Wonder Horses
Encyclopedia
The phrase Wonder Horses refers to the equine
companions of cowboy
heroes in early Western films. What makes these horses different from others that have appeared on the silver screen is their rise from trusty steed to a genuine screen personality. There have been a number of horses who have enjoyed such fame, often receiving equal or second billing with their human costars.
era, they were prominently featured in the B-Westerns of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. During the early decades of sound film
, cowboy movies targeted a juvenile demographic. The films’ heroes were generally one-dimensional, stock characters who represented and promoted truth and goodness to their young audience. More popular with adolescent viewers than a human sidekick
, the Wonder Horse could not only outrun the mounts of the villains, but could also perform a series of feats and tricks to ensure that the cowboy hero would triumph.
The bond between a cowboy and his horse is an important part of the cowboy mythology created by dime novels, pulp fiction
stories, and Western cinema. Movies featuring Wonder Horses embellish this relationship between man and beast while heightening the exceptional and heroic qualities of the cowboy by his association with a remarkable animal.
, appearing in at least eight silent films: Pinto Ben (1915), Hell’s Hinges
(1916), The Narrow Trail (1917), Blue Blazes Rawden (1918), The Toll Gate (1920), Sand (1920), Three Word Brand (1921), and Singer Jim McKee (1924). He received his own fan mail, which often included sugar cubes from admirers.
During his career, Fritz was much beloved by his costar, actor William Hart. The horse belonged to film producer Thomas Ince
, but during a raise negotiation with Ince, Hart was able to acquire ownership of Fritz. Fritz was known for his ability to do unique and risky stunts. He could jump into moving rivers, through windows, over fire, and "allow himself to be thrown to the ground after a sudden stop." In his autobiography, Hart speaks lovingly of Fritz, and describes some of their stunts together. One in particular illustrates the danger of the stunts Fritz performed and the love Hart felt for his "pinto pony." While filming a scene for the 1920 film The Toll Gate, Hart and Fritz were caught in a whirlpool:
After his retirement from film, Fritz lived out the rest of his 31 years at Hart's California ranch. His grave is marked by a cobblestone monument that reads: “Bill Hart's Pinto Pony Fritz—Aged 31 Years—A Loyal Comrade.”
. He starred in over two dozen silent and sound films during his career, becoming a celebrity in his own right. When Mix placed his handprints in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1927, Tony’s hoofprints were placed alongside them. He was the first horse to be given equal billing with his human costar, and was featured in the title of three movies: Just Tony (1922), Oh! You Tony (1924), and Tony Runs Wild (1926).
Tony is most known for his intelligence and ability to perform remarkable stunts, many of which would not be allowed today. Mix reportedly did not have to train Tony, but simply show him what to do for each feat. Such stunts included untying Mix’s hands, opening gates, loosening his reins, rescuing Mix from fire, jumping from one cliff to another, and running after trains.
Tony retired from the film industry at the age of twenty-two when he was slightly injured on the set of his last movie, The Fourth Horseman (1932). He outlived Tom Mix, dying in 1942, two years to the day after Mix was killed in a car accident.
Following Tony's retirement, Tom Mix began featuring another horse in his films, Tony, Jr. A third horse, Tony II, was used for public appearances.
with a fierce reputation. Despite the fact that over the years he was termed “mean,” “vicious,” “ornery,” “undependable,” “warped,” and “dangerous,” Rex was in the film industry for nearly fifteen years, starring in over a dozen films. Few actors were willing to work with the wild horse, so a double
was often used in close-up
s. He was the first horse to star in his own films.
Rex appeared in such silent and sound films as The King of the Wild Horses (1924), The Devil Horse (1926), No Man’s Law (1927), King of the Wild Horses (1933), Law of the Wild (1934), The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935), and King of the Sierras (1938).
Rex was very often the star of these films, bringing comedy and action to the screen. In one scene from No Man's Law, Rex saves the modesty of a young women swimming in the nude from a pair of rowdy villains. Chasing one around in circles, rearing up and bucking like a wild mustang, until he finally runs him off of a cliff, he sneaks up behind the other and nudges him with his nose over the ledge and into the watering hole. He then nose prods the now clothed young woman back to her father.
. Together, the two starred in over five dozen films and serials
from 1925 until Tarzan's death in 1940.
While previous Wonder Horses had been used by their cowboy costars to perform impressive stunts, actor Ken Maynard was the first to take advantage of the merits of a talented horse. While Tarzan could perform stunts like jumping off cliffs, he was known better for his tricks, such as dancing, bowing, nodding his head to answer questions, playing dead, untying ropes, dragging Maynard to safety, or nuzzling him into the arms of the leading lady. Incredibly intelligent, Tarzan performed these stunts in response to word commands from Maynard.
Four of Tarzan's films can be viewed for free in the Feature Films Collection of the Internet Archive: Tombstone Canyon (1932), Hellfire Austin (1932), Phantom Thunderbolt (1933), and Honor of the Range (1934).
' palomino
stallion, Trigger. He appeared in all 81 of Rogers' films as well as 101 television shows. He retired from show business in 1957, dying in 1965 at the age of 33; he was stuffed and the taxidermy mount resided at the Roy Rogers Museum in California and then in Branson, Missouri until its closure. On July 14, 2010, Trigger was sold in auction at Christie's New York Saleroom to Patrick Gottsch, who plans to display the mount at the corporate headquarters of his network, RFD-TV, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Trigger was billed as "The Smartest Horse in the Movies." His trainer, Glen Randall, described him as being "almost human," knowing as many as 60 different tricks. Like Tarzan, many of his tricks were performed by word cue. One of his more exceptional "tricks" was that he was housebroken, allowing Roy Rogers to make public appearances with him. During a trip to New York City, it was reported by the Times that Trigger delighted audiences by dancing, rearing, pawing, and playing dead on the ballroom floor of the Hotel Astor.
Like Tony, there was more than one horse to bear the name Trigger. Little Trigger and Trigger, Jr. were also used for public appearances, film, and television to lessen the strain and stress on the original Trigger. Rogers and Trigger placed their hands and hooves in the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1949.
Gene Autry
. Originally belonging to Tom Mix
, Autry likely purchased Champion after working with him in The Phantom Empire series. Several horses bore the name Champion; the first passed away while Autry was serving in the Army Air Force during World War II.
Champion was able to perform numerous tricks, including jumping through paper-covered hoops and galloping toward and coming to a stop atop a piano. Gene Autry and Champion (probably Champion II) left their handprints and hoofprints in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1949.
Champion (and his successors) appeared in nearly one hundred films and television shows from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Four of his films can be viewed for free in the Feature Films Collection of the Internet Archive: Oh, Susanna! (1936), Ride Ranger Ride (1936), The Big Show (1936), and Red River Valley (1936). A star in his own right, Champion was featured in his own television series, The Adventures of Champion, based on a radio series
of the same name. Lyrics from the theme song emphasize his status as Wonder Horse.
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' 'cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him ever'where you go.
The time'll come when everyone will know
The name of Champion the Wonder Horse!
.
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
companions of cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
heroes in early Western films. What makes these horses different from others that have appeared on the silver screen is their rise from trusty steed to a genuine screen personality. There have been a number of horses who have enjoyed such fame, often receiving equal or second billing with their human costars.
Heroic Horses of the Silver Screen
Though the first heroic horses emerged out of the silent filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era, they were prominently featured in the B-Westerns of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. During the early decades of sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
, cowboy movies targeted a juvenile demographic. The films’ heroes were generally one-dimensional, stock characters who represented and promoted truth and goodness to their young audience. More popular with adolescent viewers than a human sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
, the Wonder Horse could not only outrun the mounts of the villains, but could also perform a series of feats and tricks to ensure that the cowboy hero would triumph.
The bond between a cowboy and his horse is an important part of the cowboy mythology created by dime novels, pulp fiction
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
stories, and Western cinema. Movies featuring Wonder Horses embellish this relationship between man and beast while heightening the exceptional and heroic qualities of the cowboy by his association with a remarkable animal.
Fritz
Fritz was the first horse to be named in the credits as a costar to his rider, William S. HartWilliam S. Hart
William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
, appearing in at least eight silent films: Pinto Ben (1915), Hell’s Hinges
Hell's Hinges
Hell's Hinges is a 1916 American Western silent film starring William S. Hart and Clara Williams. Directed by Charles Swickard, William S. Hart and Clifford Smith, and produced by Thomas H. Ince, the screenplay was written by C. Gardner Sullivan.-Plot:...
(1916), The Narrow Trail (1917), Blue Blazes Rawden (1918), The Toll Gate (1920), Sand (1920), Three Word Brand (1921), and Singer Jim McKee (1924). He received his own fan mail, which often included sugar cubes from admirers.
During his career, Fritz was much beloved by his costar, actor William Hart. The horse belonged to film producer Thomas Ince
Thomas H. Ince
Thomas Harper Ince was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer of more than 100 films and pioneering studio mogul. Known as the "Father of the Western", he invented many mechanisms of professional movie production, introducing early Hollywood to the "assembly line"...
, but during a raise negotiation with Ince, Hart was able to acquire ownership of Fritz. Fritz was known for his ability to do unique and risky stunts. He could jump into moving rivers, through windows, over fire, and "allow himself to be thrown to the ground after a sudden stop." In his autobiography, Hart speaks lovingly of Fritz, and describes some of their stunts together. One in particular illustrates the danger of the stunts Fritz performed and the love Hart felt for his "pinto pony." While filming a scene for the 1920 film The Toll Gate, Hart and Fritz were caught in a whirlpool:
Once an animal got into it, he could neither swim out nor climb out. There was no bottom for his hind legs to reach and he could only get his front hoofs on the ledge which was six feet under water.
Almighty God! How Fritz did try! He struggled. He screamed. He looked at me with the eyes of a human being. He actually climbed the arched side walls until he turned himself over backwards. Twice we went down in those cold, whirling depts and twice we fought our way to the surface again. I knew the next time would be the last. Fritz spoke to me—I know he did. I heard him, and I spoke to him. I said, "God help us, Fritz." ...And God did help us!
My little friend could not struggle any more, his eyes were glazed with coming death, and as we were going down for the last time the strong current we had been fighting carried us over the ledge back toward the way we cam in, and as we sank we touched the bottom and regained our feet.
After his retirement from film, Fritz lived out the rest of his 31 years at Hart's California ranch. His grave is marked by a cobblestone monument that reads: “Bill Hart's Pinto Pony Fritz—Aged 31 Years—A Loyal Comrade.”
Tony
The first horse to bear the name “The Wonder Horse,” Tony was the companion of actor Tom MixTom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
. He starred in over two dozen silent and sound films during his career, becoming a celebrity in his own right. When Mix placed his handprints in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1927, Tony’s hoofprints were placed alongside them. He was the first horse to be given equal billing with his human costar, and was featured in the title of three movies: Just Tony (1922), Oh! You Tony (1924), and Tony Runs Wild (1926).
Tony is most known for his intelligence and ability to perform remarkable stunts, many of which would not be allowed today. Mix reportedly did not have to train Tony, but simply show him what to do for each feat. Such stunts included untying Mix’s hands, opening gates, loosening his reins, rescuing Mix from fire, jumping from one cliff to another, and running after trains.
Tony retired from the film industry at the age of twenty-two when he was slightly injured on the set of his last movie, The Fourth Horseman (1932). He outlived Tom Mix, dying in 1942, two years to the day after Mix was killed in a car accident.
Following Tony's retirement, Tom Mix began featuring another horse in his films, Tony, Jr. A third horse, Tony II, was used for public appearances.
Rex
Known as “The Wonder Horse” and “King of the Wild Horses,” Rex was a black Morgan stallionMorgan horse
The Morgan is one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States. Tracing back to the stallion Figure, later named Justin Morgan after his best-known owner, the breed excels in many disciplines, and is known for its versatility....
with a fierce reputation. Despite the fact that over the years he was termed “mean,” “vicious,” “ornery,” “undependable,” “warped,” and “dangerous,” Rex was in the film industry for nearly fifteen years, starring in over a dozen films. Few actors were willing to work with the wild horse, so a double
Body double
A body double is a general term for someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character in any recorded visual medium, in shots where the character's body is shown but the face is either not visible or shown indistinctly, or in shots where the image of the credited actor's face is joined,...
was often used in close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...
s. He was the first horse to star in his own films.
Rex appeared in such silent and sound films as The King of the Wild Horses (1924), The Devil Horse (1926), No Man’s Law (1927), King of the Wild Horses (1933), Law of the Wild (1934), The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935), and King of the Sierras (1938).
Rex was very often the star of these films, bringing comedy and action to the screen. In one scene from No Man's Law, Rex saves the modesty of a young women swimming in the nude from a pair of rowdy villains. Chasing one around in circles, rearing up and bucking like a wild mustang, until he finally runs him off of a cliff, he sneaks up behind the other and nudges him with his nose over the ledge and into the watering hole. He then nose prods the now clothed young woman back to her father.
Tarzan
Tarzan, The Wonder Horse was the onscreen companion to silent and sound film star Ken MaynardKen Maynard
Ken Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
. Together, the two starred in over five dozen films and serials
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
from 1925 until Tarzan's death in 1940.
While previous Wonder Horses had been used by their cowboy costars to perform impressive stunts, actor Ken Maynard was the first to take advantage of the merits of a talented horse. While Tarzan could perform stunts like jumping off cliffs, he was known better for his tricks, such as dancing, bowing, nodding his head to answer questions, playing dead, untying ropes, dragging Maynard to safety, or nuzzling him into the arms of the leading lady. Incredibly intelligent, Tarzan performed these stunts in response to word commands from Maynard.
Four of Tarzan's films can be viewed for free in the Feature Films Collection of the Internet Archive: Tombstone Canyon (1932), Hellfire Austin (1932), Phantom Thunderbolt (1933), and Honor of the Range (1934).
Trigger
One of the most well-known Wonder Horses was Roy RogersRoy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
' palomino
Palomino
Palomino is a coat color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" base coat...
stallion, Trigger. He appeared in all 81 of Rogers' films as well as 101 television shows. He retired from show business in 1957, dying in 1965 at the age of 33; he was stuffed and the taxidermy mount resided at the Roy Rogers Museum in California and then in Branson, Missouri until its closure. On July 14, 2010, Trigger was sold in auction at Christie's New York Saleroom to Patrick Gottsch, who plans to display the mount at the corporate headquarters of his network, RFD-TV, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Trigger was billed as "The Smartest Horse in the Movies." His trainer, Glen Randall, described him as being "almost human," knowing as many as 60 different tricks. Like Tarzan, many of his tricks were performed by word cue. One of his more exceptional "tricks" was that he was housebroken, allowing Roy Rogers to make public appearances with him. During a trip to New York City, it was reported by the Times that Trigger delighted audiences by dancing, rearing, pawing, and playing dead on the ballroom floor of the Hotel Astor.
Like Tony, there was more than one horse to bear the name Trigger. Little Trigger and Trigger, Jr. were also used for public appearances, film, and television to lessen the strain and stress on the original Trigger. Rogers and Trigger placed their hands and hooves in the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1949.
Champion
Champion the Wonder Horse, was the onscreen companion of the singing cowboySinging cowboy
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films, popularized by many of the B-movies of the 1930s and 1940s...
Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
. Originally belonging to Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
, Autry likely purchased Champion after working with him in The Phantom Empire series. Several horses bore the name Champion; the first passed away while Autry was serving in the Army Air Force during World War II.
Champion was able to perform numerous tricks, including jumping through paper-covered hoops and galloping toward and coming to a stop atop a piano. Gene Autry and Champion (probably Champion II) left their handprints and hoofprints in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1949.
Champion (and his successors) appeared in nearly one hundred films and television shows from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Four of his films can be viewed for free in the Feature Films Collection of the Internet Archive: Oh, Susanna! (1936), Ride Ranger Ride (1936), The Big Show (1936), and Red River Valley (1936). A star in his own right, Champion was featured in his own television series, The Adventures of Champion, based on a radio series
The Adventures of Champion
The Adventures of Champion is a 15-minute adventure serial radio drama directed by William Burch and heard weekday afternoons on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1949-50.-Radio:...
of the same name. Lyrics from the theme song emphasize his status as Wonder Horse.
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' 'cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him ever'where you go.
The time'll come when everyone will know
The name of Champion the Wonder Horse!
Other Notable Wonder Horses
- Baron with Tom TylerTom TylerTom Tyler was an American actor in silent and sound motion pictures, best known for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the acclaimed 1941 movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel.-Biography:...
- Black Jack and Feather with Allan LaneAllan LaneAllan "Rocky" Lane was a studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in a career lasting from 1929 to 1966...
- Cyclone with Don Barry
- Duke with John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
- Falcon with Buster CrabbeBuster CrabbeClarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
- King with Bill CodyBill Cody (actor)Bill Cody, born William Joseph Cody Jr., was a Hollywood B-western actor of the 1920s, 1930s and into the 1940s, and father to Bill Cody, Jr.....
- Knight with Rod CameronRod CameronRod Cameron was a Canadian-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror, war, action and science fiction movies, but is best remembered for his many Westerns....
- Koko "The Miracle Horse of the Movies" with Rex AllenRex AllenRex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
- Lightning and Duke with Tim HoltTim HoltTim Holt was an American film actor perhaps best known for co-starring in the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.-Early life:...
- Midnight with Tim McCoyTim McCoyCol. Tim McCoy was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs.-Early years:...
- Mike with George O’Brien
- Mutt with Hoot GibsonHoot GibsonHoot Gibson was an American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer.-Early life and career:...
- Raider with Charles StarrettCharles StarrettCharles Starrett was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid Columbia Pictures western series. He was born in Athol, Massachusetts.-Career:...
- Rebel with Reb RussellLafayette RussellLafayette H. "Reb" Russell was an American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at the University of Nebraska and Northwestern University...
- Rush with Lash LaRue
- Scout with Jack HoxieJack HoxieJack Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s...
- Shamrock with Bob Livingstone
- Silver with Buck JonesBuck JonesBuck Jones was an American motion picture star of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, best known for his work starring in many popular western movies...
- Silver with the Lone Ranger
- Silver with Sunset CarsonSunset CarsonSunset Carson, born Winifred Maurice Harrison was an American B-western star of the 1940s.-Early life, acting:...
- Silver Bullet with Whip WilsonWhip WilsonWhip Wilson was an American cowboy film star of the late 1940s and into the 1950s, known for his roles in B-westerns....
- Silver King with Fred Thomson
- Sonny and Thunder with Wild Bill ElliottWild Bill ElliottWild Bill Elliott was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B-Westerns, particularly in the Red Ryder series of films.-Early life:...
- Starlight with Jack PerrinJack PerrinJack Perrin was an American actor specializing in westerns.-Biography:He was born Lyman Wakefield Perrin in Three Rivers, Michigan; his father worked in real estate and relocated the family to Los Angeles, California shortly after the turn of the century.Perrin served in the United States Navy...
- Topper with Hopalong CassidyHopalong CassidyHopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
- White Eagle and Silver with Bug Jones
- White Flash with Tex RitterTex RitterWoodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
Wonder Horse Toys
As these Westerns had great appeal to children, toys, clothing, and other accessories were marketed, many of them featuring their favorite cowboy's Wonder Horse. Tony, Trigger, Champion, Rocky Lane's Black Jack, and the Lone Ranger's Silver were some of the Wonder Horses of cinema that were featured in Western comic booksAmerican comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
.
Works cited
- Buscombe, Edward, ed. The BFI Companion to the Western, London: Deutsch (1996).
- Cusic, Don. Gene Autry: His Life and Career, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. (2007).
- Davis, Ronald L. William S. Hart: Projecting the American West, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press (2003).
- Grace, Erin. "Trigger's happy trails to Omaha." Omaha World Herald, July 15, 2010, Metro/Region section.
- Hart, William S. My Life: East and West, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1929).
- McGillis, Roderick, He Was Some Kind of a Man: Masculinities in the B Western, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press (2009).
- Prowse, Brad. "Screen Horses and their Heroes," American Cowboy (Jan/Feb 1999), 62.
- Scanlan, Lawrence. Wild About Horses: Our Timeless Passion for the Horse, Canada: Random House of Canada (1999).
- Slatta, Richard W. The Cowboy Encyclopedia, New York: W. W. Norton & Company (1996).
- Stillman, Deanne. Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2008).
- Turner, Lillian. "The Golden Horse on the Silver Screen," Montana The Magazine of Western History (Autumn 1995), 2-19.
- Wilson, Staci Layne. Animal Movies Guide, USA: Running Free Press (2007).
- Whitaker, Julie. The Horse: A Miscellany of Equine Knowledge, UK: Ivy Press (2007).
- Yoggy, Gary A. Back in the Saddle: Essays on Western Film and Television Actors, North Carolina: McFarland & Company (1998).