Colonel Heeza Liar's Forbidden Fruit(1923)

Colonel Heeza Liar's Forbidden Fruit is a 1923 animated short that opens with New York gripped by a banana shortage, as residents sing the novelty hit "Yes! We Have No Bananas." Animator Walter Lantz plays himself, strumming the song on guitar until a colleague hands him a banana that transforms into Colonel Heeza Liar. The tall-tale character then recounts his adventure to end the great banana famine. The film blends topical humor—referencing mobster Louis Cohen's arrest that same year—with the absurdist charm of early animation. Heeza Liar's exaggerated exploits drive a lighthearted romp through a crisis that gripped the nation.