Comical Animal Heroes, Part Two: A Well-Kept Secret.

Now my thoughts about Secret Squirrel:

Hanna-Barbera had already spoofed James Bond movies in several episodes of "The Flintstones." But "Secret Squirrel" marked the first time they did so on a weekly basis.

I found Secret's gadgetry and odd ways of entering Double Q's office very humorous. And the recurring villain Yellow Pinkie was a true menace. In fact, the episodes featuring him were the ones I liked the most. The shorts were so popular that a couple of boys in my neighborhood began calling themselves Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole! Cool, huh?

The new episodes produced in 1993 are another story. I did see a couple of them, but to quote Shania, they didn't impress me much. And now my other thoughts:




Squiddly Diddly. I could hardly blame the squid for wanting to leave Bubbleland for a better life. Chief Winchley should have been more understanding. I would have let him return to the sea if I were the owner of the park.


Winsome Witch. Winnie was a witch that I liked just as much as Wendy and Samantha. Nice and friendly, and able to use magic to defeat potential enemies. I have nothing more to say other than "Ippity Pippity Pow!" My all-time favorite is "Schoolteacher Winnie," when she took the kids on a field trip to Cape Cod(I went to school there for a couple of years).

In conclusion, I noticed a couple of mistakes in Ted Sennett's book, "The Art Of Hanna-Barbera." He said "The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show" premiered on ABC, when it actually debuted on NBC. And he called Morocco Mole a rodent. By taxonomic classification. moles are insectivores, not rodents. Maybe I should write my own book about H-B.

Trivia Question 30: Secret Squirrel premiered the same year as what live action spy spoof?

Answer: "Get Smart."

Secret Squirrel, well to tell you the truth, I actually liked the 1993 version better. Why? Well, truth be told, while Secret Squirrel was quite awesome--(I loved how he kept frustrating the Chief to no end because he and Morocco Mole would never properly use the front door to come in--one time I think they actually used his bathtub--it was hilarious.) I just felt that the gallery of villains was kind of blah if you ask me. Most of the villains looked very similar to one another, being bald, and heavyset. Yellow Pinkie was pretty cool though, and I did enjoy the short where they thwart a sheep stealing wolf as well as one with an evil grandma--now that was a cool idea. On the other hand, Super Secret Squirrel had a more appropriate setting--instead of an anthropomorphic squirrel and mole thrown into a strictly human world, the duo fought crime in a world completely populated with animals like them. The Chief was a buffalo voiced wonderfully by the late Tony Jay and there was a lovely secretary named Penny--further linking the Bond connection. Also, the villains were pretty cool in my opinion--especially the queen bee who wanted Secret for her mate and Morocco Mole' s evil twin brother Scirocco--oh and the Voodoo goat--he was tons of fun.

Not that Mel Blanc and Paul Frees didn't do a great job voicing the originals--(Although it was kind of strange that Mel changed Secret's voice halfway through the series--originally it sounded just like Sylvester, later it sounded more like Bugs Bunny) it's just that I felt that both the heroes and villains really didn't need to describe how every single one of their weapons worked when they could simply show us. Also, while I absolutely loved that machine gun cane Secret used in his intro, he never once used it in the show--and that made me a bit disappointed--that was such a cool looking weapon.

I only saw one Squiddly Diddly short--so I can't really voice my opinion on him.(It involved a little ghost boy wanting Squiddly for his birthday.) However, Winsome Witch made an impact on me. It was nice to see a female character--and a human one at that among the throngs of talking male animals wandering around the sixties. She was sweet, which I really liked about her and mostly used her powers to help others. I especially liked the one where she adopted a human baby--although we never see little Spooky again, and the one where she gets a hunter to stop hunting animals. Also, for the record, it was "Ippity Pippity Pow!"

Thanks, Glowworm. Just corrected that error.