Goofy

Goofy, anonymous in his debut cartoon, Mickey's Revue (1932)

The character of Goofy originated with his voice actor; a former circus and vaudville actor, comedian, clown and chalk talk artist Pinto Colvig, who began working as a story man for the Disney Studio in 1930.

According to Colvig, one day in 1931, he was having a conversation with Walt Disney and director Wilfred Jackson, and began to reminice about “…a grinny, half-baked village nitwit back in my hometown whose mannerisms I had copied and used for one of my former stage characters, The Oregon Appleknocker.”[13] Colvig later identified this “village nitwit” as a local flagman that worked at Jacksonville, Oregon's main railroad crossing, who he described as a “...slow-minded guy who is the happiest fellow in the world. Each small town has one, and he always seems to hang around the depot... As a youngster I used to watch every train come in, and I knew all the details and peculiarities of that flagman's life. I impersonated that man for Disney, not in jest, but because I admired him and his simplicity. I always laughed with him rather than at him."[14]

Walt Disney was captivated by Colvig's impersonation, and eager to expand his cast of recognizable cast of characters,[15] decided to develop a new character around Colvig’s former stage routine for Mickey’s ever growing roster of supporting players. The next day, Colvig went in front of a microphone and camera and started acting out “the loose ungangly mannerisms” of his Oregon Appleknocker persona, while animator Tom Palmer sketched out a character based on his performance. “Thus ‘Goofy, the Guy with a Silly Laugh’ was hatched” as Colvig would later declair with pride.[13]

The character first appeared in Mickey's Revue, released on May 27, 1932. Directed by Jackson, the short features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow performing a song and dance show: a typical Mickey cartoon of the time. What set this short apart was the appearance of a new character - a dog-like member of the audience who as a running gag, constantly irritates his fellow spectators by noisily crunching peanuts and laughing loudly, (the laugh being provided by Colvig) until two of those fellow spectators knocked him out with their mallets, before revealing they have the same exact laugh.

This early version of Goofy was named Dippy Dawg by Disney artist Frank Webb - and was depicted as an old man with a white beard, a puffy tail, and no trousers, shorts, or undergarments. A considerably younger and more refined version of the Dippy Dawg character next appeared in The Whoopee Party (released on September 17, 1932) this time as a party guest and a friend of Mickey and his gang.

Dippy Dawg made a total of six appearances between 1932 and 1933, but most of them were mere cameos. By his seventh appearance, in Orphan's Benefit (released on August 11, 1934), he gained the new name "Goofy", but was still considered a minor character.

Inspired by popular comedy trio acts of the era - such as The Three Stooges and The Marx Brothers - Walt Disney and his storymen decided to team Mickey, Goofy and the newly popular character of Donald Duck together in a cartoon entitled Mickey's Service Station: directed by Ben Sharpsteen and eventually released on March 16, 1935.[16]

In mid-1934, Walt held a story meeting for Mickey's Service Station where he and Sharpsteen began assigning animators to specific sequences. One of the animators assigned to the short, Art Babbitt, took a particular liking to a sequence with Goofy.[17] "I had to fight for that..." Babbitt rememebred years later:

"... in it [Mickey's Service Station] there’s a small sequence of Goofy on this cylinder block of a car. And he reaches down in one of the holes of the cylinder block and his own hand comes up behind him. God, I wanted that... Walt was in this story meeting and I said, “Gee I want that.” [Walt said] “Nah, I’ve got you scheduled to do Pete, Pegleg Pete". I said “I’ll do Pegleg Pete, but give me Goofy, too.” And so that was the final deal, I’d do Pegleg Pete and get Goofy for dessert. Goofy was originally a sort of stock character in mob scenes, so on, but nobody attempted to do anything with him, so I can’t say that I created Goofy, but I was the first that made him into a character. I liked the character, there was all sorts of possibilities."[18]

Babbitt’s scene with Goofy was originally timed to be 7 feet of film (just over 4 seconds), however Babbitt padded his scene adding additional bits of comic business, with the final scene being 57 feet (38 seconds) long. Sharpsteen was furious that Babbitt had gone over his alotted time without permission, but Walt was impressed by Babbitt's work and approved his scene.[18][17]

Upon completing his sequence with Goofy in Mickey’s Service Station, Babbitt - who had been studying Konstantin Stanislavski's theories of method acting - not only redesigned Goofy from his earlier ganglier appearance to a more ovular streamlined version - but also psychoanalyzed the character: something no other animator had done before. [19] Babbitt wrote a two-and-a-half page character bible of Goofy, entitled Character Analysis of the Goof that circulated the studio in late 1934. Some of what Babbitt wrote included:

"In my opinion the Goof, hitherto, has been a weak cartoon character because both his physical and mental make-up were indefinite and intangible. His figure was a distortion, not a caricature, and if he was supposed to have a mind or personality, he certainly was never given sufficient opportunity to display it... In the case of the Goof, the only characteristic which formerly identified itself with him was his voice. No effort was made to endow him with appropriate business to do, a set of mannerisms or a mental attitude... ... Think of the Goof as a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, a half-wit, a shiftless, good-natured colored boy and a hick... He can move fast if he has to, but would rather avoid any over-exertion, so he takes what seems the easiest way. He is a philosopher of the barber shop variety. No matter what happens, he accepts it finally as being for the best or at least amusing. He is willing to help anyone and offers his assistance even where he is not needed and just creates confusion. He very seldom, if ever, reaches his objective or completes what he has started. His brain being rather vapoury, it is difficult for him to concentrate on any one subject. Any little distraction can throw him off his train of thought and it is extremely difficult for the Goof to keep to his purpose. Yet the Goof is not the type of half-wit that is to be pitied. He doesn’t dribble, drool or shriek. He is a good-natured, dumb bell who thinks he is pretty smart. He laughs at his own jokes because he can’t understand any others. If he is a victim of a catastrophe, he makes the best of it immediately and his chagrin or anger melts very quickly into a broad grin. If he does something particularly stupid he is ready to laugh at himself after it all finally dawns on him. He is very courteous and apologetic and his faux pas embarrass him, but he tries to laugh off his errors. He has music in his heart even though it be the same tune forever, and I see him humming to himself while working or thinking. He talks to himself because it is easier for him to know what he is thinking if he hears it first."[20]

Babbitt's Character Analysis was considered highly influential within the studio, and character bibles were quickly adopted for all the Disney's major stars; including Mickey, Donald and Pluto.[19]

Mickey's Service Station also set the template for a series of films where Mickey, Donald and Goofy attempted to perform a certain task, with each character being separated early on, and attempting to solve a problem in their own way and with their distinct style of comedy, before reuniting at the end - often resulting failure rather than success.

While other animators would also animate also the character of Goofy in these "trio" shorts (such as in Mickey's Fire Brigade, released in August 1935, where an earlier Pre-Babbitt version of Goofy was animated by Wolfgang Reitherman) - Art Babbitt became the Goofy specialist at the Disney studio and the authority on the character.[21]

Babbitt continued to develop the character of Goofy when he next animated him in On Ice (released in September 1935). Here he developed a technique he called "breaking the joints" - where Goofy's arms, legs, feet and other appendages would bend the wrong way for a few frames before popping back into the correct position. This gave the character a lot more loose and unpredictable movements - emphasising his stupid personality.[21]

Babbitt finally crystalized the character of Goofy with his third time animating the character in Moving Day (released in June 1936), where he was tasked to animate a scene of Goofy attempting to move a piano onto a truck. For this scene Babbitt created another first for animation: using his recently acquired 16mm camera, he filmed Pinto Colvig performing Goofy's movements in his Oregon Appleknocker persona - making Babbitt the first animator to use live-action reference.[22]

As animation historian Michael Barrier wrote of this scene: "Babbitt’s Moving Day animation was by far his most ambitious... Babbitt’s Goofy was the first Disney character after [Norm] Ferguson’s Pluto to have a visible inner life and Goofy, stupid though he was, was clearly more complex than Pluto. For the most part, Pluto simply reacted; Goofy schemed and planned, however dimly."[23]

Ben Sharpsteen directed the majority of the Mickey, Donald and Goofy trio cartoons.[23] Clock Cleaners and Lonesome Ghosts (released on both October 15 and December 24, 1937 respectively), are considered the highlights of this series, with the former being voted Number 27 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons.[24]

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, released on June 17, 1938, was the first film to feature Goofy and Donald as a duo. Mickey would return in The Whalers, released on August 19, 1938, but this and Tugboat Mickey, released on April 26, 1940, would be the last two shorts to feature all three characters as a team.

Goofy next starred at his first solo cartoon Goofy and Wilbur directed by Dick Huemer, first released on March 17, 1939. The short featured Goofy fishing with the help of Wilbur, his pet grasshopper.

Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941.

Jack Kinney would take over the Goofy cartoons with the second short Goofy's Glider (1940).[25] Kinney's Goofy cartoons would feature zany, fast-paced action and gags similar to those being made at Warner Bros and MGM, and possibly influenced by Tex Avery.[26] Kinney found Goofy to be "a nice long, lean character that you could move; you could get poses out of him, crazy poses". A sports fan, he would place Goofy in How to... themed shorts in which Goofy would demonstrate, poorly, how to perform certain sports.[25]

How to Ride a Horse, a segment in the 1941 film The Reluctant Dragon, would establish the tone and style of future shorts like The Art of Skiing (1941), How to Fish (1942), How to Swim (1942) and How to Play Golf (1944). Cartoon shorts like How to Play Baseball (1942), How to Play Football (1944) and Hockey Homicide (1945) would feature Goofy not as a single character but multiple characters playing the opposing teams. Animation historian Paul Wells considers Hockey Homicide to be the "peak" of the sports cartoons. Some of the later sports-theme cartoons, like Double Dribble (1946) and They're Off (1948) would be directed by Jack Hannah.[26]

Pinto Colvig had a falling out with Disney in 1937 and left the studio, leaving Goofy without a voice.[2] Kinney recalls "so we had to use whatever was in the library; you know, his laugh and all those things. But he did have a hell of a library, of different lines of dialogue".[25] In addition, the studio had voice artist Danny Webb record new dialog.[2] Kinney also paired Goofy with a narrator voiced by John McLeish: "He had this deep voice, just a great voice, and he loved to recite Shakespeare. So I suggested, my God, we'll get McLeish for a narrator, and don't tell him that he's not doing it straight. Just let him play it".[25] Colvig returned to Disney in 1941 and resumed the voice until 1967.[2]

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

Disney had started casting Goofy as a suburban everyman in the late 1940s. And with this role came changes in depiction. Goofy's facial stubble and his protruding teeth were removed to give him a more refined look. His clothing changed from a casual style to wearing business suits. He began to look more human and less dog-like, with his ears hidden in his hat. By 1951, Goofy was portrayed as being married and having a son of his own. Neither the wife nor the son was portrayed as dog-like. The wife's face was never seen, but her form was human. The son lacked Goofy's dog-like ears.[27] One notable short made during this era is Motor Mania (1950). Kinney disliked making most of these later shorts, stating "...those pictures were disasters, because I didn't fight it hard enough".[25] Goofy would also be given a formal name in these cartoons, George Geef.

Christopher P. Lehman connects this depiction of the character to Disney's use of humor and animal characters to reinforce social conformity. He cites as an example Aquamania (1961), where everyman Goofy drives to the lake for a boat ride. During a scene depicting a pile-up accident, every car involved has a boat hitched to its rear bumper. Goofy is portrayed as one of the numerous people who had the same idea about how to spend their day. Every contestant in the boat race also looks like Goofy. Lehman does not think that Disney used these aspects of the film to poke fun at conformity. Instead, the studio apparently accepted conformity as a fundamental aspect of the society of the United States. Aquamania was released in the 1960s, but largely maintained and prolonged the status quo of the 1950s. The decade had changed but the Disney studio followed the same story formulas for theatrical animated shorts it had followed in the previous decade. And Lehman points that Disney received social approval for it. Aquamania itself received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[27]

After the 1965 educational film Goofy's Freeway Troubles, Goofy was mostly retired except for cameos because of the cartoons' fading popularity and the death of voice actor Pinto Colvig. Goofy had an act in the 1969 tour show Disney on Parade with costar Herbie the Love Bug. His profile began to rise again after his appearance in Mickey's Christmas Carol as the ghost of Jacob Marley. After that, he appeared in Sport Goofy in Soccermania, a 1987 television special. He made a brief appearance in Disney/Amblin's Academy Award-winning film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in which the titular character, Roger Rabbit, says of Goofy: "Nobody takes a wallop like Goofy! What timing! What finesse! What a genius!". He later appears at the end of the film with the other characters.

Goofy (right) with his son Max (left) in A Goofy Movie (1995)

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 and Max starring in their own movies: A Goofy Movie (in 1995) and An Extremely Goofy Movie (in 2000); as well as starring in their own segments of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (in 1999) and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (in 2004). While Goofy is clearly depicted as a single custodial parent in all of these appearances, by the end of An Extremely Goofy Movie he begins a romance with the character Sylvia Marpole, Max being grown and in college by this point.

In one episode of Bonkers, Goofy has an off-screen cameo whose distinctive laugh is "stolen" by a disgruntled toon. In another episode, both he and Pete cameo as actors who film cartoons at Wackytoon Studios. And in a third episode, Goofy cameos as part of a group of civilians held hostage in a bank robbery.

Goofy returned to his traditional personality in Mickey Mouse Works and appeared as a head waiter in House of Mouse (2001 to 2003). Goofy's son Max 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 its aforementioned related media. 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 stalked by the bovine in the Mickey Mouse Works cartoon "How To Be a Spy". Though Clarabelle was noted as Horace Horsecollar's fiancé in early decades, comics from the 1960s and 1970s and in later cartoons like the aforementioned House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Works, as well as Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, imply some mutual affections between Goofy and Clarabelle; perhaps as an attempt for Disney to give Goofy a more mainstream girlfriend to match his two male co-stars.

On Toontown Online, an interactive website for kids, Goofy previously ran his own neighborhood called Goofy Speedway until the close of Toontown. Goofy Speedway was a place where players could race cars and enter the Grand Prix. Tickets were exclusively spent on everything there, instead of the usual jellybean currency. The Grand Prix only came on "Grand Prix Monday" and "Silly Saturday". Goofy's Gag Shop was also found in almost every part of Toontown' except Cog HQs, Goofy Speedway, or Chip & Dale's Acorn Acres. At Goofy's Gag Shop, Toons could buy gags.

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. Goofy starred in a new theatrical cartoon short called How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, that premiered at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The short received a positive review from animation historian Jerry Beck[28] and then had a wide release on December 21, 2007, in front of National Treasure: Book of Secrets and has aired on several occasions on the Disney Channel.

In 2011, Goofy appeared in a promotional webtoon advertising Disney Cruise Line.[29] He is also a main character on Mickey and the Roadster Racers. He has also appeared in the third season of the 2017 DuckTales TV series; based on his Goof Troop incarnation.[30] Guest starring in the episode, "Quack Pack", Goofy appears as the Duck family's wacky neighbor after Donald accidentally wished them into a '90s sitcom. Donald hires him to be the photographer for a family photo, but after the Ducks realize what Donald did, Goofy helps him understand that "normal" does not necessarily mean the same thing between families; using the relationship he has with his son Max as an example.[31]

In 2021, it was announced that Goofy would star in a new series of "How to..." shorts entitled How to Stay at Home in a reflection of the COVID-19 pandemic. Animator Eric Goldberg (the Genie from Aladdin) will serve as director of the shorts as well as supervising animator on one of them, while Mark Henn (Belle and Jasmine) and Randy Haycock (Naveen in The Princess and the Frog) will serve as supervising animators for other shorts. Once again, Farmer will voice the Goof with Corey Burton narrating. Among the announced shorts include "How to Wear a Mask", "Learning to Cook", and "Binge Watching". The shorts were released on Disney+ on August 11, 2021.[32]

Besides his own solo cartoons and supporting character in Mickey Mouse shorts, there were also made some theatrical shorts presented as Donald and Goofy cartoons (although these cartoons are commonly treated as part of 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)

1. A Goofy Movie (1995)
2. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)
3. An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000)
4. Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004)
5. Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004)

1. The Falcon Strikes Back (1943) (as a puppet)[33]
2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
3. The Little Mermaid (1989)
4. Aladdin (1992) (as a hat)
5. Flubber (1997) (archive footage)
6. The Lion King 1½ (2004)
7. Saving Mr. Banks (2013) (performer in Goofy costume)

• Goofy's Success Story (1955)
• Goofy's Cavalcade of Sports (1956)
• Goofy's Sports Story (1957)
• A Disney Halloween (1983)
• Disneyland 30th Anniversary TV Special (1985)
• A Very Merry Christmas Parade (1989)
• Disney's Celebrate The Spirit (1992)
• The Wonderful World Of Disney: 40 Years Of Magic (1994)
• Disneyland 40th Anniversary TV Special (1995)
• Disneyland 50th Anniversary TV Special (2005)
• Disneyland 60th Anniversary TV Special (2015)
• Mickey's Tale of Two Witches (2021)
• Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas (2021)
• Mickey Saves Christmas (2022)

Super Goof is Goofy's superhero alter ego who gets his powers by eating super goobers (peanuts). Goofy became the first Disney character to also be a superhero, but several would follow, including Donald Duck as Paperinik.

The initial concept was developed by Disney Publications Dept. head George Sherman and Disney United Kingdom merchandising representative Peter Woods. It was passed on to Western Publishing scripter Del Connell who refined it, including the eventual device of peanuts providing superpowers.[35]

The initial version of Super Goof appeared in "The Phantom Blot meets Super Goof", in Walt Disney's The Phantom Blot No. 2 (Feb. 1965) by Connell (story) and Paul Murry (art).[36] There Goofy mistakenly believes he has developed superpowers.[37][38] A second version appeared as an actual superhero in the four-page story "All's Well That Ends Awful" in Donald Duck No. 102 (July 1965), also by Connell and Murry.[37][39]

The third and definitive version debuted in "The Thief of Zanzipar" in Walt Disney Super Goof No. 1 (Oct. 1965), written by Bob Ogle and drawn by Murry, in which the origin of his powers are special peanuts Goofy finds in his backyard.[40][41][42] In this story, Super Goof battles the Super Thief, a scientific genius who shrinks world landmarks, and holds them for ransom.[43]

The effect of Super Goof's special peanuts is temporary, so the superpowers wear off after a couple of hours. Many stories use this as a comical effect with the powers wearing off at the most inappropriate time. The peanuts give similar superpowers to whoever eats them, not just Goofy. In some stories, random criminals who have accidentally eaten the peanuts have temporarily become supervillains.

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.[44] On occasion, Gilbert uses the super goobers to become a superhero under the name Super Gilbert, beginning with the story "The Twister Resisters" in Walt Disney Super Goof No. 5.[45]

Gold Key Comics subsequently published the comic-book series Walt Disney Super Goof for 74 issues through 1984.[46] A handful of stories were scripted by Mark Evanier.[47] Additional Super Goof stories (both original and reprints) appeared in Walt Disney Comics Digest.[48] The Dynabrite comics imprint issued by Western in the late 1970s and Disney Comic Album No. 8 (1990) from Disney Comics contained reprints. Gemstone reprinted a Disney Studio Program story written by Evanier and drawn by Jack Bradbury as a backup in its 2006 release Return of the Blotman.

On Disney's Toontown Online during the Halloween season, Goofy is Super Goof for the occasion. He also appeared in one episode of House of Mouse and in two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. In the television series Mickey Mouse, Goofy dresses as Super Goof for the half-hour Halloween special "The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!".

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

Goofy is the captain of the royal guard at Disney Castle in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. Goofy reappears in the prequel, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, in a relatively minor role.

Max Goof is Goofy's teenage son. He first appeared in the 1992 television series Goof Troop and stars in both the spin-off film A Goofy Movie (1995) and its direct-to-video sequel An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000). He also features in the direct-to-video Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), its sequel Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004), and the 2001 TV series House of Mouse. Max is a playable character on the Super NES video game Goof Troop (1993), the PlayStation 2 video game Disney Golf (2002), and the PC video game Disney's Extremely Goofy Skateboarding (2001).

Max is one of the few Disney characters aside from his best friend P.J. and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, child or otherwise, who has actually aged in subsequent appearances. He was depicted as an eleven-year-old middle school student in Goof Troop, then a high school student in A Goofy Movie, and then a high school graduate teenager starting college in An Extremely Goofy Movie. In House of Mouse, he is still a teenager but old enough to be employed as a parking valet.