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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. 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 being not intelligent, Goofy's main flaw is, predictably, clumsiness. His birthday is May 25, 1932.
[edit] BackgroundOf 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 wife has appeared - but always with her face unseen - in some earlier short cartoons depicting the character as a "family man", but his modern appearances portray Goofy as a 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. As most people think Goofy is a Dog, he is actually a real dog who went through the process of manhood. 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). In his earliest 1930s cartoon appearances, Goofy commonly wore a black vest, a turtleneck shirt (colored either red or orange), white gloves, extra-long brown shoes, a very distinctive hat (either blue or green), and no pants. In his later 1930s cartoon appearances, he began to wear pants. That has been the character's iconic look ever since, even though it was seldom featured in cartoons after the 1930s. In his modern appearances, he wears an orange turtleneck shirt, a black vest, white gloves, blue jeans, and brown shoes. [edit] Appearances[edit] Early years 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, 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. [edit] Trio years with Mickey and DonaldMickey'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. [edit] Breakoff into solo seriesGoofy 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. Much of the Goofy cartoons were directed by Jack Kinney. [edit] The Everyman years 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. [edit] Later appearancesAfter 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).  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." 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. [edit] List of Goofy theatrical short films[edit] 1930s
[edit] 1940s
[edit] 1950s
[edit] 1960s
[edit] 2000s
[edit] List of theatrical Donald & Goofy cartoonsBesides 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):
[edit] In comicsComic 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. In the comics Goofy also had a secret identity known as Super Goof, who appeared again later in one episode of Disney's House of Mouse, when a space ray reaches his peanuts, giving him super-powers. 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. [edit] In video games[edit] In the Kingdom Hearts series 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 Mouse, husband of Queen Minnie Mouse, 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. 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 the Organization was after the Beast, and he was the first to see through 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, Goofy pushes King 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 "bonked" on the head all the time, perhaps a reference to many of his cartoons. [edit] In other video games
[edit] Actor portrayalDisney has gone through seven voices for Goofy, compared to four for Mickey and only two for Donald.
Other actors to play Goofy in other languages are as below.
[edit] Confusion concerning Goofy and PlutoDisney 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's 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. [edit] Goofy hollerThe 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 Schrolle 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. [edit] See also[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
Categories: Animated film series | Fictional dogs | Goof Troop characters | Kingdom Hearts characters | Mickey Mouse universe characters | Fictional shapeshifters | Fictional knights | Fictional captains | Animal superheroes | Disney comics characters | 1932 introductions | Fictional comedians | Comedy film characters | Fictional anthropomorphic characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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