Atom Ant is a cartoon ant and superhero, created by Hanna-Barbera 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 and Boomerang in the 1990s and 2000s.

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 Allen Melvin).

List of episodes

Season 1 (1965–66)

Season 2 (1966)

Other appearances

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 Atom Ant: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. In 2016, The Atom Ant Show was made available for download via iTunes Store.

Voices