Lowly Worm is a fictional character created by Richard Scarry; he frequently appears in children's books by Scarry, and is a main character in the animated series '' The Busy World of Richard Scarry'' and '' Busytown Mysteries''. In ''The Busy World of Richard Scarry'', he is voiced by Keith Knight. In ''Busytown Mysteries'', he is voiced by Paul Wensley. Lowly is an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

. He usually wears a dark green

Tyrolean hat The Tyrolean hat (german: Tirolerhut, it, cappello alpino), also Bavarian hat or Alpine hat, is a type of headwear that originally came from the Tyrol in the Alps, in what is now part of Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It is an essenti ...

on his head, similar to the hat which Richard Scarry purchased in

St. Anton Sankt Anton am Arlberg, commonly referred to as St Anton, is a village and ski resort in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It lies in the Tyrolean Alps, with aerial tramways and chairlifts up to , yielding a vertical drop of . It is also a popular s ...

in 1950 and often wore during visits to his publishers in New York City. Lowly also wears a shoe on the end of his tail, a blue and green tube on his body (intended to resemble a sleeveless shirt and one-legged trousers) over a singular "underpant" that covers his

clitellum The clitellum is a thickened glandular and non-segmented section of the body wall near the head in earthworms and leeches, that secretes a viscid sac in which eggs are stored. It is located near the anterior end of the body, between the fourteent ...

, and a red bow tie. His best friend is

Huckle Cat Busytown is a fictional town depicted in several books by American children's author Richard Scarry. Busytown is inhabited by an assortment of anthropomorphic animals, including Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Mr. Frumble, police Sergeant Murphy, Mr. Fix ...

, he lives in

Busytown Busytown is a fictional town depicted in several books by American children's author Richard Scarry. Busytown is inhabited by an assortment of anthropomorphic animals, including Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Mr. Frumble, police Sergeant Murphy, Mr. Fix ...

, and he drives an apple-shaped car. In various episodes of ''The Busy World of Richard Scarry'' and ''Busytown Mysteries'' and in the computer games '' Richard Scarry's Busytown'' and ''How Things Work in Busytown'' it is revealed that the car can also fly much like a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. Lowly attends school with Huckle and plays with him and his friends, but also takes part in more adult activities, such as driving a car. Hilda Hippo also has a crush on him, which he is reluctant to return, although he does consider Hilda a good friend. A '' Variety'' reviewer of ''The Busy World of Richard Scarry'' describes Lowly as "the real star of the series, with his goofily deprecating name and natty ensemble that includes a bow tie and single sneaker". According to Scarry's widow, Lowly was his favorite fictional creation. About 500,000 Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat finger puppets, distributed by American fast food chain

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

in 1993, were voluntarily recalled by Taco Bell following complaints that the puppets had become stuck to children's tongues.

References

{{Busytown Fictional worms Television sidekicks Characters in children's literature