Goofy
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Goofy is a fictional character from the Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse universe. He is an anthropomorphic dog and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. Sources including the Goof Troop television show reveal the character's full name to be Goofy Goof.
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A career in animation
Goofy first appeared in Mickey's Revue, first released on May 25, 1932. Directed by Wilfred Jackson this short features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow performing another song and dance show. Mickey and his gang's animated shorts by this point routinely featured song and dance numbers. What would make this short notable was the appearance of a new character, whose behavior served as a running gag. Dippy Dawg, as he was named by Walt Disney Studio's artists, was a member of the audience. He constantly irritated his fellow spectators by noisily crunching peanuts and laughing loudly, till two of those fellow spectators knocked him out with their mallets. This early version of Goofy had other differences with the later and more developed one besides the name. He was an old man with a white beard, a puffy tail and no trousers, shorts or undergarments. But the short introduced Goofy's distinct laughter. This laughter was provided by voice actor Vance DeBar Colvig, better known as Pinto Colvig (September 11, 1892 - October 3, 1967). He would serve as Goofy's voice actor till 1965.
A considerably younger Dippy Dawg then appeared in The Whoopee Party, first released on September 17, 1932, as a party guest and a friend of Mickey and his gang. Dippy Dawg made a total of four appearances in 1932 and two more in 1933, but most of them were mere cameos. But by his seventh appearance, in The Orphan's Benefit first released on August 11, 1934, he gained a new name as Goofy and became a regular member of the gang along with new additions Donald Duck and Clara Cluck.
Mickey's Service Station directed by Ben Sharpsteen, first released on March 16, 1935, was the first of the classic "Mickey, Donald, and Goofy" comedy shorts. Those films had the trio trying to cooperate in performing a certain assignment given to them. Early on they became separated from each other. Then the short's focus started alternating between each of them facing the problems at hand, each in their own way and distinct style of comedy. The end of the short would reunite the three to share the fruits of their efforts, failure more often than success. Clock Cleaners, first released on October 15, 1937, and Lonesome Ghosts, first released on December 24, 1937, are usually considered the highlights of this series and animated classics. The later short has the trio as members of the agency "Ajax Ghost Exterminators" or as, often described later, pre-cursors of the Ghostbusters. They are hired by phone to evict a number of ghosts from a haunted house. Unknown to them they were hired by the ghosts themselves, four lonesome ghosts who are bored because nobody has visited the house they are haunting for a long time. They wish to play tricks on the mortals. And they do through a series of inventive gags, but by the end the trio has managed to scare the ghosts out of the house. As Donald observes "You're a fine target, ya big sissies!". But Goofy offers what is considered the short's most memorable quote while warily looking around him: "I'm brave but I'm careful”.
Progressively during the series Mickey's part diminished in favor of Donald and Goofy. The reason for this was simple. Between the easily frustrated Donald and the always-living-in-a-world-of-his-own Goofy, Mickey -- who became progressively gentler and more laid-back -- seemed to act as the straight-man of the trio. The Studio's artists found that it had become easier coming up with new gags for Goofy or Donald than Mickey, to a point that Mickey's role had become unnecessary. Polar Trappers, first released on June 17, 1938, was the first film to feature Goofy and Donald as a duo. The short features the duo as partners and owners of "Donald and Goofy Trapping Co.". They have settled in the Arctic for an unspecified period of time, to capture live walruses to bring back to civilization. Their food supplies consist of canned beans. The focus shifts between Goofy trying to set traps for walruses and Donald trying to catch penguins to use as food -- both with the same lack of success. Mickey would return in The Whalers, first released in August 19, 1938, but this would be the last short of the 1930s to feature all three characters.
Goofy next starred at his first solo cartoon Goofy and Wilbur directed by Dick Huemer, first released in March 17, 1939. The short featured Goofy fishing with the help of Wilbur, his pet grasshopper.
In the 1940s Goofy did a series of solo "How to..." cartoons in which he would demonstrate, clumsily but always determined and never frustrated, how to do everything from snow ski to play football. Goofy had little dialogue in these cartoons, and a narator was used. The Goofy "How to..." cartoons worked so well they that they became a staple format, and are still used in current Goofy shorts.
Later, starting with "Hockey Homicide" (1945), Goofy starred in a series of cartoons where every character was Goofy playing different parts. This took Goofy out of the role being of playing just a clumsy cartoon comical dog, and into a more complex role of symbolizing the struggles of the common man. The epitome of this staid everyman role for Goofy was in the cartoon "No Smoking" (1951) where Goofy, in a world of Goofyies, struggles desperately with nicotine addiction.
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After the 1961 short Aquamania, Goofy was all but retired except from cameos and a brief apearance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the 1990s Goofy got his own TV series called Goof Troop. In the show Goofy lives with his son Max and his cat Waffles, and they live next door to Pete and his family. Goof Troop eventually led to Goofy starring in his own movies: A Goofy Movie in (1995) and An Extremely Goofy Movie in (2000).
Goofy reverted back to his traditional personality on Mickey Mouse Works and appeared as head waiter on House of Mouse.
Goofy will co-star in the children's television series Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Comics
Comic strips first called the character Dippy Dawg but eventually his name changed to Goofy by 1939.
The comic strips drawn by Floyd Gottfredson for Disney were generally based on what was going on in the Mickey Mouse shorts at the time. But when Donald Duck's popularity led to Donald Duck gaining his own newspaper strip, Disney decided that he was no longer allowed to appear in Gottfredson's strips. Accordingly Goofy remained alone as Mickey's sidekick. Similarly in comics the Mickey Mouse world with Goofy as Mickey's sidekick was usually very separate from the Donald Duck world and crossovers were rare.
In the comics Goofy also had a secret identity known as Super Goof, which appeared again later in an episode of House of Mouse.
Theatrical cartoons
- Goofy and Wilbur (1939)
- Goofy's Glider (1940)
- Baggage Buster (1941)
- The Art of Skiing (1941)
- The Art of Self Defense (1941)
- How to Play Baseball (1942)
- The Olympic Champ (1942)
- How to Swim (1942)
- How to Fish (1942)
- Victory Vehicles (1943)
- How to Be a Sailor (1944)
- How to Play Golf (1944)
- How to Play Football (1944)
- Tiger Trouble (1945)
- African Diary (1945)
- Californy'er Bust (1945)
- Hockey Homicide (1945)
- Knight for a Day (1946)
- Double Dribble (1946)
- Foul Hunting (1947)
- They're Off (1948)
- The Big Wash (1948)
- Tennis Racquet (1949)
- Goofy Gymnastics (1949)
- Motor Mania (1950)
- Hold That Pose (1950)
- Lion Down (1951)
- Home Made Home (1951)
- Cold War (1951)
- Tomorrow We Diet (1951)
- Get Rich Quick (1951)
- Fathers Are People (1951)
- No Smoking (1951)
- Father's Lion (1952)
- Hello, Aloha (1952)
- Man's Best Friend (1952)
- Two-Gun Goofy (1952)
- Teachers Are People (1952)
- Two Weeks Vacation (1952)
- How to Be a Detective (1952)
- Father's Day Off (1953)
- For Whom the Bulls Toil (1953)
- Father's Week End (1953)
- How to Dance (1953)
- How to Sleep (1953)
- Aquamania (1961)
Video Games
Goofy is head of the royal guard at Disney Castle in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. This job doesn't involve much, since the castle is usually a peaceful place, until King Mickey Mouse disappears. Following a letter the king left, he and Donald meet Sora and have many adventures with him. In the game series, Goofy gains a 'look at the brighter side of things' way of thinking, but still has his traditional antics for comic relief.
External links
- Disney's bio of Goofy (http://disney.go.com/DisneyRecords/Biographies/Goofy_Bio.html)
- A listing of Goofy's short films (http://www.teemings.com/shorts/disney/characters/goofy.html)
- Internet Movie Database's profile of Pinto Colvig, Goofy's voice actor (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Colvig,+Pinto)
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