Walter Lantz is most noted for his Woody Woodpecker
cartoons, but he had a life in animation before the advent of the noisy little
bird we all came to love. This Technicolor cartoon from 1941 should give you a
good idea of what Mr. Lantz was doing prior to the birth of Woody.
Beginning with Columbus’ voyage to the New World, Mr. Lantz
takes the viewer on a tour de force through America’s most colorful moments.
From Columbus and all the way through the American Revolution; which began
today at Lexington-Concord in Massachusetts; on through the stock market crash
of the late 1920’s and the Great Depression, this cartoon leaves nothing out.
The First Thanksgiving is covered in a humorous fashion,
with everyone shaking hands and saying “Thank you” to one another. The
Minutemen are here, as is Lincoln at Gettysburg. The Gold Rush in
California, the New Deal, and even the rumblings of the Second World
War, along with the first peacetime conscription of the Armed Forces, are all covered as well.
Today is the anniversary of the events that brought us
freedom, and in spite of the events in Boston; the “Cradle of Liberty”; this
past week, Americans will persevere and move on with their lives, always
remembering the fallen that did not make it. And, along with that, we will keep
our senses; all of them; even our sense of humor. And that, in itself, is a
victory.
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