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
Composers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera Ted Nichols
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Executive producers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network	NBC
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

• List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera
• List of Hanna-Barbera characters
• Secret Squirrel Show

External links

• The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show