It dawns on us, stuck for a topic as usual, that today, March 22, is International Goof Off Day. Yes, the experienced goof-offs at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog here are not kidding - there actually is a International Goof Off Day. Thank you, Sandra Boynton, for the following apt International Goof Off Day illustration!
Shall devote International Goof Off Day to weapons-grade goofing off by a certain favorite character from Walt Disney Productions, not Mickey Mouse. Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Clarabelle Cow or even the 1920's version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit but (drum roll). . . Goofy.
The Goof debuted in the 1932 Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Revue as the chortling "Dippy Dawg."
We'll kick this International Goof Off Day tribute off with one of Disney's best short cartoons, Tiger Trouble!
There are three names I associate with The Goof. First and foremost, need to pay tribute to the artist responsible for designing the character's angular style and specific movements: the brilliant and gifted animator Art Babbitt. While it is difficult to determine where to begin, given Art Babbitt's many contributions to Disney animation history, Michael Barrier's interview with Art is a fantastic place to start.
The second? The multi-talented Jack Kinney, the all-time favorite Disney director of the animation aficionados at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog and also the witty author of Walt Disney and Assorted Other Characters: An Unauthorized Account of the Early Years at Disney's. He directed Pink Elephants On Parade!
Jack had a knack for directing the best of the best Goofy cartoons, starting with Goofy’s Glider. Kinney's direction, splendid animation and the always florid and sternly stentorian narration of the Jack Barrymore-esque John McLeish equals laughs.
Goofy then became, after the hilarious How To Ride A Horse segment in The Reluctant Dragon, the ultimate sports champion. Such classic "Sport Goofy" cartoons as The Art Of Skiing, Art Of Self Defense, How To Fish, How To Play Baseball, How To Play Football, The Olympic Champ, Tennis Racquet and Goofy Gymnastics followed.
Last but not least, the third name we associate with the Goof is the one, the only, the incomparable voice of the Goof, vaudeville and circus performer Pinto Colvig.
Very few in animation excelled as storyman, gag writer, musician, songwriter and voice artist. Colvig was all of the above with Disney, Lantz and Fleischer Studios.
Pinto's distinctive voice even turns up in a few Warner Brothers and Tex Avery MGM cartoons.
The Southern Oregon Historical Society devoted a one hour episode of The Southern Oregon History Show to Pinto Colvig
Big time thanks for the laughs, all of you, from Walt to Art to Fred Moore to Jack's brother Dick and pal Roy Williams to Pinto to Jack Kinney's crew of ace animators (John Sibley, Ed Aardal, Hugh Fraser and Jack Boyd, sometimes supplemented by "Nine Old Men" luminaries Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball and Woolie Reitherman)!
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