My Top 5 Squirrel Characters

Since today is Squirrel Appreciation Day, I know we have some weird holidays nowadays, but either way, I am going to list my top 10 squirrels in fiction:


1. Nutty (Happy Tree Friends) - Nutty is by far my favorite Happy Tree Friends characters! He has a serious candy addiction and that makes him hilarious, plus his voice cracks me up and the episode where he marries a gumball machine was by far my favorite, despite the Debby Downer of an ending (although you would expect nothing less from Happy Tree Friends).

2. Scrat (Ice Age) - Why wouldn't Scrat make this list? He's so funny, cute, and keeps old cartoons alive. What I mean by that is the fact that he continues the old plot device of a character trying to catch something or someone but constantly failing. Some of the countless examples of that trope from old cartoons include Tom and Jerry, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Gargamel and The Smurfs, and for a very dark example, Sideshow Bob and Bart Simpson. Even if you don't like the movies, you might like this character because his scenes follow a plot of their own, almost like the cutaways on Family Guy, these scenes interrupt the plot of the movie but unlike the cutaways, there are more often funny than not. Don't get me wrong, Family Guy has a lot of really good cutaways, but sometimes they try too hard to be funny or are simply gross and offensive just for the sake of being gross and offensive. Scrat sequences on the other hand are always well thought out, well written, and funny to both kids and adults, which makes Scrat a good 2 on this list.

3. Sandy Cheeks (Spongebob) - Sandy is a squirrel that lives underwater. Let that sink in for a moment! The fact that a marine biologist like Stephen Hillenburg would include an underwater squirrel in his cartoon is hilarious in it's own right, but the fact that she likes karate and science (a very unlikely combo) makes her character even funnier.

4. Angry Squirrel (Family Guy) - This character was only in one episode and doesn't have a proper name but he's still really funny. He only appeared in one cutaway in which Brian starts barking as loud as he can at a squirrel and the squirrel makes a certain hand gesture at him, no not peace, the other one. What made that so funny is because you always think of squirrels being afraid of dogs but this squirrel was so brave that he flipped the bird directly at a dog that could possibly eat him, that is a well written example of an animal acting out of character.