Squiddly lives and performs in Bubbleland, an aquatic theme park run by Chief Winchley. Like other Hanna-Barbera characters of the 1960s, Squiddly often sneaked out of the park to explore the outside world. He later became a supporting character on Yogi's Gang.
Squiddly Diddly provides examples of:
- Alien Abduction: In "Way Out Squiddly," the title cephalopod get kidnapped by extraterrestrials who land just outside of Bubbleland.
- Animal Disguise:
- A spy disguises himself as Squiddly in "Squiddly Double Diddly." Hilarity Ensues, naturally.
- In "Phoney Fish," a pair of crooks named Knuckles and Tiny dress up as Snorkel Fish in an attempt to steal the day's admissions fees to Bubbleland.
- Artistic License – Biology: Unlike a real squid, Squiddly has a large round head and six tentacles, which function as his arms and legs. He’s much closer to being an octopus than a squid.
- Bland-Name Product: In "Way Out Squiddly," Squiddly wants to watch "Bubblesmoke" with Chief Winchley.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Wilbur the young ghost boy in "The Ghost is Clear." He throws a tantrum when his parents won't take him to Bubbleland for his birthday.
- Civilized Animal: Squiddly shows a mix of animal and human characteristics. He’s a Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal, walks upright, can play musical instruments, and can talk to humans — but his home is an aquarium, he relies on humans for sustenance, and theoretically seems capable of ocean living. He’s a close call between this and being a Funny Animal.
- Dub Name Change: Squiddly Diddly is known in Brazilian Portuguese as Lula Lelé. In Dutch, he's called Inky de Inktvis, Pulpo Manotas in Spanish, and タコのロクちゃん (Tako no Roku Chan) in Japanese.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first episode "Way Out Squiddly", the title character is shown living in an aquarium rather than his trademark outdoor tank.
- Evil Knockoff: "Squiddly Double Diddly" sees Squiddly get replaced by an evil foreign spy disguised as him. The spy plans to steal the blueprints of Bubbleland.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Squiddly can never stay away from the aquarium for long.
- Foot Bath Treatment: In "The Canvas Back Squid," the professional wrestler The Octopus is shown having a hot foot bath when he is sick.
- Funny Octopus: The title character is an amusing cephalopod who gets into all manner of wacky adventures.
- Furry Reminder: In addition to Squiddly often remarking he has eight (or six) limbs, he's shown to breathe underwater in "Way Out Squiddly", "Show Biz Squid", "Sea Grunt" and "Jewel Finger".
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Squiddly wears a sailor’s shirt and hat, but no pants or shoes.
- Heroic Wannabe: In "Gnatman," both Squiddly and Chief Winchley take turns posing as the title superhero.
- Hurt Foot Hop: In "Westward Ha!", Squiddly accidentally shoots himself in the foot, then hops while holding the foot.
- Mistaken for Aliens: Squiddly escapes from Bubbleland in a balloon in "Naughty Astronaut." When the balloon is grounded, a group of flying saucer aficionados mistake him for an extraterrestrial.
- National Stereotypes: In "Surprise Prize," Squiddly and Chief Winchley end up in a parody of Tahiti called 'Tahooty', which is filled with savage natives who speak broken English, wear bones in their hair, and worship Squiddly as a god.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: "Sea Grunt" has a parody of Lloyd Bridges called 'Floyd Bridges.'
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In "Baby Squidder," Squiddly repeatedly rescues an inquisitive and mischievous boy from one dangerous predicament after another at Bubbleland. His mother misinterprets the situation each time, thinking the helpful cephalopod is actually trying to harm her son, and chases him away.
- Non-Indicative Name: Despite his name, Squiddly appears to be an octopus, not a squid.
- One-Man Band: The title card shows Squiddly playing several musical instruments (saxophone, bongos, guitar) simultaneously. Several episodes demonstrate his fervent wish to be a professional musician.
- Parody: The episode "Sea Grunt" is an Affectionate Parody of the old live-action TV program Sea Hunt. Squiddly gets cast in an underwater TV show that resembles it.
- Pirate:
- Squiddly gets shanghaied by buccaneers in "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer," and is forced to work in the title role.
- In "Yo Ho Ho," Squiddly finds a time machine, enters it, and starts fiddling with the controls. He ends up on a ship under attack by Blackbeard the pirate.
- Protagonist Title: The show segment is named after the title character.
- Pro Wrestling Episode: The intrepid cephalopod takes up wrestling in "The Canvas Back Squid," facing off against a formidable foe in Crusher.
- Rhyming Names: The title character is named Squiddly Diddly.
- Rhyming Title: One episode is titled "Lucky Ducky".
- Ring Around the Collar: Like most Hanna-Barbera characters from this time, the top of Squiddly's shirt covers his neck to facilitate animation shortcuts.
- Semiaquatic Species Sailor: Played with. Squiddly is an octopus, an animal that is mainly aquatic (though they can move on land), yet spends most of his time on land. He wears a sailor cap, sailor's shirt, and kerchief.
- Strictly Formula: Most episodes go like this; Squiddly is unhappy at Bubbleland, and finds an opportunity to escape. However, he gets in trouble in the outside world, and people are often scared of him. In the end, he returns to Bubbleland.
- Three Shorts: As a part of The Secret Squirrel Show, Squiddly's shorts were traditionally the middle one of the trio.
- Tonto Talk: Squiddly speaks in stereotypical broken English when pretending to be an Indian in "Westward Ha!"
- Unexpected Inheritance: The episode "One Black Knight" sees the intrepid cephalopod being left a castle in a relative's will. Unfortunately, there's a catch — the villainous Black Knight stands to inherit the castle if anything happens to Squiddly.
- The Wild West: In "Westward Ha!," Squiddly escapes from Bubbleland when Winchley won't let him watch his favorite western program on TV. He ends up in the middle of the real thing, deputized by the sheriff of a frontier town to help capture an armed baddie.
