The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show
| The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show | |
|---|---|
 Photo of Bill Hanna (right) and Joseph Barbera (left) from a television special for the premiere of their new Secret Squirrel and Atom Ant television program. | |
| Genre | Animation |
| Written by |
Tony Benedict Dalton Sandifer |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of |
Don Messick Howard Morris Janet Waldo Henry Corden Jean Vander Pyl Paul Frees Mel Blanc John Stephenson |
| Composer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera Ted Nichols |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
Screen Gems (1965–1967) Taft Broadcasting (1967–1987) Worldvision Enterprises (1979–1991) Turner Program Services (1991–1996) Telepictures Distribution (1996–2003) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (2003–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 9, 1965 – September 7, 1967 |
The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show was an hour-long Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1965 to 1967 for NBC.
Production
Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel aired 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. For the series' final NBC run under the Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel title, the show was one half-hour long.
The Hillbilly Bears cartoon segments were later repeated during the second season of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1969–1970), and all 52 Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel half-hours 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).
Segments
The program contained several segments:
- Atom Ant: A cartoon about a superheroic ant (voiced by Howard Morris). When he flew he used his catchphrase, "Up and at'em, Atom Ant!"
- Secret Squirrel: The adventures of a secret agent squirrel (voiced by Mel Blanc) and his assistant Morocco Mole (voiced by Paul Frees).
- Squiddly Diddly: A cartoon about a friendly anthropomorphic squid (voiced by Paul Frees) in his quest for stardom while trying to be foiled by Chief Winchley (voiced by John Stephenson).
- Precious Pupp: A cartoon about a dog (voiced by Don Messick) and his elderly lady master Granny Sweet (voiced by Janet Waldo). He is characterized by a sneaky, wheezy laugh, making him a possible precursor to Muttley from 1968's Wacky Races and one of its spinoff.
- 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).
- 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!".
See also
External links
- The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show at the Internet Movie Database
- The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show at TV.com