Secret Squirrel
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2012) |
| Secret Squirrel | |
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 Secret Squirrel Title Card |
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| Genre | Cartoon |
| Created by | Hanna-Barbera |
| Voices of | Mel Blanc Paul Frees |
| Original language(s) | English |
Secret Squirrel is a funny animal cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera, and also the name of his segment in the The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, which debuted in 1965. He was given his own show in 1966, but was reunited with Atom Ant for one more season in 1967. Secret first appeared in a prime-time animated special called The World of Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel, which aired on NBC on September 12, 1965.
The Secret Squirrel half-hours included three individual cartoon segments: "Secret Squirrel," "Squiddly Diddly," and "Winsome Witch." 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. As of September 5, 2011, episode reruns returned on Boomerang from Cartoon Network.
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Character profile[edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2012) |
Secret Squirrel (voiced by Mel Blanc) serves as a secret agent, taking orders from his superior Double-Q (voiced by Paul Frees) of the International Sneaky Service. His designation is Agent 000.[1] Secret Squirrel is assisted in his adventures by 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 recurring arch-enemy is Yellow Pinkie (also voiced by Frees), a parody of both Auric Goldfinger from Goldfinger and of Sydney Greenstreet's portrayal of the Kasper Gutman character from Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon. The last episodes introduced Hy-Spy (again voiced by Frees), the master of scientific criminology.
Broadcast history[edit]
SS's debut was on September 12, 1965 in The World of Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel prime-time special on NBC. The original series was broadcast from October 2, 1965 to September 2, 1967. Secret Squirrel had his own show in 1966 and was then reunited with Atom Ant in 1967 until 1968. Episodes were broadcast in syndication and as part of The Banana Splits variety and compilation series.
The new series Super Secret Secret Squirrel debuted in 1993.
The first seven episodes of the 1960s Secret Squirrel series was broadcast in front of the 1994–1995 season of Hanna-Barbera's 2 Stupid Dogs (1993–1995).
Their shorts have aired from time to time on Cartoon Network's sister cable television station Boomerang. The Secret Squirrel Show returned to Boomerang when Boomerang removed the shows Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear on January 2, 2008. The Secret Squirrel Show was removed on June 30, 2008, but it returned in June 2009 as a filler segment for 2 Stupid Dogs during the summer. The Secret Squirrel Show returned again on August 31, 2009.
Super Secret Secret Squirrel[edit]
Years later, Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole were revived in 1993 for back-up segments of TBS Superstation's animated series 2 Stupid Dogs. Titled Super Secret Secret Squirrel, these new cartoons featured Secret Squirrel, voiced by Jess Harnell (Not imitating Mel Blanc, but rather playing Secret more straight with a younger, cooler sounding voice), and Morocco Mole, voiced by Jim Cummings.
These segments featured different artwork compared to the original 1960s cartoons. All the characters inhabiting the world were now animals. Double-Q, called simply the 'Chief' in these shorts and voiced by Tony Jay, is a cape buffalo with a calabash pipe instead of a man with a balding hairline, and arch-foe Yellow Pinkie was replaced with a sea lion known as Goldflipper (voiced by Jim Cummings). These new shorts also introduced Penny (voiced by Kimmy Robertson), a female squirrel assistant to the Chief (à la Miss Moneypenny) as a possible love interest for Secret (as hinted at in the episodes Queen Bea and Quark). Morocco's color scheme has been redesigned, wears sunglasses, and has an evil twin brother, Scirocco Mole (voiced by Jess Harnell). Secret's art design remained relatively intact, but with a more modern design than the previous animated series' version of the character, featuring hard lines and sharper angles, giving him a leaner and more slick style. His hat has a slightly different style. This new series seems to have fallen under the villain of the week formula and Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole have once appeared on a 2 Stupid Dogs story.
Episode list[edit]
Season 1 (1965–1966)[edit]
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Sub Swiper" | 1965 October 2 |
| Secret and Morocco are assigned to locate a vanished atomic submarine in the hands of Captain Ahab. | ||
| 2 | "Masked Granny" | 1965 October 9 |
| Secret and Morocco have a mission to secure the Bombay Bomb in the Pentagon, whilst the Masked Granny undergoes a heist to steal it. | ||
| 3 | "Scotland Yard Caper" | 1965 October 16 |
| Secret receives orders from London to recover the stolen Crown and Jewels. He does, but is accused of being the thief himself. | ||
| 4 | "Robin Hood & His Merry Muggs" | 1965 October 23 |
| Secret and Morocco try to track down some thieves, who are using a Robin Hood television show to cover their thefts. | ||
| 5 | "Wolf in Cheap Cheap Clothing" | 1965 October 30 |
| Secret and Morocco are sent to stop Wily Wolf from smuggling sheep. Secret lures him into a trap with a Red Riding Hood scenario. | ||
| 6 | "Royal Run Around" | 1965 November 6 |
| Secret and Morocco are assigned to safeguard Pasha Panchabaggie, but Pasha rides away on his flying carpet and proves difficult to catch. | ||
| 7 | "Yellow Pinkie" | 1965 November 13 |
| Secret and Morocco are sent to catch an enemy agent called Yellow Pinkie, who seems too smart for them. | ||
| 8 | "Five Is a Crowd" | 1965 November 20 |
| Dr. Dangit creates duplicates of Secret Squirrel to commit crimes and frame the real one. Secret follows the duplicates to Dangit's hideouts and turns them against him. | ||
| 9 | "It Stopped Training" | 1965 November 27 |
| Secret and Morocco are put on a case to recover the Silver Streak Express train which is stolen by Yellow Pinkie with a shrinking ray gun. | ||
| 10 | "Wacky Secret Weapon" | 1965 December 4 |
| Secret and Morocco are assigned to protect a secret weapon only to lose it to Yellow Pinkie, but they pin him down at the seaport. | ||
| 11 | "Cuckoo Clock Cuckoo" | 1965 December 11 |
| Secret receives a mission from England to retrieve the Big Ben clock stolen by a giant to make a cuckoo clock out of it. | ||
| 12 | "Catty Cornered" | 1965 December 18 |
| Upon being called in by a scientist, Secret and Morocco attempt to catch what seems to be a cat containing explosive atoms inside. Unfortunately, a chasing dog makes their task difficult. | ||
| 13 | "Leave Wheel Enough Alone" | 1965 December 25 |
| Secret and Morocco try to catch Yellow Pinkie who stole all the gold from the mint, but will have to chase him in a car race first. | ||
| 14 | "Jester Minute" | 1966 January 1 |
| Secret and Morocco are sent to safeguard the king's crown only for it to be stolen by Yellow Pinkie and Secret thwarts his every traps. | ||
| 15 | "Not So Idle Idol" | 1966 January 8 |
| Yellow Pinkie steals a golden idol and only Secret can locate its whereabouts. | ||
| 16 | "Gold Rushed" | 1966 January 15 |
| While vacationing in Washington DC, Secret and Morocco chase after Yellow Pinkie who stole a gold bullion from the Granbovian Embassy. | ||
| 17 | "Double Ex-Double Cross" | 1966 January 22 |
| Secret and Morocco investigate the petrified population of Okey Dokey Isle. Then they nab the responsible perpetrator Double-Ex. | ||
| 18 | "Capt. Kidd's Not Kidding" | 1966 January 29 |
| Secret and Morocco go aboard a Spanish galleon to investigate the ghost of Captain Kidd who is actually Yellow Pinkie seeking gold. | ||
| 19 | "Bold Rush" | 1966 February 5 |
| Morocco takes the liberty of locating a gold shipment stolen by Yellow Pinkie all by himself. Secret discreetly assists during his vacation. | ||
| 20 | "Tusk-Tusk" | 1966 February 12 |
| Secret and Morocco try to find a missing elephant that was taken prisoner by the Grand Wazir to overthrow the Rajah. | ||
Season 2 (1966–1968)[edit]
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | "Robot Rout" | 1966 September 10 |
| Yellow Pinkie is promoted president due to a mass robotic brainwashing on the citizens. Secret and Morocco head to Yellow Pinkie's lab to confront him, but he turns Morocco against Secret. | ||
| 22 | "The Pink Sky Mobile" | 1966 September 17 |
| Secret and Morocco battle Yellow Pinkie in his new Sky Mobile against their Spy Car. Both of them end up with scooting vehicles. | ||
| 23 | "Scuba Duba Duba" | 1966 September 24 |
| Secret and Morocco are assigned to recover a missile stolen by the spy Scuba Duba before he can destroy city under ransom. | ||
| 24 | "Hi-Spy" | 1966 October 29 |
| Secret is sent to confront the evil criminal scientist Hy Spy face-to-face in France, but Secret cannot outsmart him. | ||
| 25 | "Spy in the Sky" | 1966 November 12 |
| Hy Spy is intent causing destruction on the globe with his armed satellite. Secret and Morocco head to the satellite to halt his plans. | ||
| 26 | "Ship of Spies" | 1966 November 26 |
| Secret and Morocco are assigned to locate Hy Spy's invisible ship and put his plan out of action. | ||
Super Secret Secret Squirrel (1993)[edit]
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Goldflipper" | September 5, 1993 |
| An evil sea lion named Goldflipper creates a giant gold magnet steals golden teeth, which calls the "Molar-Acoustic-Synctro-Bicuspid-Dental-Magnetic-Electro-Platt-Conductive-Postiviser". Secret Squirrel goes under cover as a Squirrely Girly scout to thwart the evil plan and recover all the stolen teeth. | ||
| 2 | "Greg" | September 12, 1993 |
| Secret Squirrel investigates a mysterious candy disappearance caused by a gingerbread man named Greg. | ||
| 3 | "Quark" | September 19, 1993 |
| A sub-atomic quark known as the Quark is destroying important monuments in order to make an amphitheater out of North America and Secret Squirrel has to shrink down to an atomic size to stop him. | ||
| 4 | "Queen Bea" | September 26, 1993 |
| Queen Bea and her honey bee minions capture Secret Squirrel during a Honey Bank robbery so that Queen Bea can force Secret Squirrel's hand in marriage, but Penny comes to his rescue. | ||
| 5 | "Hot Rodney" | October 3, 1993 |
| During a race against a racing rooster named Hot Rodney, Secret Squirrel is waylaid by Hot Rodney's orchestrated kidnapping of Morocco. | ||
| 6 | "Egg" | October 10, 1993 |
| Morocco Mole receives a mandatory special assignment to hold a "rare" egg for at least three seconds, but has a hard time doing so. | ||
| 7 | "Chameleon" | October 17, 1993 |
| Expensive paintings are stolen on the night of a museum gala and Secret Squirrel discovers an art-loving, sophisticated chameleon, known as ("Panoleon") P. Chameleon, has pilfered all the art for his own personal collection. | ||
| 8 | "Agent Penny" | October 24, 1993 |
| In an attempt to cut down his expenses, the Chief replaces Secret Squirrel with Penny and hires Morocco as his secretary. Snooper and Blabber make speaking cameo appearances. | ||
| 9 | "Scirocco Mole" | October 31, 1993 |
| In a quiz show hosted by a fox, Secret Squirrel briefs the origin of his partnership with Morocco and the encounter with Morocco's evil twin brother Scirocco. Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, Big Dog and Little Dog make cameo appearances as the other contestants. | ||
| 10 | "Platypus" | November 7, 1993 |
| Secret Squirrel, Morocco Mole and the Chief get their bodies mixed in Platypus' descrambler and have a hard time catching him in their states. | ||
| 11 | "Doctor O" | November 14, 1993 |
| Secret Squirrel has to stop an opossum named Doctor O from blocking out the sun with a satellite, but he has to do it blind in total darkness. | ||
| 12 | "One Ton" | November 21, 1993 |
| Secret Squirrel attempts to stop a crazy panda called One-Ton (wordplay on won ton), but Secret Squirrel has orders from the Chief not to harm the endangered panda. | ||
| 13 | "Voodoo Goat" | November 28, 1993 |
| Secret Squirrel must stop an evil shaman goat who makes a voodoo doll of the Chief in order to gain power over the agency. | ||
Other appearances[edit]
- Secret and Morocco appear as part of the cast in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang, but the two characters have no dialogue in either series.
- Secret Squirrel appeared in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
- Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole appear as teenagers on Yo Yogi!. Secret Squirrel was voiced by Kath Soucie and Morocco Mole was voiced by Neil Ross. Secret Squirrel has an uncle named Uncle Undercover (voiced by Greg Burson) who owns The Invention Dimension store in Jellystone Mall.
- Secret Squirrel makes a cameo appearance in an episode of Squirrel Boy in which his hat was seen on a gravestone.
- Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole can be seen in a Cartoon Network rap in 1995.
- Secret Squirrel makes an appearance in the show The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy in an episode with Hoss Delgado who is driving in his monster truck and almost runs over Secret Squirrel.
- Secret Squirrel made a cameo appearance in The Angry Beavers episode "Partying is such a Sweet Sorrow" as one of the guests at Norbert and Daggett's party.
- Secret Squirrel appears in three episodes of Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law, first in the Season 2 episode Blackwatch Plaid as a client of Harvey's arrested for flashing people (a play on Secret's famous trenchcoat), and then again in the Season 3 episode Bird Girl of Guantanamole, hiring Harvey to get Morocco Mole out of Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He also has a brief cameo in the Series Finale, The Death of Harvey.
In Popular Culture[edit]
- "Secret Squirrel" is a song on Marcy Playground's second album, Shapeshifter.
- Within federal law enforcement circles the slang term "secret squirrel" has been used to describe U.S. Secret Service Agents.[citation needed]
- In the military community, the term "Secret Squirrel" refers to military projects that are classified TOP SECRET or higher. It can also refer to any project that is abnormally secretive.[citation needed]
- In the British private security industry, the term "Secret Squirrel" refers to a Store Detective, Loss Prevention Investigator, Profit Protection Investigator, Private Investigator or anyone who conducts investigations into criminal, dishonest or fraudulent activities.
- The term is often adopted by workplace managers who conduct disciplinary investigations.[citation needed]
- The research and development group at British Cycling supporting Team GB riders with technical innovations is nicknamed "the Secret Squirrel Club".[2]
LP Album[edit]
Hanna-Barbera Records released a Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole: Superspy (HLP-2046) LP album in 1966. It featured an adventure with several songs. Mel Blanc voiced Secret Squirrel, but Daws Butler voiced Morocco Mole instead of Paul Frees.
DVD release
The episode "Sub Swiper" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 1.
Secret Squirrel in other languages[edit]
- Brazilian Portuguese: Esquilo sem Grilo ("No-worries Squirrel") in the 1965 version; James Quilo ("James Quirrel") in the 1993 version
- French: L´Agent sans Secret ("Secret-less Agent")
- German: Siegfried Sqirrel ("Siegfried Squirrel")
- Italian: Agente Super Segretissimo ("Super Very Secret Agent")
- Spanish: El Inspector Ardilla ("Inspector Squirrel")
- Indonesian Detektif Tupai ("Detective Squirrel")
- Swedish Agent Kurre
- Chinese 松鼠特務 ("Special Agent Squirrel")
- Japanese 秘密探偵クルクル ("Twirl Secret Detective")
- (In Morocco and thereabouts, MM is known plainly as "Mole")
- Norwegian: Agent Ekorn
- Polish: Sekretna Wiewiórka ("Secret Squirrel")
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Mansour, David. From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Dictionary of the Late 20th Century, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005, p.423.
- ^ McClusky, Mark (30 July 2012). "British cycling successes driven by the 'Secret Squirrel Club'". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
External links[edit]
- Secret Squirrel at Toonopedia
- Secret Squirrel episode guide
- Secret Squirrel
- Detailed listing of each Secret Squirrel (1965–66) episode at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Informational profile on Secret Squirrel at The Cartoon Scrapbook
- Fictional squirrels
- Fictional secret agents and spies
- Hanna-Barbera series and characters
- Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
- NBC network shows
- American animated television series
- 1960s American animated television series
- 1965 American television series debuts
- 1994 American television series endings
- Television series by Warner Bros. Television
- Animated duos
