Tigers with shark’s teeth that forged an alliance
If a representative of contemporary U.S. internet digital artists could be found, Danny Casale would no doubt be one of them.
Casale, nicknamed Coolman Coffeedan on the internet, is a contemporary artist who has traveled back in time to discover emotional resonance in the aviation artists of the 1940s.
In the 1940s Claire Chennault, a U.S. military aviator who led the Flying Tigers during World War II to help China resist Japanese aggression, had ground crews paint a row of shark’s teeth on the noses of their aircraft.
They spent weeks doing so. However, “they actually look a lot like tigers”, a TikTok video about the Flying Tigers says. The group gained recognition with a winged Bengal Tiger logo designed by Disney, and the term Flying Tigers debuted in Time magazine a week after their first combat in China on Dec 20, 1941.
“Nobody even thought they looked remotely like sharks, but it didn’t matter,” says the TikTok video, which Casale made. The flying tigers did their job so well that the U.S. sent more planes and the Chinese helped protect U.S. troops during that, working together.
“They helped end World War II. Peace has lasted. If it was able to happen then, it’s able to happen now, just like the Flying Tigers.”
Casale, a U.S. YouTuber and animator who has millions of followers on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the Chinese video-sharing website Bilibili, said: “When I was doing my research specifically on that topic it sort of made me realize that there’s so much more opportunity for things exactly like that to continue happening between the U.S. and China.
“It was a heartwarming read to hear that one specifically revolved around something art related, with this painter just painting on airplanes.”
Flying Tigers is a funny visual, Casale said.
“And I thought, ‘How cool is this that an artist, all the way back during that period, could have such a profound effect on the world and on different countries and the outcome of an entire war?’”
During World War II the Flying Tigers transported crucial supplies for China’s fight against Japan. More than 2,000 Flying Tigers’ airmen sacrificed their lives, and more than 200 U.S. pilots were rescued with the help of the Chinese, who also lost lives in rescue operations.
“I think learning more about what happened, say a generation or two ago, and then applying it to today’s climate — there’s so much that could be unpacked there,” Casale said.
“The partnership that occurred back then could be an inspiration for what can happen nowadays.”
In 2020 Casale was on a list that Forbes magazine drew up to recognize individuals under the age of 30 who had made significant accomplishments in their fields.
“Learning about current events and historical happenings, but in a fun way, is how I feel people can learn and be educated best,” Casale said.