"Christmas Gifts"

Reception

Critical response

Stuart Heritage of The Guardian wrote, "I have to hold my hands up here and admit that I'm slightly obsessed with Grami's Circus Show. I boggle at the audacity of it. It is so spectacularly inappropriate that watching it is like picking a scab. Watching it with a toddler, as I've done by accident, is like playing chicken with object permanence; it's fun in the moment, but the second any of it sinks in is the moment we're all screwed."^[3]

Accolades

In 2014, the series won a Pulcinella award in the category of "TV Series for Teen", being the only Asian show to do so in that year. The show was also in the official selections for the SICAF awards but didn't win.^[4]

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2012	Supertoon Award	Films for Children and Youth	Nominated	[5]
	Annecy Award	TV films	Nominated	[6]
	Stuttgart Award	Cartoons for Teens	Nominated	[7]
2014	SICAF Award	SICAF Kid	Nominated	[4]
	Pulcinella Award	TV series for Teen	Won	[8]
2015	Asian Television Award	Best 3D Animated Programme	Won	[9]