Notes: Mighty Mouse was small, but Atom Ant was smaller!
The minute insect hero first appeared in the Secret Squirrel Show (1965) and later earned his own show.
As TV's tiniest, but mightiest costumed law enforcer, he had a headquarters hidden beneath an unassuming anthill in a 'toon adventure that pre-dated Antz and Bugs Life by over thirty years.
Heroes with non-human powers have been popular since the pulp detective and science fiction / fantasy novels of the 1930s and 1940s.
Comic book characters as Batman and Hawkman obviously owe a great deal to the animal kingdom, as does that most famous of '60s superheroes, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man (a High School teen biten by a radioactive spider who gains the proportionate strength of the creature).
Spider-Man was created several years earlier than this mighty atom by Stan Lee and artist Steve Dikto.
The fear of the atomic bomb during the so-called Cold War was another significant influence on the creation of the character. In the 1954 black and white sci-fi movie Them, giant irradiated ants roamed the New Mexico desert, while radiation was also responsible for the creation of The Hulk and Fantastic Four.
Another Marvel Comics character, Ant Man, had the power to reduce himself down to a tiny size, and communicate with ants. With his side-kick, The Wasp, he was a founding member of Marvel's '60s superhero team, The Avengers.
Atom Ant flew into action the world over with his distinctive battle cry: "Up and At' Em, Atom Ant!" and was voiced by the irrepressible Don Messick.
Comments: ...and who can forget The Atom Ant Theme Song! Up and at 'em, it's Atom Ant!
His strength, his might, his speed, his fight, he's Atom Ant.
That tiny ant and his atomic powers has what it takes and always makes the vilest villain cower.
He's rough, he's tough and bad guys yell it up when he is up and at 'em: Atom Ant!
