The Goofy
cartoon dog is a Walt Disney creation. He is an "oafish"1 character AKA "The Goof". He walked on two
legs, human style. He was a black dog and he had droopy ears and buck
teeth. At an early stage in his career but not at the beginning it was
decided that he should be drawn as a "little awkward and screwy"1.
The name, Goofy, came about because Walt Disney described the
predicaments that his cartoon character go into as goofy.
Goofy had a distinctive voice which was provided by Pinto Colvig
initially and then:
Stuart Buchanan
Bob Jackman and
Hal Smith.
Goofy Cartoons
He appeared in 84 cartoons. He also featured in the feature length
omnibus films:
The Reluctant
Dragon 1941 in the part called How to Ride a Horse.
Saludos Amigos
1943 in the segment titled, El
Gaucho Goofy.
Fun and Fancy Free
1947 in the segment titled, Mickey
and the Beanstalk.
He starred in the 1942 animated sports short, How to Play Baseball.
However, Goofy cartoon dog was around before that. His first appearance
was in Mickey's Revue, 1932. In this cartoon he played a laughing
member of the audience. He was known at the time as Dippy Dawg. He was
a bit of a mess - more messy that he was eventually to become. He ate
peanuts and had a beard.
Goofy cartoon dog has an uninterrupted ancestry as follows:
Date
Character
Comment
Caveman Goofy
508 B.C.
Horatio Goofy "
noblest Goofy..."
Demosthenes Goofy
Olympic torch
bearer who screwed up.
636 A.D.
Nero Goofy
Commander in
Chief of the Royal Barge of Egypt.
1142
Sir Cedric Goofy
A squire.
Erik the Viking
An arctic explorer.
1491
Leonardo da Goofy
Knew world was
square.
1551
Leonardo Goofy
An inventor.
Cortez Goofy
1642
Pilgrim Goofy
Percival Goofy
Grandson of
Pilgrim Goofy - went west as a scout.
John Paul Goofy
Naval hero.
Old Black Goofy
Pirate.
1807
Lewis Goofy
Explorer.
Captain Ebenezer
Goofy
Captain of
whaling ship.
1880
Wayne Goofy
Lawman.
Livingston
"Wrong Way" Goofy
Discovered South
Pole.
1869
Amos Goofy
Railroad worker
and Goofy's grandfather.
1901
Wilbur Goofy
Aviation Pioneer.
1940s
Edsel Goofy
Inventor of
vehicles.
Joe Goofy
World traveler
and Goofy's uncle. Aunt Matilda was also featured.
He was married and he had a son, Goofy Jr. Both his wife and son
appeared in Fathers are People - 1951.
Goofy cartoon dog had a pet grasshopper called Wilbur who featured in Goofy and Wilbur - 1939. This was
Goofy's first solo cartoon.
Here he is in How to Play Football -
1944.
Goofy had developed into the lovable half-wit by 1935 in Mickey's Service Station. In this
cartoon he helps to destroy a car and almost himself. He accidentally
whacks his hand.
Other cartoons featuring the Goofy cartoon dog are:
Mickey's Fire Brigade 1935 - playing a firefighter.
Moving Day 1936 - an iceman helping an evicted Mickey.
Clock Cleaners 1937 - clock cleaner.
Boat Builders 1938 - boat builder.
The two videos on this page are part of Goofy's instructional films.
Others in the series include:
The Art of Skiing 1941
The Art of Self-Defense 1941
How to Swim 1942
How to Play Golf 1944
Tennis Racquet 1949
Goofy Gymnastics 1949
How to be a Detective 1953
How to Dance 1953
How to Ride a Horse
Goofy cartoon dog's most famous series was how not to drive:
Motor Mania 1950
Freewayphobia No.1 1965
Goofy's Freeway Trouble 1965
In 1983 Goofy played a ghost in Mickey's
Christmas.
Goofy did not do so well in print (comic books). He starred in Super Goofy and co-starred in a mix
of Disney comic books; appearing in 13 editions of Dell's 4-Color comic books (1953-1962).
Goofy Cartoon - Sources:
1. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon
Animals