Tag Archives: goofy

Goofy Shorts

Knight for a Day

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Original release date: March 8, 1946

Rating: TV-G. “Contains tobacco depictions. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven minutes

Background:

While considered a Goofy short, “Knight for a Day” is technically very much not a Goofy short. All of the Goofy-style characters are said to be lookalikes. Seems Goofy.

This short is loosely based on “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”

Review:

We head back to Canterbury and a jousting field, as various Goofalikes watch – including Princess Esmerelda, Goof nose and all.

First we meet Cedric the servant, making sure his competitor Sir Loinsteak is ready to joust. This includes breaking Loinsteak’s sword, shoving his big snout into a knight helmet, and accidentally pushing him over the horse.

This fall causes Loinsteak to be out, with Cedric being talked into taking his place by the fast-talking narrator.

Sir Cumference, the champion, has entered the field in the meal time as little Cedric comes out on the other end to battle for the hand of Esmerelda.

The jousting begins and this does not go well for Cedric, with Sir Cumference quickly taking the lead. However, Cedric won’t go down and eventually wins via Sir Cumference’s falling out due to exhaustion. Ah yes, that’s how sleep wins against me.

With lil’ Cedric the winner, his new fiancé Esmerelda comes down to shower him with kisses and that’s that.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

You can skip it. Out of the many Goofy shorts we’ve seen so far, this is one of the weaker ones.

Disney Animated Films

Saludos Amigos

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Original release date: February 19, 1943. It also had premieres in Rio de Janeiro on August 24, 1942 and Boston on February 3, 1943.

Rating: TV-PG. “Contains tobacco depictions. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: 42 minutes

Background: “Saludos Amigos” is a special case of a Disney film, as it officially counts as the sixth Disney animated feature film despite being under an hour long.

The story behind the film is quite extraordinary and involves the U.S. Government. Before the United States entered World War II, the Department of State gave Disney a goodwill tour of South America with hopes of it leading to a film.

Walt Disney himself and a group of composers, artists, and other Disney magic makers took the tour to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

The progressing film was even given federal loan guarantees, which helped Disney produce it as well as ensure it would show what the Department of State wanted it to show.

It worked, as the film showed Latin American areas to U.S. citizens, with film historian Alfred Charles Richard Jr. noting that the film did more to cement interest than the State Department did in half a century.

The film was nominated – but didn’t win – three Academy Awards, as usual for Disney films they were in the music and sound categories.

Review:

“Saludos Amigos” is a mix of live action footage and four shorts, giving the kids the animated fun they need and adults a look at just how life in Latin American countries is.

As an animated sequence shows planes flying over Argentina, with half of the crew landing in live action at Lake Titicaca. I’m still not mature enough for that name.

This is educational, so we learn all about market day as we see the local citizens trading and selling goods. Bright colors are the rage, while the music is “strange and exotic.” It isn’t strange, but okay.

We get llamas! Llama footage galore, as we see animators draw some llamas. This brings us back to animation and Donald Duck, sitting on a Lake Titicaca sign. Donald appears to be suffering from high altitude issues.

Donald jumps into a basket boat, which are made with reeds. After destroying the first, he takes off in a second where he quickly gets shot out.

Locals play music as Donald takes pictures with his camera. Llama time! A local child controls a llama with a flute, which Donald exclaims is amazing as he snaps a picture.

Donald gets the flute, having also tried on a native costume. Donald kinda sucks at the flute, utterly confusing the llama and sending him falling repeatedly. Eventually Donald gets on the llama, riding though low cloud cover and across a suspension bridge before swimming away.

We’re back live action with artists and writers on a plane, back when you could smoke on a plane and seemingly the entire Disney company smoked. Before landing in Santiago, Chile, the creation of Pedro the small airplane is formed… and that’s our next animated stop.

We meet Papa and Mama Plane as well as Pedro Plane. Pedro goes to school, which is full of sight gags like an airplane skeleton being made of bones.

With Papa sick and Mama not a big flyer, Pedro is drafted to do Papa’s mail delivery flight. After a successful takeoff, Pedro first heads to Mendoza to collect the mail. However, he gets a sight of a mountain that has caused issues for others and gets scared before successfully collecting the mail.

Pedro gets distracted by a buzzard, playing as a shooting plane before coming head-to-head with the scary mountain. Pedro battles through and… yep, he makes it. It isn’t as easy of a survival as I make it sound, but I’m trying to give you a reason to watch it.

Sidenote: “Pedro” was released as a theatrical short later on. It’s a good short, and I’d throw a “watch it” rating at it by itself.

Now we fly to Buenos Aires and live action again, with our first actual look at Walt himself in live action. With his usual cigarette in hand, Walt looks at artwork of gauchos, which they then go to see in person. Guess what that leads to?

“El Gaucho Goofy” is our next short, and guess who it stars? That’s right, the Goof. We meet the Goof on his horse, Goof is a Texas cowboy, but gets a wardrobe change to fit in as a gaucho. His close friend is his horse, who gives him a big kiss and immediately becomes an amazing character.

We learn about the way a gaucho eats, which gives Goofy a knife. That seems like a horrible idea. Turns out it was, as he takes a big bite out of the knife.

The Goof successfully catches an ostrich, which is impressive, then breaks out his dancing shoes to dance with the horse – the horse which as FOUND A DRESS. This horse needs its own series. A+ short on horse usage alone.

The cartoonists are set loose again in live action Brazil, drawing up Jose Carioca, a cigar-smoking, smooth-dressed green bird that is still part of Disney animation today.

The Disney crew takes a part in the carnival of Brazil, with lots of fun footage of singing, dancing, and floats. One of the popular songs is “Aguarela de Brazil,” which just so happens to be our final short of the film.

As we hear the song, colorful animation develops and really shows off the magic of Disney animators. The colors eventually lead us to one Donald Duck, who has Jose Carioca drawn and alive right next to him. This would be the start of a beautiful friendship.

The music quickly gets Jose moving, and eventually grumpy Donald joins in before they share some cacacha, which is so hot to Donald that he breathes enough fire to light Jose’s cigar.

The samba really lays in and the two dance with silhouettes of ladies… which leads to a very abrupt ending to the entire film. Guess we are done here!

Extras:

There is a minute and a half clip from the Donald portion early in the movie. That’s it.

Should you watch it?

Really, “Saludos Amigos” is the story of five parts – the live action sections and the four shorts. Three of the four shorts border on great and the live action is fun. At under 45 minutes, the film breezes by. I highly recommend that you watch it.

Goofy Shorts

How to Fish

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Original release date: December 9, 1942

Rating: TV-G. “Contains tobacco depictions. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven fishy minutes

Background: The Goofy mania continued with his second “How To…” short in a row in 1942, as Disney continued to rely on non-Mickey characters to get views.

Poor Mickey… will he ever recover?

Review:

“How To Fish” works like all of the other “How To…” shorts, with a narrator doing the heavy work and Goofy doing the comedic relief.

When to fish, it turns out, relies on astrological signs. Is that a thing for real?

Apparently astrology also brings up a need to fish in men, so I must be broken. The need sucks Goofy, pipe and all, right out of his recliner and to his fishing cabinet. This is when you notice how filmy and grainy this short is.

Where to fish is our next battle, as we find the Goof waking up near a mountain stream, lightheaded from the mountain air.

How to approach the stream? Carefully and quietly. We all know Goof can’t handle either one and ends up in the stream.

The lure is important to fishing, as Goofy drops a very feminine lure down that leads to a fish conga line and Goof with no fish. This isn’t going well.

Goof finally makes a good cast with his line… so he thinks. In reality, he catches a treetop, which pulls him upwards. Sigh.

Boat fishing! Maybe that’ll work for Goofy! It doesn’t, of course. He catches the motor of the boat instead. He is, however, proud of his success. Well done, Goof.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Watch it. As said before, all of the “How To…” shorts are golden.

Goofy Shorts

How to Swim

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Original release date: October 23, 1942

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight watery minutes

Background: As Mickey floundered a bit in popularity, characters like Donald Duck and Goofy became bigger deals in 1942. Goofy in particular found popularity with his “How To…” series of shorts, with him showing really how NOT to do things.

“How to Swim” was one of several “How To…” shorts of the time period, a series that would come and go all the way through the 2000s.

Review:

“Everyone should learn how to swim,” begins the narrator as it feels like he’s yelling at me, the man who has yet to learn how to swim.

The bathing suit has been a big part of the desire to swim, as we see Goofy in his full-body suit. Using a stool, Goofy demonstrates how to breathe while synchronizing his arms.

Unfortunately for the Goof, who is swimming with his eyes closed, his stool rolls out into traffic before backstroking back into the house and into the actual water of the bathtub.

Now that we’ve mastered swimming, a well-dressed Goofy heads out and tries to dress in a beach locker far too small for his tall lankiness. This doesn’t work and he – and the locker – end up underwater.

Paying no attention, Goofy walks out in a bubble underwater and sets up shop, eating a sandwich and chicken leg – or this is Disney, let’s say a famous turkey leg before finally floating up. Due to eating, he battles a few cramps which tie him up in knots.

Diving is next, something the narrator says shouldn’t be done by anyone but experts. I’m not sure if y’all knew this, but Goofy is no expert.

As the sun sets, Goofy is surrounded on an island by mermaids… mermaids with Goofy-style faces. Well, that’s one horrifying way to end things.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Watch it. The “How To…” series shorts are continually great.

Goofy Shorts

The Olympic Champ

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Original release date: October 9, 1942

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven award-winning minutes

Background: As seems to be the thing for 1942, there’s not a lot of background on this short on Al Gore’s internet tubes.

My first thought was maybe that they were a tie-in to upcoming or recently occurring Summer Olympics, seeing as how the basis of the short was track and field events.

Nope. There were no Summer Olympics in 1942 or 1943. There weren’t any in 1944 either due to World War II cancellation. Instead, I guess somebody saw some Olympics and thought, “Hey, let’s let the Goof do that!”

Review:

A narrator tells us about the beginning of the Olympics, including the symbolism of the torch bearer. In this case, we take a look at torch-bearing Goofy running in various garb representing countries. Turns out this is a history of the Olympics.

This being Goofy, he accidentally burns out the torch. Oops.

We look at the first Olympic event, running. Goofy demonstrates various speeds of running, including marathoning. Disney has made some money off of that marathoning.

Hurdling! Is Goofy ready to jump hurdles? Well, he starts well… then his big, Goofy feet cause issues. You’re not surprised.

The pole vault is next and in no way will this end well for Goofy. Goofy actually does pretty well at first, but the narrator getting lost in prose causes some balance issues.

We end with the decathlon. How’s Goofy with doing multiple skill-based things at once? Typically Goofy… in the best ways.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

I didn’t go into as much detail as I usually do with this short. That’s because I’m going with watch it… and you should. It’s one of the shorter shorts of the early days, it is funny, and you’ll learn something.

Mickey Shorts

Mickey’s Birthday Party

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Original release date: February 7, 1942

Rating: TV-G. “Contains tobacco depictions. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight gift-wrapped minutes

Background: The Disney company have become pros at monetizing Mickey’s birthday, whether it is opening a whole Birthday Land at the Magic Kingdom or releasing a cavalcade of merch – from Funko Pops to designer sunglasses – for his recent 90th birthday.

It wasn’t as big of a deal in 1942, but they found a way to make a short out of it. The short wasn’t released on his birthday, however.

Something notable about this short is that it is a remake of “The Birthday Party,” a similar short from 1931.

Review:

We start with a long look into a peephole on a door, with the eye of Minnie peeking out. Characters such as Donald and Clarabelle go into hiding as Mickey comes in, quickly surprised by the gang.

There’s even a present labelled from “the gang,” which turns out to be a organ. Congrats, Mickey. Play us a song.

A dance party ensues, including a weird extreme closeup of the inside of Mickey’s mouth. In the kitchen, Goofy dresses with a mop before checking on the cake he is baking. I feel like it should have already been ready.

Maracas come out and the party is really going now, as we get a preview of Donald’s future look in “The Three Caballeros.” Goofy congas himself in the kitchen, stirring another batch of cake mix. This cake, too, doesn’t work out.

Clara Cluck has joined in the dance party, clucking up a song while Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow throw down in the dance line. Donald breaks out a cigar, which gives us the reason for our warning.

Goofy tries one more cake, cooking it on “volcano hot.” It does indeed come out like a volcano, destroying the kitchen. Goofy has one final cake idea and it works out… well, until a very fateful trip at the end of the short.

Happy birthday, Mickey.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Watch it. It’s a very rare combination of characters all together and it’s a fun little short.

Goofy Shorts

The Art of Skiing

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Original release date: November 14, 1941

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight snowy minutes

Background: “The Art of Skiing” is historic, at least for reasons related to its star, the walking dog that is Goofy.

It’s officially the first short in the “The Art of…” series, a long-running Goofy short series that has entries as recently as 2007.

Just as importantly, it is the first short where Goofy does the signature Goofy holler, a sound that has its own Wikipedia link. You know when Goofy does the yodeling “Yaaaa-hoo-hoo-hooey” thing? That’s the Goofy holler.

Review:

Skiing – pronounced “shee-ing” according to the narrator – is our lesson today, as we wake up a snoring Goofy in bed. The film is VERY fuzzy and spotty in the beginning, something that might be distracting to some.

Goofy straps on the skis and… he’s asleep again. After a loud wakeup by the narrator, Goofy puts on a nice sweater and a hat the yodeling guy on “The Price is Right” would love.

We finally make it to the snowy summit, as Goofy first has to learn the proper technique. Not shockingly, Goof has a comedically bad time finding the position he needs.

Having finally gotten on both feet, Goofy takes his first trip down the slope… and it is mostly a trip.

Next we find Goofy on a much higher course, one in which he takes a very quick downward plummet and lets out that signature Goofy holler.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Goof, as he finds himself at the ultimate spot – the ski jump. One Goofy holler later, he starts well… hits the jump… and then the skiis get away from him. Oops.

It all ends as Goofy wants… in bed.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

The “Art of…” shorts are hard to do play-by-play on because so much of it relies on following the narrator. That said, absolutely watch it. It’s hilarious.

Disney Animated Films, Live Action Films

The Reluctant Dragon

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Original release date: June 20, 1941

Rating: G. “Contains tobacco depictions.”

Length: 1 hour, 14 minutes

Background: You’d think, going by the poster and name, this was an animated movie about a dragon who is, perhaps, reluctant. You’d be wrong.

“The Reluctant Dragon” came out during the 1941 Disney animators’ strike, so it isn’t all new animation. In fact, the film is a hybrid of live action studio tour and animated shorts.

There wasn’t much cultural impact, but the Dragon character – yes, there is one – appeared again in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

Review:

Our picture starts out today in black and white at the home of Robert Benchley, best known for his Academy Award-winning short “How to Sleep” as well as magazine columns and radio work. His wife is suggesting he sell the rights to the book “The Reluctant Dragon” to Walt Disney.

They eventually hit the road and make it to Walt Disney Studios. They tell the security guard they have an idea for Walt and he lets him right in. That easy, huh?

This is a glorified studio tour, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Robert sneaks away from the worker taking him to Walt, instead stopping at the art studio (this is where he meets a guy lighting up a cigarette, hence the disclaimer).

After a pratfall, Robert meets the art crew. In this case, they have an actual elephant in the room as they work on drawing it. Hmm, it’s almost like there’s an elephant movie coming up soon. Robert is apparently very anti-elephant, unloading several jokes about them.

His next stop is a film score and vocal recording session, seeing an orchestra play music. He sits next to a gentleman who turns out to be Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck. Florence Gill, the voice of Clara Cluck, comes in and sings in… chicken. Clarence joins her to sing in Donald voice, delighting Robert. The whole scene is a delight, really.

The next stop on the accidental studio tour is a foley session, which is where they record sounds for movies. They’re recording for Casey Jr., complete with clips, which is neat to see. Casey Jr. is also featured in the upcoming “Dumbo” film.

Robert finds his way into not only the camera room but also color himself, as the film goes from black and white to color as he enters the room. He sees the giant multiplane camera, getting a look at it from above. The multiplane camera is part of the genius of Walt and crew, invented for the process of making animated films.

This leads into a demonstration of Donald being animated, complete with Donald coming to live full of sass as always.

The “Rainbow Room” is next, full of paint. Good thing we went to color, huh? The artists are mixing colorings and painting up a deer that I think we might just see in a very depressing film sooner than later.

This is followed by a trip to the maquette department, where they make… yep, maquettes. Maquettes are clay statues they use to see characters from all angles. The guard who lost Robert way earlier finally comes searching for him, so Robert ducks into a closet.

Next is the storyboard department, drawing up sketches of a character called Baby Weems. I have no memory of this character going anywhere. They have an actual baby in the room they are using as a model to sketch. As the baby leaves to rest, Robert gets sucked in by the storyboard artists to listen to their pitch.

We get the whole Baby Weems story though storyboards, complete with voicework and very slight animation effects in a few of the boards. Baby Weems would have gotten the “skip it” treatment, sorry. There are some VERY stereotypical animations of characters from other countries in this part.

The chase continues and Robert ducks the guard some more, ending up in the animators’ room with famous animators like Ward Kimball. This leads to a preview of “How to Ride a Horse,” a new Goofy short.

The Goofy “How To” shorts would become a staple, with this first one eventually being rereleased by itself. I’m not going to review the short itself here, as I imagine at some point it’ll hit Disney+ by itself. It’s good though!

We return to live action and a theatre, where Robert has found Walt Disney himself. He prepares to pitch “The Reluctant Dragon” to Walt, but decides to wait until after the feature playing.

That feature? “The Reluctant Dragon.” Yep, Walt found the book first. Nobody is surprised.

The story of the dragon is definitely something. The Boy (that’s his name) meets the dragon, who is friendly and a fan of poetry and not the scary dragon you’d expect. Sir Giles arrives in town to fight the dragon. The dragon tells him that he is a peaceful dragon and will never fight. They go back and forth for a while, eventually staging a pretend fight which leads to the dragon being accepted into society.

As the short ends, we close on Robert and his wife riding home. She’s harassing him because he didn’t sell the picture to Disney, instead wandering around. And that’s the end.

Extras:

All you get is a 1 1/2 minute clip from the actual dragon portion of the film.

Should you watch it?

Yes, watch it. The actual dragon portion is the weak spot in an otherwise strong and fun movie. It is a very interesting behind the scenes look at how things happen.

Mickey Shorts

Tugboat Mickey

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Original release date: April 26, 1940

Rating: TV-G. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven distressing minutes

Background: “Tugboat Mickey” was the first short of the 1940s to bring the big trio – Mickey, Donald, and Goofy – together.

Mickey is no stranger to boats, having captained a steamboat and being part of a crew to build a boat before this tugboat operation.

1940 was actually kind of an off year for Mr. Mouse, appearing in only three shorts. Donald pretty much took over the operation with ten shorts in 1940.

Review:

Mickey – wearing what some will recognize as basically the outfit he wears on Disney Cruise Line merchandise – starts the short being hoisted up the mast by Donald and Goofy, doing some general cleaning. Then it happens…

A distress call! Mickey panics, getting the crew into prep mode. Prep mode, naturally, is running around with buckets on the head.

Donald and Goofy struggle to get things working in the engine room, fighting with large mechanical pieces and coal. Mickey continues to panic, ready to get the tugboat moving… and they do!

The S.O.S. call continues and the crazed tugboat goes in circles, running crazy before finally just springing into disaster, throwing the crew and the radio off the ship.

Oh yeah, the radio. The distress call was just a program airing on the radio. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy? Not pleased.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

I try not to automatically say “watch it” for every Mickey, Donald, and Goofy short. This is only seven minutes and it’s decent, but there are better uses of your seven minutes. Skip it. Sorry, Mickey. Please don’t raise ticket prices because of me.

Mickey Shorts

Mickey’s Trailer

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Original release date: May 6, 1938

Rating: TV-PG and “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: eight vacationing minutes

Background: One of the less acclaimed Mickey shorts, “Mickey’s Trailer” never really seems to get much love.

It has had a few starring roles. It was a big part of the holiday special “From All of Us to All of You” which aired for many years around Christmas. It also makes a cameo in the movie “The Outsiders.”

Review:

Fresh off his morning alarm, Mickey walks outside, pulls a level, and turns his house into a trailer (yard and all). Out pops Goofy asleep in a car and hooked up to the trailer, ready to roll… and off they go.

As Goofy sings his best version of “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” Mickey starts cooking up some food in the kitchen, chopping fresh corn out of the window as well as milking a cow for milk as they drive by.

Meanwhile, Donald sleeps in, angry at his alarm just as we’d all expect out of Donald. Mickey, sleep police, hits a button that folds Donald’s bed up and gets him ready for a bath. Donald happily taking a bath is one of the more joyous sights in the world.

Another press of a button and the tub goes away, a table pops out and Mickey rings the breakfast bell. Breakfast is potatoes, watermelon, and corn for whatever reasons you’d eat that for breakfast. Goofy has also joined in, leaving the driving portion unattended. This probably won’t end well.

Sight gags are a-plenty as Mickey and Donald eat corn like a typewriter and Goofy again finds a way to electrocute himself (popping corn in the process). It’s all good and well until Mickey notices there is no driver. Goofy hops in the car and thinks the worst is over, but the trailer has come unhitched, sending Mickey and Donald barreling down a mountain and nearly off a cliff.

This being Disney, Mickey and Donald don’t die in a tragic accident. It all ends well. Goofy never notices they were missing.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Nothing.

Should you watch it?

Yes, watch it. This is an underrated short. Lots of good visual humor and the eight minutes feel more like about four.