Secret Squirrel
| Secret Squirrel | |
|---|---|
 Secret Squirrel Title Card | |
| Genre | Cartoon |
| Created by | Hanna-Barbera |
| Voices of | Mel Blanc Paul Frees |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
Secret Squirrel is a 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 was a parody of the spy genre, and most of the shorts parodied elements 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, reruns returned on Boomerang from Cartoon Network.
Character profile
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).[2] 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
The show'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 were 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
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) and Morocco Mole (voiced by Jim Cummings).
2 Stupid Dogs creator Donovan Cook was asked by then new Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert to choose a classic studio cartoon to revive within the main show, and Super Secret Secret Squirrel was the result. After Cook guided the updated design with artists Paul Rudish and Craig McCraken, supervising producer Larry Huber, the "adult supervision" assigned by Seibert, was responsible for all further aspects of these cartoons. He assigned animator David Feiss to the storyboards to hilarious results, with the conventional wisdom that the cartoons had superior humor to the original, somewhat drab films.
The reason to revive Secret Squirrel is because it was one of Cook's favorite Hanna-Barbera shows.
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' (voiced by Tony Jay) in these shorts is a cape buffalo with a cherry-scented tobacco covered calabash pipe instead of a man with a balding hairline, and arch-foe Yellow Pinkie is a sea lion and he was renamed Goldflipper (voiced by Jim Cummings), and despite being Secret's arch-enemy, he only appeared in one episode of this version. 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, had his wardrobe's palette swapped, wears sunglasses, and has an evil twin brother, Scirocco Mole (voiced by Jess Harnell). With the exception of "Egg" and "Agent Penny", every episode is named after the foes Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole encounters. 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. Secret also loses his signature lisp given to him by Blanc's portrayal similar to Sylvester the Cat (although it was paid homage in the episode "Goldflipper" where Secret spoke with it to mock Morocco's sudden lisp in that episode), but Harnell's portrayal gives Secret an update suave voice in reminiscent of him sometimes breaking into his Wakko Warner voice without the Scouse accent, most notably when he is screaming. Cummings' portrayal of Morocco makes his voice less of a Peter Lorre impersonation but high-pitched with the kept Moroccan accent. The Chief speaks with a British accent now as evidenced by his catchphrase; "Good show Secret". Apparently, in the 1993 revival, the personality and traits of Secret and Morocco have been switched opposed to their original '60s personality. Morocco was more of a chauffeur and is quite intelligent but in the revival, he is more independent as a sidekick, became too much bungling and is more childlike often getting injured in most scenes, which was Secret's department in the '60s series, and often saying his catchphrase "Okay!" Secret is more portrayed as a bumbling hero in the original while in the new version, Secret is capable of doing his job right and at some aspects can be part-workaholic and part-easy going, able to get the job done. Most of his injuries either come from his job or are from the influence of Morocco's actions. Like the original, he has a gadget used for almost everything but mostly relies more on his mixed martial arts combat. Despite the changes, the new shorts still had a big fanbase and a cult following. 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 in the episode "Let's Make a Right Price" which was an advertisement for Granny's Joybone Doggy Treats, and Little Dog and Big Dog appeared on a Secret Squirrel story in the episode "Scriocco Mole" as contestants in a game show.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | ||||
| 1 | 20 | October 2, 1965 | February 12, 1966 | ||
| 2 | 6 | September 10, 1966 | November 26, 1966 | ||
Episode list
Season 1 (1965–66)
| No. | Title | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Sub Swiper" | October 2, 1965 | |
|
Secret and Morocco are assigned to locate a vanished atomic submarine in the hands of Captain Ahab. | |||
| 2 | "Masked Granny" | October 9, 1965 | |
|
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" | October 16, 1965 | |
|
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" | October 23, 1965 | |
|
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" | October 30, 1965 | |
| 6 | "Royal Run Around" | November 6, 1965 | |
|
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" | November 13, 1965 | |
|
Secret and Morocco are sent to catch an enemy agent called Yellow Pinkie, who seems too smart for them. | |||
| 8 | "Five Is a Crowd" | November 20, 1965 | |
|
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" | November 27, 1965 | |
|
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" | December 4, 1965 | |
|
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" | December 11, 1965 | |
|
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" | December 18, 1965 | |
| 13 | "Leave Wheel Enough Alone" | December 25, 1965 | |
|
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" | January 1, 1966 | |
|
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" | January 8, 1966 | |
|
Yellow Pinkie steals a golden idol and only Secret can locate its whereabouts. | |||
| 16 | "Gold Rushed" | January 15, 1966 | |
|
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" | January 22, 1966 | |
|
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" | January 29, 1966 | |
|
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" | February 5, 1966 | |
|
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" | February 12, 1966 | |
|
Secret and Morocco try to find a missing elephant that was taken prisoner by the Grand Wazir to overthrow the Rajah. | |||
Season 2 (1966)
| No. | Title | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | "Robot Rout" | September 10, 1966 | |
|
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" | September 17, 1966 | |
|
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" | September 24, 1966 | |
|
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" | October 29, 1966 | |
|
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" | November 12, 1966 | |
|
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" | November 26, 1966 | |
|
Secret and Morocco are assigned to locate Hy Spy's invisible ship and put his plan out of action. | |||
Super Secret Secret Squirrel (1993–95)
| No. | Title | Written by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Goldflipper" | Mark Saraceni | September 5, 1993 | |
|
An evil sea lion named Goldflipper (Jim Cummings) 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" | Roberts Gannaway | September 12, 1993 | |
|
Secret Squirrel investigates a mysterious candy disappearance caused by a gingerbread man named Greg (Charlie Adler). | ||||
| 3 | "Quark" | Roberts Gannaway | September 19, 1993 | |
|
A sub-atomic quark known as the Quark (Roger Rose) 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" | Mark Saraceni | September 26, 1993 | |
| 5 | "Hot Rodney" | Roberts Gannaway | October 3, 1993 | |
|
During a race against a racing rooster named Hot Rodney (Jeff Bennett), Secret Squirrel is waylaid by Hot Rodney's orchestrated kidnapping of Morocco. | ||||
| 6 | "Egg" | Roberts Gannaway | 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" | Roberts Gannaway | 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 (Roddy McDowall), has pilfered all the art for his own personal collection. Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole then outsmart him by trapping in a room full of "modern" art, which the Chameleon despises. | ||||
| 8 | "Agent Penny" | Roberts Gannaway & Paul Rudish | 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" | Roberts Gannaway | 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 (Jess Harnell). Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, Big Dog and Little Dog make cameo appearances as the other contestants. | ||||
| 10 | "Platypus" | Roberts Gannaway | 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" | Mark Saraceni and Jim Turner | November 14, 1993 | |
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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" | Lane Raichert | November 21, 1993 | |
|
Secret Squirrel attempts to stop a crazy panda called One-Ton (Yoshio Be), but Secret Squirrel has orders from the Chief not to harm the endangered panda. | ||||
| 13 | "Voodoo Goat" | Roberts Gannaway | November 28, 1993 | |
|
Secret Squirrel must stop an evil shaman goat (John Garry) who makes a voodoo doll of the Chief in order to gain power over the agency. | ||||
Other appearances
- 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 made numerous appearances in his 1965 form for Cartoon Network in its first years on the air.
- Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole appeared in an ad for Cartoon Network Asia in their 2 Stupid Dogs form with Cummings and Harnell to reprise their roles.
- Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole appeared in some Cartoon Network UK ads in both their 1965 and 2 Stupid Dogs form.
- Secret Squirrel appeared in a Cartoon Network Movies bumper in his 2 Stupid Dogs form. He can be seen the far corner.
- 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 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".
- Secret Squirrel appeared in Scooby-Doo Team-Up #11 in September 2015.
LP album
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 1960s Vol. 1.
On November 3, 2015, Warner Archive released The Secret Squirrel Show: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[3]
Secret Squirrel in other languages
- 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 Sōngshǔ tèwù ("Squirrel Spy")
- Japanese 秘密探偵クルクル Himitsu tantei kurukuru ("Twirl Secret Detective")
- (In Morocco and thereabouts, Morocco Mole is known plainly as "Mole")
- Norwegian: Agent Ekorn ("Agent Squirrel")
- Polish: Sekretna Wiewiórka ("Secret Squirrel")
Voices
- Mel Blanc as Secret Squirrel (original series)
- Paul Frees as Double-Q, Morocco Mole (original series)
- Jim Cummings as Morocco Mole, Goldflipper (second series)
- Jess Harnell as Secret Squirrel, Scirocco Mole (second series)
- Tony Jay as Chief (second series)
- Kimmy Robertson as Penny (second series)
Production credits
- Created by: Martin Lambie-Nairn
- Produced and Directed by: Martin Lambie-Nairn, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
- Story: Tony Benedict, Warren Foster, Dalton Sandifer, Michael Maltese
- Musical Direction: Ted Nichols
- Story Direction: Alex Lovy, Lewis Marshall, Paul Sommer, Art Scott, Steve Clark, Art Davis
- Voices: Mel Blanc, Paul Frees, John Stepenson, Jean Vander Pyl, Henry Corden, Don Messick, Allan Melvin, Howard Morris, Janet Waldo, Dick Beals, Stan Francis, Gerry Johnson
- Animation Direction: Charles A. Nichols
- Production Supervision: Howard Hanson
- Animation: Ray Abrams, Ed Barge, Robert Bemiller, O.E. Callahan, Emil Carle, Hugh Fraser, George Germanetti, George Goepper, Anatole Kirsanoff, Hicks Lokey, Kenneth Muse, George Nicholas, Don Schloat, Larry Silverman, Ralph Somerville, John Sparey
- Layout: Cornelius Cole, Jerry Eisenberg, Jack Huber, Lance Nolley, Bill Perez, Tony Sgroi, Bob Singer, Iwao Takamoto
- Background: Fernando Arce, Ron Dias, Rene Garcia, Bob Gentle, F. Montealegre, Richard H. Thomas
- Camera: Gary Milton, Roger Sims, Clarence Wogatzke, Norman Stainback, John Pratt, John Aardal
- Sound Direction: Richard Olson, William Getty
- Secret Squirrel
- Approved MPAA Certification No. 21205
- RCA Sound Recording
- This Picture Made Under the Jurisiction of IATSE-IA Affiliated with A.F.L.-C.I.O.
- A Hanna-Barbera Production
See also
References
- ^ Mansour, David. From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Dictionary of the Late 20th Century, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005, p.423.
- ^ Stephen D. Youngkin The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Lesington: University Press of Kentucky, 2005, p.451
- ^ Declassified: 'The Complete Series' DVD Release...SOON!
External links
- 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