In the early 1950s, Kellogg's Tony the Tiger proclaimed, "They're great!"  But MGM's Leo the Lion was doing it two decades earlier.  From The Film Daily, 1934.

Eighteen (plus) years before the original Pink Panther, there was this MGM mascot.  From The Film Daily, 1945.  (And we're spotting pink felines a decade before that, too.)

A decade before Jonathan Livingston Seagull, there was Evangeline: Pigeon of Paris by Natalie Savage Carlson, 1960.

Here's a precursor to the ornate puzzle box that unlocks diabolical dimensions in the Hellraiser films.  The spherical nature of this device also recalls the Phantasm films.  From Unknown, 1943.

Two years before Star Wars, here's a wanted poster for a Wookie-like monster.  From UFO Newsclipping Service, 1975.

This hungry cheese is a precursor to Pacman.  From Nebelspalter, 1935.

A yin-yang crater on the moon, from Montclair's 1969 yearbook.  (Surely this predates photography of Saturn's moon Iapetus, which also has a yin-yang crater.)  

Here's a precursor to the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  From Nebelspalter, 1937.

Before the invention of the cell phone, people had to watch very tiny movies on other devices.  From Taylor's 1975 yearbook.

Before the invention of the cell phone, people had to isolate themselves in different ways.  From Kent State's 1982 yearbook.

Before cell phones, people had to isolate themselves in different ways.  From Santa Clara's 1979 yearbook.

Over three decades before the "flower children" and "flower power" political movement, there were these flower people.  From Nebelspalter, 1932.

Jonathan points out an old pattern for flower-themed beachwear.

Before android "replicants" were opening fire, there were "replicas."  From Startling Stories, 1951.

Ten years before the Pac-Man arcade game was developed, here's one of the ghosts.  From Morris Harvey's 1969 yearbook.

Before the rivals of Madonna,* there was The Rivals of Madonna. 

*Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Cyndi Lauper, Janet Jackson, Belinda Carlisle, and Whitney Houston are the most-often cited rivals of Madonna.

Here's a precursor to Obi Wan deactivating the tractor beam on the Death Star to help Princess Leia escape (nearly a quarter century before Star Wars debuted).  From Super Science Stories, 1951.

Here's a precursor to robot priests, like this one who runs a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and this one in Germany that bestows blessings in five languages.

From La Colotte, 1908.

Here's a precursor to overlaying album covers and photos onto other scenes.  From La Colotte, 1907.

Did Billy Idol foresee Uber Eats 31 years in advance of its debut?  Of course he did!  In the bridge of 1983's "Rebel Yell," Idol sings: