Squiddly Diddly

Squiddly Diddly is an anthropomorphic animated squid created by Hanna-Barbera, who was featured in his own cartoon segment on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show beginning in 1965.

Fictional character biography
The round-headed, sailor-hatted Squiddly (who resembles an octopus rather than squid) is captive in an aquatic park known as Bubbleland, and resides in a pool with his name on it. Squiddly Diddly is an aspiring musician who makes many attempts to escape and attain musical stardom, but he is constantly foiled by Bubbleland's administrator Chief Winchley. In some episodes, Squiddly Diddly manages to escape, but chooses to return to Bubbleland after finding the outside world to be too harsh. Other times Squiddly and Chief Winchley would have to work together to solve problems in Bubbleland. The cartoons show people applauding Squiddly Diddly's musical talents, but often depict terrified people who mistakenly believe that octopuses are hostile.

Episodes
There were 26 Squiddly Diddly episodes:

Voice cast

 * Paul Frees - Squiddly Diddly
 * John Stephenson - Chief Winchley

DVD release
The episode "Way Out Squiddly" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons Vol. 1.

Squiddly Diddly in other languages

 * Brazilian Portuguese: Lula Lelé
 * Spanish: El pulpo Manotas
 * French: Squiddly la pieuvre
 * Dutch: Inky de inktvis
 * Italian: Squiddly Diddly
 * German: Squiddly Diddly
 * Japanese: Tako no Roku chan

References in other media


In 1966, Hanna-Barbera Records released Squiddly Diddly's Surfin' Surfari on LP.

Squiddly Diddly was featured in Yogi's Gang (1973) voiced by Don Messick.

Squiddly Diddly made a lone comic book appearance in 1966, as a back-up feature in the only issue of Secret Squirrel, published by Gold Key Comics, and again in 1996, courtesy of Hanna-Barbera Presents #6, published by Archie Comics.

Squiddly and Chief Winchley appeared in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.

Squiddly Diddly made a cameo in the Yo Yogi! episode "The Big Snoop." He is seen amongst those looking for Super Snooper when he ends up kidnapped.

In the British comedy Only Fools and Horses Christmas Special 1989 "The Jolly Boys' Outing", Squiddly Diddly was cited by Del Boy as the reason for the failure of his seafood stall, since people were unwilling to consume creatures they had become fond of.

Squiddly Diddly has been seen on HBO's The Ricky Gervais Show, where the character is involved in a few scripts including side-by-side a killer octopus and giving Karl Pilkington a rectal examination.

Squiddly Diddly made a cameo in a 2012 MetLife commercial entitled, "Everyone".