With his trusted side-kick,
the Peter Lorre-like Morocco Mole, Secret Squirrel premiered in his own
show in 1965.
Other stars included Atom
Ant, Hillbilly Bears, Squiddly Diddly, and Winsome Witch.
Amist Cold War paranoia. SS
was inspired by an elite band of world-saving super spies that included
James '007' Bond (Dr No was made in 1962), and preceded the more jokey
exploits of Flint (Our Man Flint, 1965).
This trend for secret agent
heroes also resulted in the Matt Helm movies (with Dean Martin), Man From
UNCLE, and Get Smart, amongst others.
Squirrel's trademark trench
coat - along with the Lorre-like tones of Morocco - owe a debt to Hollywood
superstar Humphrey Bogart, and the hard-boiled film-noir thrillers of the
'40s and '50s.
The most trusted agent of
the World Wide Detective Agency (led by Double-Q), Secret's globe trotting
exploits had him face such evil as The Yellow Pinkie (as opposed to Goldfinger!)
Voiced by the legendary Mel
Blanc, the overcoated spymaster returned to the small screen with new episodes
in the early '90s.
In France, Secret Squirrel
was known as Agent Sans Secret. |