Lowly Worm

{{Short description|Fictional earthworm from Richard Scarry's Busytown books and franchise}}

{{Infobox character

| name = Lowly Worm

| franchise = {{No italics|Busytown}}

| image = lowly.webp

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| creator = Richard Scarry

| voice = {{ubl|Keith Knight (The Busy World of Richard Scarry)

|Paul Wensley (Busytown Mysteries)}}

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| species = Earthworm

| gender = Male

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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 Richard Scarry Presents The Best Series Ever!, The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Busytown Mysteries.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&pg=PA710 |title=The guide to United States popular culture | first=Pat | last= Browne|isbn= 9780879728212 |year=2001 }}{{cite news |url= https://www.courant.com/1994/05/11/remember-the-lowly-worm-2/|title=Remember the Lowly Worm? |work= Hartford Courant |date=May 11, 1994}} 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 earthworm. He usually wears a dark green Tyrolean hat on his head, similar to the hat which Richard Scarry purchased in St. Anton in 1950 and often wore during visits to his publishers in New York City.{{cite web|title=Have A Very Scarry Summer!|url=http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/kids/a-summer-of-scarry| publisher= Sterling Publishing| accessdate= 2010-07-03| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716141458/http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/kids/a-summer-of-scarry|archive-date=2011-07-16|url-status=dead}} 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,"{{cite web

|title= Lowly Worm Is Back! Richard Scarry Jr. Brings Dad's Manuscript To Life

|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/08/23/342483485/lowly-worm-is-back-richard-scarry-jr-brings-dads-manuscript-to-life

|publisher=NPR

|date=2014-08-23

|accessdate=2019-05-21}} and a red bow tie. His best friend is Huckle Cat, he lives in Busytown, and he has driven an apple-shaped car since The Busy World of Richard Scarry. 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.

Lowly attends school with Huckle and plays with him and his friends, but he 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".{{cite news|title=The Busy World of Richard Scarry| work=Variety| url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117902441.html?categoryid=32&cs=1|accessdate=2010-07-03 | first=Tom | last=Bierbaum | date=1994-03-08}} According to Scarry's widow, Lowly was his favorite fictional creation.{{cite web|title=Richard Scarry, Author Of Books For Children, Dies| url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940503/1908645/richard-scarry-author-of-books-for-children-dies|publisher=Seattle Times|access-date=2010-07-03|quote="The Lowly worm was his very favorite character for all the children," she said.}}

About 500,000 Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat finger puppets, distributed by American fast food chain Taco Bell in 1993, were voluntarily recalled by Taco Bell following complaints that the puppets had become stuck to children's tongues.{{cite web|title=Taco Bell Corp. Announces Voluntary Recall Of Promotional Items| url=http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml93/93062.html|publisher=U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission| accessdate=2010-07-03| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100928013152/http://cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml93/93062.html| archive-date=2010-09-28|url-status=dead}}