I'm a big fan of New York style animation from the 20's through the 40's. Felix The Cat, and Betty Boop and things of the sort. It was so surreal and odd for its time, and even seems really subversive and off kilter now.
the funny thing is, from watching documentaries on it, you realize that alot of the bit characters where based off of people from that era, famous people, actors, singers, and politicians. The problem is, the references have been lost over the years, so we dont really "get" the joke anymore.