The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show

The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show was an hour-long Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1965 to 1966 for NBC. Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel aired in reruns independently of each other for the first part of the 1966–1967 season: Precious Pupp and The Hillbilly Bears aired as segments on The Atom Ant Show, while Squiddly Diddly and Winsome Witch aired as segments on The Secret Squirrel Show before recombining into the hour-long format in the winter.
The Hillbilly Bears cartoon segments were later repeated during the second season of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1969–1970), and all 26 Atom Ant (containing Atom Ant, Precious Pupp, Hillbilly Bears) and 26 Secret Squirrel (containing Secret Squirrel, Squiddly Diddly, Winsome Witch) half-hour shows were syndicated as part of The Banana Splits and Friends Show, an umbrella title for a package combining episodes of several different Hanna-Barbera series (the other series included The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Adventures of Gulliver).
Reruns of the series formerly aired on Cartoon Network and Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang.
==Segments==
===Atom Ant===
Atom Ant (originally voiced by Howard Morris, then by Don Messick in later episodes) operated out of an anthill in the countryside, where he possessed such things as a mainframe computer and exercise equipment. His powers mostly consisted of the ability to fly, superspeed, incredible strength, and invulnerability. His catchphrase was "Up and at 'em, Atom Ant!"
He was often contacted by the police, who sent him out on an assignment. Some of these missions parodied those of Batman. The police force was constantly shown to be underfunded and inept, as they relied on Atom Ant to do all their police work. The only two police officers were the chief and deputy chief. The department only possessed one rusted patrol car. Atom Ant fights various villains including recurring ones like Ferocious Flea (voiced by Don Messick) and mad scientist Professor Von Gimmick.
===Secret Squirrel===
The adventures of a secret agent squirrel (voiced by Mel Blanc) who is assisted in his adventures by his fez-wearing sidekick Morocco Mole (also voiced by Paul Frees impersonating Peter Lorre). The pair fights crime and evil enemy agents using cunning and a variety of spy gadgets, including a machine gun cane, a collection of guns kept inside Secret's trench coat, and a variety of devices concealed in his fedora (which he almost never removes).
Secret Squirrel's shorts were a parody of the then-popular spy genre, with most of his shorts' elements satirizing those of the James Bond films. Secret Squirrel was also known as "Agent 000". Beginning in 1993, thirteen new Secret Squirrel cartoons appeared in between the 2 Stupid Dogs episodes, with the updated title, Super Secret Secret Squirrel and a new cast.
===Squiddly Diddly===
A cartoon about a friendly, sailor hat wearing, anthropomorphic squid (voiced by Paul Frees), more octopus than squid in appearance, who is captive in an aquatic park known as Bubbleland, and resides in a pool with his name on it. Squiddly Diddly is an aspiring musician who makes many attempts to escape and attain musical stardom but is constantly foiled by Bubbleland's administrator Chief Winchley (John Stephenson).
In some episodes Squiddly Diddly manages to escape but chooses to return to Bubbleland, considering the outside world to be too harsh. Other times Squiddly and Chief Winchley would have to work together to deal with those who were problematic to Bubbleland. The cartoons sometimes show people applauding Squiddly Diddly's musical talents but often depict terrified people who mistakenly believe that octopuses are hostile.
===Precious Pupp===
A cartoon about Precious Pupp (voiced by Don Messick), a large, mangy dog, and his elderly owner, Granny Sweet (voiced by Janet Waldo). Granny was a kindly woman with a passion for motorcycles, completely oblivious to the fact that her beloved, affectionate pet was something of a neighbourhood terror. He had a habit of slipping behind a victim quietly---sometimes in defense of their home, sometimes just for the fun of it---and jolting him with a ferocious series of barks . . . but never where or when Granny could catch him in the act. Unlike many cartoon animals, Precious didn't speak. His usual vocalism was an asthmatic-sounding, "wheezing" laugh used even more famously by Muttley, a Hanna-Barbera character introduced three years later in Wacky Races.
===The Hillbilly Bears===
A situation comedy (inspired by The Beverly Hillbillies) about the Rugg family of hillbilly bears consisting of Paw Rugg (voiced by Henry Corden), Maw Rugg (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl), Floral Rugg (also voiced by Jean Vander Pyl), and Shag Rugg (voiced by Don Messick).
The Hillbilly Bears played on a social stereotype of the "hillbilly", with a gun toting, mumbling father Paw Rugg who was always "feudin" ("feudin" was usually a lethargic operation, in which the protagonists fired the same bullet back and forth from the comfort of their rocking chairs) with the neighbors the Hoppers.
Paw Rugg's voice was a mumble, splattered with a few understandable words. Particularly in the first episodes, Paw Rugg's voice was incomprehensible; his speech improved with the later episodes. His wife Maw was a homemaker who appeared as the more levelheaded parent, The fur of his daughter Floral had lemon-colored fur (as opposed to the darker-colored fur of Maw, Paw and Shag) and Floral was the southern belle and most sophisticated member of the family while Shag was a troublemaker who looks up to his father.
===Winsome Witch===
A cartoon about a friendly, yet somewhat inept, witch named Winsome Witch (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl). Winnie's catch phrase when casting a spell was "Ippity - Pippity - Pow!" (when the magic spell conjures, the Jet Screamer entrance cue from The Jetsons, is heard). She often flies around on a broom that happens to be magically alive.
==Cast==
*Mel Blanc - Secret Squirrel
*Paul Frees - Morocco Mole, Squidly Diddly
*Don Messick - Ferocious Flea, Precious Pupp, Shag Rugg, Atom Ant (in later episodes)
*Howard Morris - Atom Ant
*Janet Waldo - Granny Sweet
*Henry Corden - Paw Rugg
*Jean Vander Pyl - Floral Rugg, Maw Rugg, Winsome Witch
*John Stephenson - Chief Winchley
==Episodes==
===Atom Ant===
1. Up And Atom
2. Crankenshaft's Monster 
3. Gem-A-Go-Go
4. Ferocious Flea
5. Rambling Robot 
6. Nobody's Fool
7. Atom Ant Meets Karate Ant
8. Fastest Ant In The West
9. Mistaken Identity
10. How Now Bow Wow
11. Dragon Master
12. The Big Gimmick
13. Super Blooper 
14. Wild, Wild Ants
15. Dina-Sore
16. Amusement Park Amazement
17. Bully For Atom Ant
18. Termighty Mean
19. Nine Strikes You're Out
20. Go West Young Ant
21. Knight Fight
22. Pteraducktyl Soup 
23. Up In The Air Squares 
24. Mouser-Rouser 
25. Killer-Diller Gorilla
26. Rock-A-Bye Boo-Boo
===Secret Squirrel===
1. Yellow Pinkie
2. Wolf In Cheap Cheap Clothing 
3. Scotland Yard Caper
4. Sub Swiper
5. Royal Run Around
6. Masked Granny 
7. Robin Hood And His Merry Muggs 
8. Five Is A Crowd
9. It Stopped Training 
10. Wacky Secret Weapon
11. Cuckoo Clock Cuckoo
12. Catty Cornered
13. Leave Wheel Enough Alone
14. Not So Idle Idol
15. Gold Rushed
16. Double Ex-Double Cross
17. Capt. Kidd's Not Kidding 
18. Tusk-Tusk
19. Bold Rush
20. Robot Rout
21. Hi Spy
22. The Pink Sky Mobile 
23. Scuba-Duba Duba
24. Spy In The Sky
25. Ship Of Spies
26. Jester Minute
===Squiddly Diddly===
1. Way Out Squiddly
2. Show Biz Squid
3. The Canvas Back Squid
4. Nervous Service
5. Westward Ha! 
6. Sea Grunt
7. Chief Cook And Bottle Washer
8. Squid On The Skids 
9. Double Trouble
10. Squid Kid
11. Booty And The Beast
12. Clowning Around
13. Surprize Prize
14. Naughty Astronaut
15. The Ghost Is Clear
16. Lucky Ducky
17. Foxy Seal
18. Squiddly Double Diddly
19. Hollywood Folly
20. One Black Knight
21. Yo Ho Ho
22. Phoney Fish
23. Gnatman 
24. Robot Squid
25. Jewel Finger
26. Baby Squidder
===Precious Pupp===
1. Precious Jewels
2. Doggone Dognapper
3. Bites And Gripes
4. Queen Of The Road
5. Crook Out Cook Out
6. Next Of Kin
7. Bowling Pinned
8. Poodle Pandemonium
9. Dog Tracks
10. Sub-Marooned
11. Lady Bugged
12. Test In The West
13. Bones And Groans
14. Butterfly Nut
15. Precious Bone
16. The Bird Watcher
17. Dog Trained
18. Girl Whirl
19. Oliver Twisted
20. Pup, Skip And Jump
21. A Grapple For The Teacher
22. Pot-Time Work
23. A Fiend In Need
24. Ski Sickness 
25. Mascot Massacre
26. A.M. Mayhem
===The Hillbilly Bears===
1. Detour For Sure
2. Woodpecked
3. Anglers Aweigh
4. Stranger Than Friction
5. Goldilocks And The Four Bears
6. Going, Going Gone Gopher
7. Courtin' Disaster
8. Picnic Panicked
9. Judo Kudos
10. Just Plane Around
11. War Games
12. Bricker Brats
13. Slap Happy Grandpappy
14. Pooped Pops
15. Leaky Creek
16. My Fair Hillbilly
17. Rickety Rockety-Raccoon
18. Modern Inconvenience
19. Rabbit Rumble
20. Speckled Heckler
21. Whirly Bear
22. Saucy Saucers
23. Chipper Chirper
24. Gettin' Paws Goat
25. Buzzin' Cuzzins
26. Do The Bear
===Winsome Witch===
1. Have Broom Will Travel
2. Prince Of A Pup
3. Operation Broom Switch
4. The Hansel & Gretel Case
5. The Little Big League
6. Schoolteacher Winnie
7. Good Red Riding Hood
8. Winnie's Baby
9. How Now Cinderella
10. Have Broom Will Zoom
11. Winnie The Sheriff
12. Welcome Wagging
13. Shoo-Spy
14. Wolfcraft Vs. Witchcraft
15. Tallyho The Hunter
16. Witch Hitch
17. Ugly Duckling Trouble
18. Witch Witch is Witch
19. Good Little Scout
20. Potluck
21. Pussycat Man
22. Sheriff Winnie
23. Wee Winnie Witch
24. Sea Dogged
25. Wild Wild Witch
26. Hollywood Or Busted
Category:Shows
Category:1960s shows
Category:Hanna-Barbera Series
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