Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera and also the name of his segment in 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 show's half-hours included three individual cartoon segments: "Secret Squirrel", "Squiddly Diddly" and "Winsome Witch". Some people call him the James Bond of the rodent world.

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". In 1993, 13 new Secret Squirrel cartoons appeared in-between the 2 Stupid Dogs episodes, with the updated title Super Secret Secret Squirrel and a new cast.

Character profile
Secret Squirrel (voiced with a slight lisp 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. Secret Squirrel is assisted in his adventures by fez-wearing, bespectacled sidekick Morocco Mole (also voiced by Paul Frees impersonating Peter Lorre). Morocco Mole has a thick Middle Eastern accent.

The pair fights crime and evil enemy agents using cunning and a variety of spy gadgets, including a machine gun cane, a collection of weapons kept inside Secret's trench coat which is also bulletproof, and a variety of devices concealed in his purple fedora (which has eye holes cut in it and which he almost never removes).

Secret Squirrel's recurring archenemy 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 three episodes introduced Hi-Spy (again voiced by Frees), a 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.

Super Secret Secret Squirrel
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 McCracken, 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 (voiced by Tony Jay), now simply called "the Chief", is now a Cape buffalo with a cherry-scented calabash pipe. Yellow Pinkie (voiced by Jim Cummings) is now a sea lion renamed Goldflipper and, despite being Secret Squirrel's archenemy, he only appeared in one episode of this version. These new shorts also introduced Penny (voiced by Kimmy Robertson), a female squirrel assistant to Double-Q (à la Miss Moneypenny) as a possible love interest for Secret Squirrel (as hinted at in the episodes "Queen Bea" and "Quark"). Morocco's color scheme has been redesigned, his wardrobe's palette has been swapped, he wears sunglasses and has an evil twin brother named 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 encounter. 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 reminiscence 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 personalities and traits of Secret and Morocco have been switched as opposed to their original '60s personalities. Morocco was more of a chauffeur and is quite intelligent, but in the revival he is more independent as a sidekick, became too much of a bungler 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-easygoing, while still 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 "Scirocco Mole" as contestants in a game show.

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 Double-Q/the Chief (second series)
 * Kimmy Robertson as Penny (second series)

Production credits

 * Produced and Directed by: 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, Gerry Johnson
 * Animation Direction: Charles A. Nichols
 * Production Supervision: Howard Hanson
 * Animation: Ray Abrams, Ed Barge, Robert Bemiller, O.E. "Lefty" 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 "Corny" 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 Jurisdiction of IATSE-IA Affiliated with A.F.L.-C.I.O.
 * A Hanna-Barbera Production

Episodes
see List of Secret Squirrel episodes

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 the TV movie or the series.
 * Secret Squirrel appeared in the Yogi's Treasure Hunt episode "The Moaning Liza", where he boos a wrongly sentenced Snagglepuss.
 * Secret Squirrel appears as a child on Yo Yogi!, voiced by Kath Soucie. He 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 in his revived form made two appearances for the Cartoon Network station IDs in 2000.
 * Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole appeared in an ad for Cartoon Network Asia in their revived form (i.e. 2 Stupid Dogs) with Cummings and Harnell reprising their roles.
 * Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole appeared in some Cartoon Network UK ads in both their original (1965) and revived forms.
 * Secret Squirrel appeared in a Cartoon Network Cinema bumper in his revived form. He can be seen in the far corner.
 * Secret Squirrel makes an appearance in the show The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy in an episode with Hoss Delgado, who is driving in his monster truck and almost runs over Secret Squirrel.
 * Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole appear in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law with Secret Squirrel voiced by Bill Farmer and Morocco Mole voiced by Maurice LaMarche. Secret Squirrel first appears in the Season 2 episode "Blackwatch Plaid" as a client of Harvey's arrested for flashing people (a play on Secret's famous trenchcoat). Secret Squirrel then appeared again in the Season 3 episode "Bird Girl of Guantanamole", hiring Harvey to get Morocco Mole out of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Secret Squirrel also has a brief cameo in the series finale "The Death of Harvey".
 * Secret Squirrel appeared in the DC Comics book Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #11 in September 2015. A "rebooted" version of Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole has been a backup feature of the DC comic book series Scooby Apocalypse from issues #16 and #30.

LP album
Hanna-Barbera Records released an LP album called Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole in: Super Spy (HLP-2046) in 1966. It featured an adventure with four songs - "Secret Squirrel" (based on the show's theme song) and "Morocco Mole" on the beginning and the end of Side 1, respectively and "Agent O Double O" and "Super Spy" on the beginning and the end of Side 2, respectively. Mel Blanc voiced Secret Squirrel, but Daws Butler voiced Morocco Mole instead of Paul Frees.

Home media
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.

The Secret Squirrel Show: The Complete Series was made available for download via iTunes in August 2016.

On August 14, 2018, the Warner Archive Collection released 2 Stupid Dogs Volume 1 on DVD, which includes all of the episodes of Super Secret Secret Squirrel.

United States

 * ABC (1965–1967)
 * Television syndication (1967–1992)
 * Cartoon Network (1992–2004)
 * Boomerang (2000–2014)

Cultural influence
The phrase “secret squirrel stuff” is used by people working in U.S. intelligence to lightheartedly describe material that is highly classified, usually as a non-answer to a question. It may likewise be used in a pejorative manner to mean someone who is unlikely to have actually had a job as a special operations soldier, spy or mercenary, or to have performed the actions they claim to.

The history of the name "secret squirrel" for special operations forces and spies appears to predate the television show, as one story states that the word "squirrel" was using during World War II as a test to root out German spies.

The name "secret squirrel" is police slang for an agent of the U.S. Secret Service.