Crusader Rabbit

One of the first Animated Series produced for television, Crusader Rabbit was created by Jay Ward and Alex Anderson in 1948, and subsequently sold to NBC. It featured the serialized adventures of a rabbit and his tiger sidekick, Ragland T. Tiger (Rags for short).

Anderson's original intent was not to create a rabbit or tiger character, but to create characters whose personalities were contrary to their appearance. The rabbit was conceived by Ward as a crusading Don Quixote. Some of the earliest episodes can be found in the Internet Archive's Moving Picture Collection.

A second series of Crusader Rabbit cartoons, this time in color, was produced for Syndication in 1957. This was after Ward and Anderson lost the rights to the characters to series bankroller Jerry Fairbanks, who had Creston Films make this second batch.

This series provides examples of:
 * Animated Series
 * Cliff Hanger
 * Dastardly Whiplash: Crusader and Rags' arch-nemesis Dudley Nightshade.
 * Hey It's That Voice: Lucille Bliss, who voiced Crusader in the black-and-white episodes, would later voice Smurfette.
 * Talking Animal