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. 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 extremely intelligent, Goofy's main flaw is, predictably, clumsiness. His birthday is May 25, 1932.

Background
In the film A Goofy Movie, a map belonging to "Benjamin Goof" depicts a trip that Goofy took with his father, implying Benjamin as the name of Goofy's paternal parent. In the television series Goof Troop, Goofy claims he was born in California as the first-born Goof in America.

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 widower. As a single father 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), along with "ah-hyuck!" (a distinctive chuckle), and especially the Goofy holler (see below).

In his 1930s cartoon appearances, Goofy commonly wore a black vest, blue pants, a turtleneck shirt (colored either red or orange), white gloves, extra-long brown shoes, and a very distinctive hat (either blue or green). That has been the character's iconic look ever since, even though it was seldom featured in cartoons after the 1930s.

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.



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 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.

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. 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.

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,[1] 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, had flesh-colored skin instead of white, 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 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.

The Lion King 1½
Goofy makes a cameo at the end of The Lion King 1½.

Goof Troop
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).

House of Mouse
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 shows, 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 1970's 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.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Goofy also appears in the children's television series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with his trademark attire and personality.

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.

Disney Parks
Goofy is a common character in the Disney Parks, the most common after Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto. He is featured in many shows.

Fantasmic!
In the popular live show Fantasmic Goofy can be seen in the Steamboat Willie in Disney's Hollywood Studios and Tom Sawyer in Disney's California Adventure.

1930s

 * 1. Goofy and Wilbur (1939)

1940s

 * 2. Goofy's Glider (1940)
 * 3. Baggage Buster (1941)
 * 4. The Art of Skiing (1941)
 * 5. The Art of Self Defense (1941)
 * 6. How to Play Baseball (1942)
 * 7. The Olympic Champ (1942)
 * 8. How to Swim (1942)
 * 9. How to Fish (1942)
 * 10. El Gaucho Goofy (1943) (originally edited to Saludos Amigos (1942))
 * 11. Victory Vehicles (1943)
 * 12. How to Be A Sailor (1944)
 * 13. How to Play Golf (1944)
 * 14. How to Play Football (1944)
 * 15. Tiger Trouble (1945)
 * 16. African Diary (1945)
 * 17. Californy'er Bust (1945)
 * 18. Hockey Homicide (1945)
 * 19. A Knight For A Day (1946)
 * 20. Double Dribble (1946)
 * 21. Foul Hunting (1947)
 * 22. They're Off (1948)
 * 23. The Big Wash (1948)
 * 24. Tennis Racquet (1949)
 * 25. Goofy Gymnastics (1949)

1950s

 * 26. How to Ride A Horse (1950) (originally edited to The Reluctant Dragon (1941))
 * 27. Motor Mania (1950)
 * 28. Hold That Pose (1950)
 * 29. Lion Down (1951)
 * 30. Home Made Home (1951)
 * 31. Cold War (1951)
 * 32. Tomorrow We Diet! (1951)
 * 33. Get Rich Quick (1951)
 * 34. Fathers Are People (1951)
 * 35. No Smoking (1951)
 * 36. Father´s Lion (1951)
 * 37. Hello Aloha (1951)
 * 38. Man´s Best Friend (1951)
 * 39. Two Gun Goofy (1952)
 * 40. Teachers Are People (1952)
 * 41. Two Weeks Vacation (1952)
 * 42. How To Be A Detective (1953)
 * 43. Father's Day Off (1953)
 * 44. For Whom The Bull´s Toil (1953)
 * 45. Father´s Week End (1953)
 * 46. How To Dance (1953)
 * 47. How To Sleep (1953)

1960s

 * 48. Aquamania (1961)
 * 49. Freewayphobia #1 (1965)
 * 50. Goofy's Freeway Troubles (1965)

2000s

 * 51. How to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007)

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.

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.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Goofy has been the Captain of Disney Castle's Royal Knights since years. He appears in the game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep with Donald, but does not play as a major character. During this time, he and Donald watch King Mickey practice to harness his Keyblade under Master Yen Sid's teaching at the Mysterious Tower. When Ventus uses the Star Fragment that Yen Sid gave Mickey to transport to the Mysterious Tower, Yen Sid uses magic to tell Mickey's whereabouts and bad condition. Seeing their king is trouble, Donald and Goofy prepare to depart for the Keyblade Graveyard and save Mickey from Master Xehanort. Yen Sid stops them, knowing that they are no match for Master Xehanort. Ven instead goes alone, leaving Donald and Goofy visibly upset.

Like Donald, he becomes a Dimension Link ally, able to send his power to any of the three main characters.

At the end of the game, Goofy observes with Donald as Mickey hands in the Star Fragment and his Keyblade, thinking he had failed to reach his goal, and is overly thrilled when Yen Sid returns the weapon to his king.



Kingdom Hearts
Goofy's role began when Donald rushes to tell him about the disappearance of King Mickey, but the secret is quickly discovered by Queen Minnie and Daisy.

King Mickey's letter explains that darkness is threatening the worlds, which appear as stars in the night sky, and have been blinking out one by one. Therefore, he left in order to study and counter the threat, and provides Donald and Goofy with the mission to seek out the "key to their survival". To start, they should head to a world called Traverse Town, and find a man named Leon.

Donald and Goofy, loyal to their king and concerned about his welfare as well as the worlds', agree to take on the mission. Queen Minnie also introduces them to another traveling companion, Jiminy Cricket, who will chronicle their travels in his journal.

With the three of them as well as Pluto, they take the Gummi Ship and begin their journey.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Sora, having encountered a mysterious figure, goes with Donald and Goofy to Castle Oblivion. Inside, they discuss going further into the castle, realizing that all four of them, including Jiminy, feel that Riku and the King are in the castle. But before they can progress, they meet the mysterious man once more. Donald, assuming the man to be a Heartless, attacks, but finds out that none of his spells will function. The man reveals that Sora and his friends forgot every single ability they knew as soon as they entered the castle. In addition, the figure remarks that in this castle, they will find someone they know. Granting Sora a card, the figure leaves, and the others are compelled to follow.

Kingdom Hearts II
After the events of Castle Oblivion, the three wake up with their memories restored, though they are unable to remember the events of Chain of Memories, including why they fell asleep in the first place. From the train station, they meet the King once more who tells them to go find Yen Sid, and their adventure starts again. Before doing so, they meet the three kids, Hayner, Pence, and Olette, in Twilight Town.

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.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Goofy appears once again in the library of Disney Castle, along with Donald, to help Jiminy and King Mickey solve a mystery in Jiminy's Journal in Kingdom Hearts coded. To solve the mystery, King Mickey digitizes the journal to make a Data Sora in order to relive his memories.

As more additions appear in Jiminy's Journal, Heartless suddenly appear behind them. Though King Mickey manages to fend them off, they are unable to leave the library. They eventually find out that they had been transported into the Data World when Data Sora and Jiminy's Journal in Riku's form appear to them. As they continue to play along, the Journal is captured by the Heartless and controlled by Maleficent from the real world. After Data Sora's Keyblade is destroyed, Goofy and Donald follow him to Hollow Bastion where they help him fight off the Heartless.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Since this game focuses around the time that Roxas was born and his time spent in Organization XIII, Goofy, along with Sora and Donald, is induced in a deep slumber by Naminé around that time to recover his lost memories.

Other video games
Goofy was the star of an early platformer, Matterhorn Screamer for the Apple II and Commodore 64.

Goofy also starred in Super Nintendo adventure game Goof Troop alongside his son Max and in Goofy's Hysterical History Tour for the Sega Genesis where he's a head janitor and he must recover the missing pieces of some museum exhibits.

He also was in the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance game Disney Party as one of the playable characters.

Two games for kids were released: Goofy's Fun House for the PlayStation and Goofy's Railway Express for the Commodore 64.

He also appears 2001 in Disney's Extremely Goofy Skateboarding for PC.

Goofy is a playable character in Disney TH!NK Fast.

Actor portrayal
Disney has gone through seven voices for Goofy, compared to three for Mickey and only two for Donald.
 * Pinto Colvig 1932 - 1938, 1942 - 1965 (his death in 1967)
 * George Johnson - 1939 - 1941
 * Bob Jackman - 1951
 * Hal Smith - 1983
 * Tony Pope - 1986;(Sport Goofy in Soccermania)
 * Will Ryan - 1988
 * Bill Farmer (current) 1986 - Present
 * Yū Shimaka (current) 2001 - Present

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!!"[2] 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.[3] Bill Farmer, the current voice of Goofy, demonstrated the "Goofy Holler" in the Disney Treasures DVD The Complete Goofy. He has a saying that has also stuck with the crowd, "Gawrsh".