Thank You Mask Man (1971): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1971, Thank You Mask Man is a comedy, animation and western film directed by Lenny Bruce, running about 7 minutes.

What it’s about. This short animation set to Lenny Bruce's live monologue tells how the Lone Ranger hooks up with Tonto. With Bruce doing all the voices, this animation begins with local folks upset at the Lone Ranger because he won't stay around to be thanked after a good deed. So, he stays and finds he likes hearing "Thank you mask man." When their attention starts to shift elsewhere, he shocks and disgusts the townspeople with a final request. According to the cartoon’s producer John Magnuson, at early showings of this, gay audiences were upset by its apparent “fag-bashing”. And it’s true, part of the fun of the piece is just crying out “Masked man’s a fag”, scandalising and defacing the image of this all-American hero. But it’s within the larger context of Bruce’s analysis of heroism, and that the towns people reject the Masked Man is because of their prejudices, not because Bruce is asking us to endorse them. (from: http://ukjarry.blogspot.de/2010/01/352-lenny-bruce-thank-you-mask-man.html)

Who’s in it. Thank You Mask Man stars Lenny Bruce as The Lone Ranger / Various (voice).

How it landed. With an audience score of 4.7/10, Thank You Mask Man has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Thank You Mask Man page.

If you liked it. Fans of Thank You Mask Man tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, Life Is Beautiful and Fight Club.