How the art of Walt Disney influenced the aesthetics of motor cycle racing.

 How the art and cartoon characters of Walt Disney’s artists came to influence the aesthetics of motor cycle racing and lead to the customisation of riders helmets.

Written by Oran Patrick Scully 03.02.26

Art by Artistic Racer 

I often wondered why Japanese riders helmets came to be decorated with cartoon eyes.   

At a passing glance I imagined that this was a new trend that its influences were from the art of Manga but I was wrong. 

I always believed that they were a new trend but those cartoon eyes are actually inspired by other sources which are much older its really a story of artistry that spans the decades.   

Its also really a story about individualism and how only a few people can influence the World.   An individual is tiny and the world is huge and if you were to pull away from the world the individual is unseen.  Yet like the atom their size has nothing to do with their impact.

The words of the great scientist Richard Feynman come to mind. 

“ The behaviour of things on the small scale such as the atom is so fantastic so wonderfully different so marvelously different than anything that behaves on a large scale "

Such words have inspired me to write an article on individuals and their impact on the world of art and motorsport.  The little things in life go unnoticed the atom is unseen and only can be pictured with the language of mathematics and with ones imagination. 

I love art but what is even more interesting is the stories behind the art and the individuals who were involved in creating the art their individuality their ingenuity .

Motorcyclists in particular are colourful they are really moving art and their styles have always been influenced by the race track and the racers that inhabit those tracks.  So why have Japanese motorcycle riders race a helmet decorated with cartoon eyes!   

Their creation and their influences can be connected to the art of a Walt Disney creator by the name of  Walt Kimbal to a sticker created by an American hot rodding company and to the helmet of an English motor racing bike rider. 

These three sources were the catalyst that sparked the trend of helmet customisation.

I have always loved artistic creation because we are all individuals when individualism always comes to the fore as we try to stand out from the crowd.   But what is even more interesting is the stories behind the art and the individuals that created the art. 

 Can you believe that the cartoon character Jiminy Cricket is the source of those cartoon eyes!

Jiminy Cricket  Image by unknown.  wiki commoms 

Our story is serpentine like and can be taken in so many directions but lets go in the direction of England.   John Cooper was an English rider competing in the 1960s and early 1970s and he was known as Moon Eyes because he had a cartoon eyes painted on his helmet.

The design was originally inspired by the Walt Disney cartoon character Jiminy Cricket.   Seeking individualisation John Cooper raced with the Walt Disney character on his helmet. 

But as Cooper's helmet began to scuff up he began to use two stickered eyes on his helmet which he purchased in an auto shops in the 1960s  know as Moon Eyes.   These little sticker eyes promoted the wares of the hot rodding company of Dean Moon.  

As a side note the backround to the famous Moon Eye logo is interesting too as they were drawn by one of Walt Disney's commercial artists.  

It was this little pack of MOON Eye stickers that John Cooper placed on his helmet.

In an era where the riders wore plain black leathers and plain colourered helmets the eyes on Coopers helmet stood out.   Inspired by Cooper's style Italian Rider Renso Passolini used a set of the Moon eyes on his silver helmet.

The exploits of Cooper and Passolini were well documented in photos of the motor magazines of the time and came into the hands of a Japanese motocross racer by the name of Tadashi Suzuki.  Tadashi had read about Coopers triumphs in magazines and soon he also adopted the idea for his own helmet.   

Tadashi Suzuki Helmet art with Dean Moon Eyes on either side.   Art by Artistic Racer 

Tadashi Suzuki painting a set of his own interpretation of cartoon eyes on his own helmet.  It was so simple yet it was the spark that led to the appearance of what became known as the Japanese Style across the planet. 

Not only was Tadashi a great competitor he was also a fine tuner who created his own race parts.

He founded SP TADAO whose logo featured the eyes that he was inspired to place on his own helmet. 

Commercial success led him to sponsor Japanese riders such as Shinya Nakano and they proudly showed of Tadao’s company Logo the logo with eyes. Nakano was the rider who most popularised the eyes of SP TADAO.  So that is why Japanese riders adopted those famous eyes on their helmets.  

Nakano  Photo by OZ  source wiki commons

Walt Disney art continued to influence the expanding universe of motorcycle racing

Walt Disney created Donald Duck as a counterpart to Mickey Mouse and in the 1970s Barry Sheene took it as his inspiration for his own helmet design. 

Sheene wanted to stand out from his counterparts and like Donald Duck he was famous  mischievous and could have a temper when he was frustrated with his machinery.

Barry Sheene Helmet   Photo by 35mmMan

Donald Duck is widely regarded as one of the most famous cartoon characters of the 20^th Century and Sheene matched him as he was one of the most famous motorbike racers of the 20^th Century.  

It could be argued that Sheene was actually more famous than the cartoon icon and his mechanics testify that was the reason behind him taking on the symbol.

The world of motorsport in the 1970s was more carefree and it focused on the individual the rider on the machine. 

Barry Sheene  Photo by lawson Speedway wiki commons 

In the early 80’s motorcycle racer Chris Guy of the Sid Griffiths team rode a yellow and black striped Suzuki RG500. 

The blonde haired rider had a distintive helmet with the number 13 on it.   His helmet used the colours of the team which was black and yellow .  Chris Guy then had the Pink Panther painted on it. 

The Panther was shown as riding on a motorbike that had twin rear exhausts that puffed pink exhaust smoke.

Another stylish racer the Italian Guido Paci  landed in the premier class GP500 world championship in 1980.

Called the Pink Panther due to his use of the cartoon character pink and white colouration . 

He coloured his bike by using the colour pink on the machine its rims its fairing  and its tank. 

In his memory his fan club still remembers this individualistic rider using a cartoon emblem that of the a Pink Panther with an open face helmet on its head and Guido’s trademark moustache. 

All these riders were customisers and yet they can be compared to how warriors customised their helmets for battle in the past.

Mural Pink Panther   Photo by Ceescamel  Source wiki commons 

All these riders were great racers but they were also great characters not afraid to be open to experience life to not conform. 

Many have passed into the ether but they show that it is individualism is so important now more than ever in a world where AI and all new technolgies is trying its best to strip away individuality. 

They were atoms there energy is still there.

Like the unseen atom these people behaved differently than anything on a large scale. 

The art of cartoons was so important for these individuals and they used it to colour their way to the top of motorcycle racing. 

 Who would have thought that Disney and the artists that passed through his studios would be so instumental in the colourisation of motorcycle racing.