1933
was just six years after Charles Lindbergh's New York to Paris flight and
a time of great enthusiasm for the newfound realm of human flight. Magazines,
movies, cartoons, and hobby shops were rife with airplane themes. Early
Warner Brothers (e.g., Bugs Bunny) and Walt Disney (e.g., Donald Duck, Mickey
Mouse) productions often featured airplanes. Even the U.S. Navy used cartoons
to train aviators. Many of the toys and magazines of the era are now worth
a lot of money on eBay. The cartoon shown here is a 1933 Willie Whopper
production titled, "The Air Race" (UbIwerks, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer). It does
a good job of representing the era of invention and accomplishment on the
part of designers, builders and flyers, and the awe of spectators admiring
the aforementioned.
I have also included a few other early aviation-themed
cartoons below. Enjoy.
