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| Atom Ant at his Ant Hill. |
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| Atom Ant character model. |
The character debuted in Hanna-Barbera’s first production for NBC: the prime-time special The World of Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel on September 12, 1965.
The special was spun-off into a show called The
Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show,
which began airing on October 2nd. The show was an hour long, broken up into two parts of three
segments each. The first half featured Atom
Ant with Precious Pupp and The Hillbilly Bears.
Precious Pupp featured the
titular character: a mangy dog (Messick, utilizing vocal effects made famous by
his later character Muttley)
that lived with his owner, Granny Sweet (Janet Waldo). Precious was anything
but; often being a terror around his neighborhood both to those who deserved it
(like crooks) and just for the fun of it (like against the postman). A
particular favorite gimmick of his was sneaking behind an unsuspecting target
and scaring the heck out of them with a series of barks. However, he was always
sure to act innocently around Granny. Granny, meanwhile, wasn’t your typical
grandma. While she did the things you’d expect such as knitting, she would also
be off entering in various races and sporting competitions, and her main mode
of transportation was a motorcycle.
The Hillbilly Bears was
inspired by the rise of rural programming on television, such as The Andy Griffith Show and
The Beverly Hillbillies. The segment focused on the Rugg
family, embodying all the stereotypes of the hillbilly by lazing about in their
rundown shack, brandishing a gun for almost anything, and even engaging in a
regular feud with rival family, the Hoppers. Paw Rugg (Henry Corden) was the
mumbling patriarch who only managed to utter a few audible words in a sentence
(which grew in frequency as the episodes went on to make him more
comprehensible to the audience). Maw Rugg (Jean Vander Pyl) was his
pipe-smoking wife and often times seemed to be the one in charge. Floral Rugg
(also Pyl) was their southern belle of a daughter who was arguably the most
refined of the bunch. Shag Rugg (Messick) was the youngest child and a
certified troublemaker that idolized his Paw. Interestingly enough, Corden and
Pyl would also play husband and wife in Hanna-Barbera’s first franchise, The Flintstones, after Corden assumed the role of Fred Flintstone in 1977
following the death of original Fred Flintstone, Alan Reed.
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| Precious Pupp and Granny Sweet enjoying some surfing together. |
In 1966, Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel were split into their own separate half hours. Both ran a total of
two seasons and 26 episodes before reuniting in 1967 for an additional season
of reruns. After 1968, Atom Ant was
shown in syndication or during episodes of The
Banana Splits Adventure Hour. The series was written by Tony Benedict,
Warren Foster,
Michael Maltese,
Arthur Pierson
and Dalton
Sandifer, with music by Ted Nichols.
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| The Ruggs playing their hillbilly instruments. |
Messick reprised the role of Atom Ant for Yogi’s Ark Lark and Yogi’s Gang, while he had a
guest-appearance in Yogi’s Treasure Hunt and
Yo Yogi!. In 1990, he received a video game for the Commodore 64 by Hi-Tech Software called Atom Ant: Up and Atom. Atom Ant appeared as a picture in the
“Agent Penny” episode of the Super Secret
Secret Squirrel segment of 2 Stupid Dogs and in Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, and guest-starred in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law episode “Incredible Hippo”
voiced by Maurice LaMarche. He
cameoed with dozens of other cartoon characters in the 2012 Super Bowl commercial “Everyone” for MetLife. Cartoon Network recycled audio tracks
from the series mixed in with bits from the Cold
War civil defense film Duck and Cover for a short
cartoon in their “Groovies”
series. The Simpsons fictional
character Radioactive
Man also used a variation of Atom Ant’s catchphrase, “Up and atom.”
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| Feudin' in the hills. |
Granny Sweet guest-starred in the Yo
Yogi! Episode “Super Duper Snag” voiced by Kath Soucie. The Ruggs appeared
in Yogi’s Ark Lark and Yogi’s Gang while just Paw and Maw
appeared in Yogi’s Treasure Hunt. Cartoon
Network produced a short film as part of their “Shorites”
series called “Miss
Understanding”, where Maw took the family on a Jerry Spinger-like show over Paw’s
mumbling. Paw appeared as a robot on the “Chubby Cheese” episode of Dexter’s Laboratory, while
the whole family guest-starred in the Harvey
Birdman episode “Guitar Control”. Paw’s name also appeared in Harvey’s
black book in “Baby Sitter” and Paw appeared by himself in “The Death of
Harvey.”
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| Secret Squirrel and Atom Ant push puppets. |
Of the three segments, Atom Ant received the most merchandising
attention. He was featured as a bubble club by Purex;
a tricky
trapeze and a push puppet
by Kohner; on a King Seeley lunchbox;
a jigsaw
puzzle by Western
Printing; a Whitman punch-out playset
and coloring
book; a Transogram board game;
and in a View-Master
slide set with Secret Squirrel. In
1999, Atom Ant was made into a plush doll by the Warner Bros.
Studio Store and again in 2000 as part of the series of Hanna-Barbera
plush dolls featured as a Dairy Queen
premium. He was also part of a Spanish series of connecting toys
playing instruments. Funko produced Atom
Ant for their Wacky
Wobblers, Big
Headz Bobble Heads and Funko
Force lines, and a Pez
candy dispenser. Nodnik
featured Atom Ant in a two-pack
with Huckleberry Hound and Big Head Company released a collectible figurine,
as did Medicom Toy for a Japan-exclusive.
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| Atom Ant's singular Gold Key comic. |
Atom Ant had a single
comic book issue published by Gold Key in 1965,
which also featured a Bears and Pupp story, followed by two appearances
in Golden Comics Digest
numbers 2 and 7. Atom Ant Annual was
released in the United Kingdom by Atlas Publishing in 1968. In 1978, he
appeared in Marvel Comics’ The Funtastic World of
Hanna-Barbera #1, in 1991 as part of a Yo Yogi! story in the
promotional comic NBC
Saturday Morning Comics, in 1995 in the first issue of Archie Comics’ Hanna-Barbera
Presents, and in 1999
in DC Comics’ Cartoon Network Presents #20. Atom
Ant wouldn’t be seen in comics again until 2018, when a quasi-realistic version
of the character debuted as a back-up feature in Scooby Apocalypse
starting with issue #30; working towards becoming a member of the Justice League. The
fully cartoon version returned in 2022’s Scooby-Doo Team-Up #32. In 1966, Pupp was featured in the December 3rd Yogi Bear newspaper strip. During
the show’s run, Hanna-Barbera
Records released a record for all three segments: Muscle Magic, Hot Rod Granny and Hillbilly Shindig. Each featured an audio adventure and
several songs. The characters also appeared on the slip covers to Golden Cartoons in Song volumes 2,
3
and 4,
and the Pupp characters were also
featured on the children’s song records Brahms Lullaby and The Lord’s Prayer.
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| Precious Pupp character model. |
In 1982, Guild Home Video released a collection of the
series’ episodes on VHS and Betamax in the United Kingdom. In 1987, 10 Atom Ant segments were released by Worldvision Home
Video Inc. as part of their Hollywood Nites line. He later received a 1991
release as part of the Hanna-Barbera
Golden Collection. Worldvision also released a collection
of Pupp segments and six segments
of the Bears on a VHS called “Do the
Bear” as part of their Kids Kollection. In
2009, the segments “Up and Atom,” “Precious Jewels” and “Woodpecked” were
released on DVD in Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s Volume 1
and “Atom Ant Meets Karate Ant,” “Bowling Pinned” and “Picnic Panicked” on Volume 2. “The Big Gimmick” and “Do the Bear” were featured in Best of Warner Bros. 25 Cartoon Collection:
Hanna-Barbera by Warner
Home Video in 2013. In 2015, the complete
series was released as part of Warner’s Hanna-Barbera
Classics Collection. In 2024, the series became
part of the debut line-up for retro animation channel MeTV
Toons.
