The origins of this cartoon remain something of a mystery. It was a Pathegrams release on the 16mm home film market sometime in the 1930s, capitalizing on the popularity of the Lone Ranger character, who originated on radio in 1933.
Pathegrams was the home-film distribution label of the Pathé Exchange (later Pathé Film Corporation), operating from 1927 through the end of the 1930s. The label mainly issued abridged and rebranded footage from prior theatrical releases (comedy shorts, feature films, etc.), before
Eugene W. Castle helped to revive the struggling brand in 1937 with a shift toward newsreels.
This animated Lone Ranger is likely the first film representation of the pop culture icon, predating the Republic Pictures serial
The Lone Ranger (1938). Because of the cartoon's obscurity, speculation has arisen about the film's true origins, with some fans theorizing that the animation was repurposed from an earlier project unrelated to the character.