In the wake of the James Bond phenomenon, the world of entertainment and merchandising brought Cold War spies into the fold alongside cowboys and army men. As we saw in the Mattel toy commercials earlier this month, fantasy play took on a taste for intrigue and gadgets- for the stylish world of Espionage! Spy Vibe takes a look back at some of the secret agent programming for kids that was part of the Spy Boom in the mid-1960s.
Secret Squirrel made his debut in Hanna-Barbera's The Wold of Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel in 1965. He was Agent 000 for the International Sneaky Service and took his orders from his chief in England, Double-Q. Secret shared his missions with a fez-wearing sidekick named Morocco Mole (with Peter Lorre accent). Taking cues from the 007 franchise, Secret battled a Goldfinger-like baddie named Yellow Pinkie with a cool spy arsenal -hat and trench coat filled with gadgets and a machine gun cane. The main voice actors were veterans Mel Blanc (Looney Tunes), and Paul Frees (Boris Badenov in the Bullwinkle Show and the voice of John Lennon and George Harrison in The Beatles cartoon!). Secret Squirrel ran both solo and as part of the Atom Ant show for three seasons.
Secret Squirrel Lyrics
What an agent, what a squirrel
He's got the country in a whirl.
What's his name?
Shhh...Secret Squirrel.
He's got tricks, up his sleeve,
Most bad guys, won't believe.
A bullet proof coat, a cannon hat,
A machine gun cane with a rat tat tat tat.
Fights foreign spies
In his disguise,
Takes him many places,
He's a squirrel of many faces,
Who's that?
Who's that?
Who's that?
Shhh...Secret Squirrel.
Shhhhhhhhhhh.