Lone Ranger 1966 - Day of the Dragon # 1
Channel: Historical movies
Date: 09/01/2021

Somewhere in the distance, the well-known song: the William Tell Overture plays on a lone trumpet. Riding past on the cartoon horses Silver and Scout, the fabled Lone Ranger and his friend Tonto come to the aid of the “people of today.” The original story of the Lone Ranger started as a radio show about an ex-texas ranger who chose to help the people in his own way. Technically only running for one very long season, the late 60’s hit TV cartoon show The Lone Ranger, (1966-1969) aired with a smattering of very short, 5 to 8-minute episodes that aired in 30-minute time slots on Saturday mornings. The episode, “The Crack of Doom” (Dec. 6th, 1966) follows Tonto and his eagle into a perilous journey to save a woman from sure death at the hands of a caveman from a prehistoric land. Tonto learns his bird is actually very intelligent, and even though his head is small he “has a large brain.”

Another claim by CBS, the cartoon show sought to bring fun children's lessons to the airways. There are no direct ties to any company or corporate sponsor with the Lone Ranger Cartoon. The show is, in fact, a cartoon, and is targeted at children in the 1960s. Meant to preach the good American morals, the show steered away from anything racial or “improper for television” at the time of airing. Moreover, the episodes were short and many a time blatantly taught kids good moral values, while still hiding some in the actions of its characters. The writing of the show is very much made for the people of the time. Indians are portrayed by the one-feather, loincloth, broken English people the stereotype had become. Many “white” characters would actually say
“injun’s,” in an attempt by the writers to further drive the stereotype down the throats of children. It is worth mentioning for the most part, “injun” was said by antagonistic characters or other ill-educated people.

Piggybacking off the joy of the live action show by the same name, The Lone Ranger Cartoon aided in the groundwork that would later become recognizable humor for titles as “recent” as Scooby-Doo. He travels the countryside in search of people to help and serves justice where there is injustice. The two shows have different tones and actors, but the story itself is very similar: two lost souls out to do good in the world.

Works Cited

Lone Ranger Cartoon Collection 1966.