Secret Squirrel

From Freepedia

Secret Squirrel is a cartoon squirrel created by Hanna-Barbera, and was voiced by legendary animation voice artist Mel Blanc. Secret Squirrel was one of two costars of 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 primetime animated special called The World of Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel, which aired on NBC on September 12, 1965.

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 served as a secret agent (his designation was "Agent 000"), taking orders from his superior "Double-Q." Secret was assisted in his adventures by fez-wearing side-kick Morocco Mole, a mole who in many ways resembled Peter Lorre's performance as Ugarte in Casablanca. Morocco was voiced by Paul Frees. The pair fought 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 coat, and a variety of devices concealed in his hat (which he almost never removed).

After his original series ran its course, Secret and Morocco appeared again as part of the cast of the 1970s series Yogi's Gang. Wake, Rattle and Roll and teenagers on Yo Yogi in 1991. On the latter show, due to the deaths of Blanc and Frees, Secret was voiced by Lennie Weinrib and Morocco was voiced by Neil Ross.

Years later, Secret and Morocco were revived in 1993 for back-up segments of TBS Superstation's 2 Stupid Dogs entitled Super-Secret Secret Squirrel. These segments featured very different art work compared to the original 1960s cartoons; all the characters inhabiting the world were now animals. In fact, Double-Q (now just called simply the 'Chief' in these shorts) was now a waterbuffalo instead of a man with a balding hairline. The new shorts also introduced Penny, a female squirrel assistant to the chief who was also a love interest for Secret. Morocco was given a new color scheme, and now also wore sunglasses. Secret's art design remained relatively intact, but with a more modern design than the previous animated series' version of the character. Secret, in the shorts, was voiced by Jess Harnell, and Morocco was voiced by Jim Cummings.

Since then, Secret and Morocco have made very few appearances (such as on Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law) but their shorts air from time to time on Cartoon Network's sister cable television station Boomerang.

The shows have never come to DVD.

In 1999, on their Shapeshifter (album), rock band Marcy Playground sang Secret Squirrel, based on the TV series.