Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel, Agent 000, was the James Bond of the rodent kingdom. Wearing a trench coat and laden with gadgets, the agent and his faithful assistant Morocco Mole reported to Double-Q, head of the International Sneaky Service (or the World-Wide Detective Agency, or the Super Secret Service, depending on the episode). Together they tangled with such villains as Yellow Pinkie, Captain Kidd or the Masked Granny. Somehow those names didn’t instill as much fear as say, Goldfinger, but after all, this was Saturday morning.

Secret Squirrel first appeared in an NBC, prime-time animated special in 1965, titled The World of Secret Squirrel and Atom Ant. Later that same year, SS teamed with Atom Ant as a featured half of The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show. The show was an hour-long extravaganza that included the segments Atom Ant, Precious Pupp, The Hillbilly Bears, Secret Squirrel, Squiddly Diddly and Winsome Witch. After just over one season together, the two title heroes parted ways to star in their own, self-titled shows. The Secret Squirrel Show packaged SS with Squiddly Diddly and Winsome Witch in a half-hour format, while the remaining segments formed part of The Atom Ant Show. Less than a year later, ant and squirrel realized they worked better as a team, and The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show was reborn for a final season.

The show would only last until 1967, but Secret Squirrel wasn’t done gracing the small screen. In 1993, Hanna-Barbera revived the nutty agent as a back segment on 2 Stupid Dogs. Under the updated title Super Secret Secret Squirrel, the series reunited Secret Squirrel with his trusty sidekick Morocco Mole, while providing the two with new outfits and a new cast.