Atom Ant is a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

and

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

, created by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

in 1965. Atom costarred in '' The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'' (sharing top billing with Secret Squirrel) on Saturday mornings. In syndication, Atom Ant aired alongside '' The Hillbilly Bears'' and '' Precious Pupp''. Reruns aired on cable on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

in the 1990s and 2000s.

Biography

Atom Ant (originally voiced by Howard Morris, then by

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

in later episodes) is a superhero

who operates out of an

anthill An ant colony is a population of ants, typically from a single species, capable of maintaining their complete lifecycle. Ant colonies are eusocial, communal, and efficiently organized and are very much like those found in other social Hymenop ...

in the countryside, where he possesses such things as a

mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

and

exercise equipment Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or ...

. 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 Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. 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 A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

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 The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

Professor Von Gimmick (voiced by Allan Melvin).

List of episodes

Season 1 (1965–66)

Season 2 (1966)

Other appearances

* Atom Ant appeared in a comic book, ''Atom Ant'' #1, published by Gold Key/

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...

in January 1966. * Atom Ant later appeared in '' Yogi's Ark Lark'' and its spin-off series '' Yogi's Gang'', voiced again by Don Messick. * 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. * Hi-Tech Software released a budget labeled computer game for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

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''). * In 2000,

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 The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

civil defense film, ''Duck and Cover''. The short could formerly be seen as interstitial programming on

; 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

produced in their "Groovies" or "Shorties" series. * Atom Ant appeared in '' Yogi's Treasure Hunt''. * Atom Ant as a picture made a cameo in the "Agent Penny" episode of the Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment of '' 2 Stupid Dogs''. * Atom Ant makes a cameo appearance in a

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produ ...

television commercial that aired in 2012. * Atom Ant's catchphrase, "Up and Atom!", is also used by comic book superhero Radioactive Man in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. * Atom Ant as a toy made a cameo in the '' What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' episode "Roller Ghoster Ride". * Atom Ant is featured in the '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' episode "Incredible Hippo" and voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

. He appears as the defendant accused of radioactive contamination by the EPA. * Atom Ant makes a cameo in the direct-to-video film '' Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon'' in a framed picture. * Atom Ant appeared in a back-up feature in '' Scooby Apocalypse''. * 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. * Atom Ant appears in the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

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 The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

released the entire series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. In 2016, ''The Atom Ant Show'' was made available for download via iTunes Store.

Voices

* Howard Morris as Atom Ant (Season one), Muscles' Boss *

as Atom Ant (Season two), Ferocious Flea, Mr. Muto, Narrator * John Stephenson as Narrator * Allan Melvin as Muscles, Big Fats Dynamo, Professor Von Gimmick, Little Mousey, Ali Cat, The Toadstool, additional voices *

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction works, such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of Jeannie'', and he played Lurch on '' The Addam ...

as Opening Announcer (uncredited)

References

External links

*
Atom Ant
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 6, 2012.
The Cartoon Scrapbook
– Informational profile on ''Atom Ant''.

at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...

{{Hanna-Barbera The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show Television characters introduced in 1965 Hanna-Barbera characters Animated television series about insects Hanna-Barbera superheroes 1960s American animated comedy television series 1960s American children's comedy television series 1960s American superhero comedy television series 1965 American animated television series debuts 1967 American television series endings Animal superheroes American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comic science fiction television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series by Screen Gems Fictional ants NBC animated television series Animated characters introduced in 1965 Male characters in animation Children's television series about talking animals