Goofy

Goofy
Goofy.svg
First appearance Mickey's Revue (May 25, 1932)
Created by Art Babbitt
Voiced by See below
Aliases Dippy Dawg, George Geef, Brian M, G. G. Geef, James Boyd, Mr. Walker Wheeler, Mr. X, Super Goof, Goofus D. Dawg, Sport Goofy

Goofy is an animated cartoon character from the Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse universe. He is an anthropomorphic dog and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. His original concept name was "Dippy Dawg" in cartoon shorts created during the 1930s; then his name was given as "George Geef" or "G.G. Geef" in cartoon shorts during the 1950s, implying that "Goofy" was a nickname. In Goofy Gymnastics, he fills out a coupon with the name: "James Boyd". Contemporary sources, including the Goof Troop television show and A Goofy Movie, now give the character's full name to be Goofy Goof. The Goof Troop pilot also refers to 'G. G. Goof' on a diploma, likely a reference to the 1950s name. On the other hand, the comics sometimes refer to him as Goofus D. Dawg. Along with having little to no intelligence, Goofy's main flaw is, predictably, clumsiness. His birthday is May 25, 1932.

Contents

Background

Of Disney studio animators, Art Babbitt is most regarded for the creation of the Goofy character, while original concept drawings were by Frank Webb. In a 1930s lecture, Babbitt described the character as "a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible good samaritan, a halfwit and a shiftless, good-natured hick".[1]

Goofy's (unnamed) wife has appeared - but always with her face unseen - in 1950's-produced cartoon shorts depicting the character as a "family man", but his modern appearances portray Goofy as a widower/single-father. While raising his son, Max Goof, Goofy's family life contrasts with other major Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, who are always shown only as uncles rather than parental figures. (In comic books, Goofy was regularly featured as having a nephew, Gilbert, but that character has only existed in comics, with no cartoon appearances.) In the European comic books, Goofy has an adventurer cousin called Arizona Goof (original Italian name: Indiana Pipps), who is a spoof of the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones.

Goofy's catch phrases are "gawrsh!" (which is his usual exclamation of surprise and his way of pronouncing "gosh"), along with "ah-hyuck!" (a distinctive chuckle) which is sometimes followed by a "hoo hoo hoo hoo!", and especially the Goofy holler (see below).

Appearances

Early years

Goofy, AKA Dippy Dawg in his debut cartoon, Mickey's Revue

Goofy first appeared in Mickey's Revue, first released on May 25, 1932. Directed by Wilfred Jackson this short movie 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. It begins as a typical Mickey cartoon of the time, but what would set this short apart from all that had come before was the appearance of a new character, whose behavior served as a running gag. Dippy Dawg, as he was named by Disney artists (Frank Webb), 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 (and then did the same exact laugh as he did). This early version of Goofy had other differences with the later and more developed ones 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 Pinto Colvig. 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 Orphan's Benefit first released on August 11, 1934, he gained the new name "Goofy" and became a regular member of the gang along with new additions Donald Duck and Clara Cluck.

Trio years with Mickey and Donald

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.

Progressively during the series Mickey's part diminished in favor of Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. The reason for this was simple: Between the easily frustrated Donald and Pluto 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 and also Tugboat Mickey, released on April 26, 1940 would be the last two shorts to feature all three characters as a team.

Breakoff into solo series

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 1939, Colvig had a fallout with Disney and left the studio, leaving Goofy without a voice. According to Leonard Maltin this is what caused the How to... cartoons of the 1940s in which Goofy had little dialogue, and a narrator (often John McLeish) was used (they would also reuse Colvig's voice in recording or hire a voice actor to imitate it). In the cartoons Goofy would demonstrate, clumsily but always determined and never frustrated, how to do everything from snow ski, to sleeping, to football, to riding a horse. The Goofy How to... cartoons worked so well they that they became a staple format, and are still used in current Goofy shorts, the most recent being How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre (2007).

Later, starting with How to Play Baseball (1942), Goofy starred in a series of cartoons where every single character in the cartoon was a different version of Goofy. This took Goofy out of the role of just being a clumsy cartoon dog and into an Everyman figure. Colvig returned to Disney in 1944 and resumed the voice of Goofy. Many of the Goofy cartoons were directed by Jack Kinney.

The Everyman years

Goofy in his "George Geef" persona in Cold War (1951)

The 1950s saw Goofy transformed into a family man going through the trials of everyday life, such as dieting, giving up smoking, and the problems of raising children. Walt Disney himself came up with this idea,[2] hoping it would put personality back into the character which he felt was lost when Goofy was merely a crowd of extras. Interestingly, Goofy is never referred to as "Goofy" during this period. While every cartoon continued with the opening, "Walt Disney presents Goofy" before each cartoon's title, he was usually called "George Geef" in the cartoons' dialogue. When the stories featured Goofy as multiple characters, then he had numerous other names as well. In addition, the 50's Goofy shorts gave Goofy a makeover. He was more intelligent, had smaller eyes with eyebrows, often his whole body was flesh-colored instead of just his face (while the rest was black), and sometimes had a normal voice. He even lacked his droopy ears, the external pair of teeth and white gloves in some shorts.

Later appearances

After the 1965 educational film Goofy's Freeway Troubles, Goofy was all but retired except for cameos, and a brief appearance in Disney/Amblin's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as well as in Sport Goofy in Soccermania which was originally intended to be released theatrically in 1984, but was aired as a 1987 TV special instead. With Colvig dead, Goofy was then voiced with different voice actors until Bill Farmer became the official voice. 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 with his son Max in A Goofy Movie (1995)

One aspect of Goofy's life that is never clarified in the theatrical films is the status of his wife, Max's mother. While Goofy is clearly depicted as a single custodial parent in both films, and at the end of An Extremely Goofy Movie he begins a romance with the character Sylvia Marpole, it is never made clear whether he is divorced or widowed.

Goofy reverted back to his traditional personality on Mickey Mouse Works and appeared as head waiter on House of Mouse (2001 to 2004). Goofy's son Max Goof also appeared in House of Mouse as the nightclub's valet, so that Goofy juggled not only his conventional antics but also the father-role displayed in Goof Troop and A Goofy Movie. In both Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse Goofy also seemed to have a crush on Clarabelle Cow, as he asks her on a date in the House of Mouse episode "Super Goof" and is being stalked by the bovine in the Mickey Mouse Works cartoon "How To Be a Spy."

On Disney's Toontown Online, an interactive website for kids, Goofy runs his own neighborhood called Goofy Speedway. Goofy Speedway is a place where you can race cars and enter the Grand Prix, too. Tickets are excusively spent on everything there, instead of the usual jellybean currency. The Grand Prix only comes on "Grand Prix Monday" and "Silly Saturday". Goofy's Gag Shop is also found in every part of Toontown, but not in Cog HQs, Goofy Speedway, or Chip & Dale's Acorn Acres. At Goofy's Gag Shop, Toons can buy gags.

Clarabelle has been noted as Horace Horsecollar's fiance in early decades, but according to comics from the 1960s and 1970s and more recent cartoons like "House of Mouse," "Mouseworks," and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Goofy and Clarabelle seem to have affections for one another; perhaps as an attempt for Disney to give Goofy a girlfriend to match his two male co-stars. Later in An Extremely Goofy Movie, he gains a girlfriend named Sylvia Marpole.

Goofy also appears in the children's television series, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, with his trademark attire and personality. Goofy appeared in The Lion King 1½. Recently, Goofy starred in a new theatrical cartoon short called How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, which premiered at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The short received a positive review from animation historian Jerry Beck[1] and then had wide release on December 21, 2007 in front of National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

List of Goofy theatrical short films

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

2000s

List of theatrical Donald & Goofy cartoons

Besides his own solo cartoons and supporting character in Mickey shorts, there were also made some theatrical shorts presented as Donald and Goofy cartoons (even though these cartoons are officially Donald shorts):

  1. Polar Trappers (1938)
  2. The Fox Hunt (1938)
  3. Billposters (1940)
  4. No Sail (1945)
  5. Frank Duck Brings 'em Back Alive (1946)
  6. Crazy With the Heat (1947)

In comics

Comic strips first called the character Dippy Dawg but eventually his name changed to Goofy by 1936. In the early years the other members of Mickey Mouse's gang considered him a meddler and a pest, but eventually warmed up to him.

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, replacing Horace Horsecollar as Mickey's fellow adventurer and companion. 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.

A character called Glory-Bee was Goofy's girlfriend for some years.

In 1990, when Disney was publishing their own comics, Goofy starred in Goofy Adventures, which featured him starring in various parodies. Unfortunately, perhaps because of poor sales, Goofy Adventures was the first of the company's titles to be cancelled by the Disney Comics Implosion, ending at its 17th issue. Oddly enough, Goofy Adventures was the only one of the cancelled titles to declare its cancellation right there; the other unfortunate titles ended abruptly with no immediate announcement of their cancellation.

Super Goof

Super Goof
Comic image missing.svg
Publication information
Publisher Walt Disney Co. (licenser)
Western Publishing (licensee)
First appearance "The Phantom Blot meets Super Goof," The Phantom Blot #2, 1965
Created by Del Connell (script)
Paul Murry (art)
In-story information
Alter ego Goofy Goof
Team affiliations Super Gilly
Abilities can fly, has X-ray vision, super strength, superbreath, and other powers

Super Goof is Goofy's superhero alter ego. He gets his power by eating Super Goobers (peanuts). His powers are similar to Superman's. Goofy became the first Disney character to get a career as a superhero, but several would follow — notably Donald Duck as Paperinik, whose reliance on gadgets and the night made him more of a Batman figure.

Super Goof first appeared in The Phantom Blot #2 (February, 1965) by Del Connell (story) and Paul Murry (art), where he was just imagining that he was a super hero. He made his first appearance as an actual superhero in Donald Duck #102 (July, 1965), in the story "All's Well that Ends Awful", also by Connell and Murry. In his third appearance, "The Thief of Zanzipar" from Super Goof #1 (October, 1965), the origin of his powers is meteor-irradiated peanuts. In later stories, Super Goof not only encountered the Phantom Blot, but also such adversaries as Black Pete, the Beagle Boys, Emil Eagle, and Mad Madam Mim.

Super Goof's secret identity is known only to his nephew Gilbert who also calls himself Super Gilly on occasion. This is despite the fact that Super Goof does not wear a mask, his costume consisting solely of a red union suit and a cape (which appear out of seemingly nowhere whenever Goofy eats a goober and change back to his regular clothes when the powers wear off), a likely parody of Superman's poor yet effective means to conceal his identity. Comic relief in the stories would spring from the fact that Super Goof's powers would "wear off" at the least opportune moments, such as when he was flying or in need of super strength. Goofy always kept a few Super Goobers in his hat, but would occasionally forget to restock, leading to situations in which he would have to get out of trouble without the super powers. In a crossover story, Huey, Dewey and Louie found a Super Goober plant sprouted by a dropped goober, and "borrowed" Super Goof's powers; after doing a round of super deeds, the ducks' powers faded, and they had to be rescued by the Junior Woodchucks.

Super Goof had his own comic book series from 1965 to 1984 with a 74-issue run from Gold Key Comics. Reprints appeared in Walt Disney Comics Digest, one of the Dynabrite deluxe comics issued by Western in the late 1970s, and Disney Comic Album #8 (1990) from Disney Comics. The first release in the German-language Heimliche Helden book series by Ehapa published Oct. 2005 was devoted to Super Goof. Gemstone reprinted a story drawn by Jack Bradbury for the Studio Program as a backup in their 2006 release Return of the Blotman with the rescripting handled by longtime Super Goof aficionado Joe Torcivia. On Disney's Toontown Online during the Halloween season, Goofy is Super Goof for the occasion. He also appeared in one episode of Disney's House of Mouse and in two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

In video games

In the Kingdom Hearts series

Goofy, as he appears in the Kingdom Hearts series. His attire was designed by Tetsuya Nomura.

Goofy is captain of the royal guard at Disney Castle in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. Averse to using actual weapons, Goofy fights with a shield. This job doesn't involve much, since the castle is usually a peaceful place, until King Mickey disappears. Following a letter the King left, he and Donald, the court magician, meet Sora and embark on a quest with him to find the King and Sora's missing friends. In the game series, Goofy still suffers from being the butt of comic relief, but also is the constant voice of optimism and, surprisingly, selectively perceptive, often noticing things others miss and keeping his cool when Sora and Donald lose it. Goofy's loyalty was also tested when Riku wielded the Keyblade thus, following the king's orders, he followed Riku instead. As Riku was about to attack Sora, Goofy used his shield to protect Sora; thus disobeying the king. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter the realm known as Timeless River, Goofy states that the world looks familiar; a reference to his cartoons done in the early to mid 1930s. At many times in the Kingdom Hearts series, Goofy is shown to still be his clumsy self, however, in Kingdom Hearts II, he is very keen to details and has very accurate assumptions of certain things. For example, he was the first to figure out why Organization XIII was after the Beast, and he was the first to see through Fa Mulan's disguise and discovery that Mulan was actually a woman dressed as a male soldier. There were even several instances where Goofy seemed to have more common sense then Sora and Donald, even saying they should "look before we leap" when Sora and Donald saw Mushu's shadow resembling a dragon, that Sora was mistaken for a Heartless.

Around the middle of Kingdom Hearts II, in possibly one of the series' most mature scenes, Goofy pushes Mickey out of the way of an oncoming boulder and is hit directly on the head instead, at which point he falls to the ground and lands against a wall, supposedly dead. However, Goofy later catches up to the heroes completely unscathed, and explains that he gets "bumped" on the head all the time, perhaps a reference to many of his cartoons.

In other video games

Actor portrayal

Disney has gone through seven voices for Goofy, compared to four for Mickey and only two for Donald.

Actor portrayals in other languages

Confusion concerning Goofy and Pluto

Disney has needed to deal with a certain amount of confusion concerning the fact that the anthropomorphic Goofy, and dog-like Pluto often appear on screen together, yet are the same species. On their web site, it stated that "Goofy was originally created as Dippy Dawg" and "was created as a human character, as opposed to Pluto, who was a pet, so [Goofy] walked upright and had a speaking voice". This problem was humorously illustrated in the movie Stand By Me in which one of the boys ponders, "Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, and Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?" There is also an episode of the Disney Channel series Even Stevens called "Scrub Day" where in Louis' rallying-the-troops speech he wonders why Goofy got to walk and talk and Pluto has to eat from a dog bowl. This confusion is also mentionned in the French movie La Cité de la peur. In the Disney's Toontown Online event "April Toons Week, characters switch playgrounds and everything is silly. Pluto switches places with Minnie Mouse, and he speaks.

Goofy holler

The Goofy holler is a stock sound effect that is used frequently in Disney cartoons and films. It is the cry Goofy makes when falling or being launched into the air, which could be transcribed as "yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!!"[3] The holler was originally recorded by yodeller Hannès Schroll for the 1941 short The Art of Skiing. Some sources claim that Schrolle was not paid for the recording.[4] Bill Farmer, the current voice of Goofy, demonstrated the "Goofy Holler" in the Disney Treasures DVD The Complete Goofy. He also does this in the Kingdom Hearts games.

The holler is used in films and cartoons which in which Goofy doesn't appear, generally in situations which are particularly "goofy."

A version of the holler is used in a cutaway in the Dial Meg for Murder episode of Family Guy when Goofy is cast into Hell.

The term "Goofy Holler" was first created by a user of the Internet Movie Database, and originated on the trivia page for A Goofy Movie. It is now generally considered the name for the sound effect.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ O'Brien, Flora (1986). Walt Disney's Goofy : The Good Sport. Tucson: HPBooks. pp. 96. ISBN 0-89586-414-2.  p 18-19
  2. ↑ Harry Tytle One Of "Walt's Boys," (Misson Viejo, 1997) pg 86
  3. ↑ FOR THE BIRDS "Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoooeeeyyyy" video compilation clip
  4. ↑ Barry, Chris - JimHillMedia.com
  5. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113198/trivia

External links

Goof Troop
Characters
Goofy • Max • Pete • PJ
Episodes
List of Goof Troop episodes
Films
A Goofy Movie • An Extremely Goofy Movie
Video games
Goof Troop • Disney's Extremely Goofy Skateboarding
Disney characters
Characters
Mickey Mouse · Minnie Mouse · Donald Duck · Daisy Duck · Goofy · Pluto · Pete · Clarabelle Cow · Horace Horsecollar · Scrooge McDuck · Huey, Dewey, and Louie · Ludwig Von Drake · Chip 'n' Dale · Max Goof · PJ · Gyro Gearloose · Magica De Spell · The Beagle Boys · Mortimer Mouse · The Phantom Blot · Flintheart Glomgold · Figaro · Humphrey the Bear · José Carioca · Panchito Pistoles · John D. Rockerduck · Bucky Bug · Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Groups
Mouse family · Duck family · Clan McDuck · Mickey Mouse universe characters · Duck universe characters