Atom Ant is a cartoon ant and superhero created by Hanna-Barbera in 1965. Atom co-starred in The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show (sharing top billing with Secret Squirrel) on Saturday mornings.
Biography
Atom Ant (originally voiced by
Howard Morris, then by
Don Messick in later episodes)
is a superhero
ant who operates out of an
anthill in the countryside, where he possesses such things as a mainframe computer and exercise equipment. His powers mostly consist of the ability to fly, superspeed, incredible strength, and invulnerability. His catchphrase is "Up and at 'em, Atom Ant!"
He was often contacted by the police, who sent him out on an assignment.
Some of these missions parody the missions of Batman. The police force is constantly shown to be underfunded and inept, as they rely on Atom Ant to do all their police work. As seen in "Nobody's Fool," the only two police officers are the chief of police and the deputy chief. The department has only one rusted patrol car. Atom Ant fights various villains, including recurring ones like Ferocious Flea (also voiced by Messick) and mad scientist Professor Von Gimmick (voiced by Allan Melvin).
List of episodes
Season 1 (1965–66)
Season 2 (1966)
Other appearances
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Atom Ant appeared in a comic book, Atom Ant #1, published by Gold Key/Western Publishing in January 1966.
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Atom Ant later appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang, voiced again by Don Messick.
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In the early 1990s series, Yo Yogi! with Don Messick reprising Atom Ant. He appears as Jellystone Town's residential superhero. In the episode "Super Duper Snag," it was revealed that his Atomic Helmet is his source of power.
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Hi-Tech Software released a budget labeled computer game for the Commodore 64 in 1990 called Atom Ant: Up and Atom. The idea of the game is to fly and collect a certain amount of bombs scattered around high rise buildings and 'atomize' them in a special bubble-like device at the top of each area (a game design influenced by Tehkan's Bomb Jack).
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In 2000, Cartoon Network produced a short cartoon as a part of their "Groovies" series, called "We Must All Get Ready Now". Featuring Atom Ant as the lead character, the short contained several audio tracks from the Atom Ant cartoon, and some audio from the classic Cold War civil defense film, Duck and Cover. The short could formerly be seen as interstitial programming on Boomerang; its last time on the channel being June 1, 2014, due to the network's rebrand in January 2015. The short was directed by Jonas Odell, with its music by Michael Kohler. Sometimes, at that point it was followed by another cartoon that Cartoon Network produced in their "Groovies" or "Shorties" series.
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Atom Ant appeared in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
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Atom Ant as a picture made a cameo in the "Agent Penny" episode of the Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment of 2 Stupid Dogs.
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Atom Ant makes a cameo appearance in a MetLife television commercial that aired in 2012.
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Atom Ant's catchphrase, "Up and Atom!", is also used by comic book superhero Radioactive Man in The Simpsons.
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Atom Ant as a toy made a cameo in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "Roller Ghoster Ride".
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Atom Ant is featured in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Incredible Hippo" and voiced by Maurice LaMarche. He appears as the defendant accused of radioactive contamination by the EPA.
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Atom Ant makes a cameo in the direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon in a framed picture.
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Atom Ant appeared in a back-up feature in Scooby Apocalypse.
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Atom Ant appears in the end credits of Scoob! as a new recruit of the Falcon Force, a new team made by the Blue Falcon. In this version, he has four arms.
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Atom Ant appears in the HBO Max original series Jellystone!.
Home video
The episode "Up And Atom" is available on the DVD
Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Vol. 1. The episode "Atom Ant Meets Karate Ant" is available on the DVD
Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Vol. 2, as well as a part of the "A Sample of Boomerang" tape, from Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang. The episode "The Big Gimmick" is available on the DVD
Best of Warner Bros. 25 Cartoon Collection Hanna-Barbera. On October 6, 2015, Warner Archive released the entire series on
DVD.
[ 'Atom Ant' DVD Set: Release Date, Details, Cover Art ]
In 2016, The Atom Ant Show was made available for download via iTunes Store.
Voices
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Howard Morris as Atom Ant (Season one), Muscles' Boss
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Don Messick as Atom Ant (Season two), Ferocious Flea, Mr. Muto, Narrator
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John Stephenson as Narrator
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Allan Melvin as Muscles, Big Fats Dynamo, Professor Von Gimmick, Little Mousey, Ali Cat, The Toadstool, additional voices
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Ted Cassidy as Opening Announcer (uncredited)
External links
