Riley Thomson

Walt Disney Treasures - The Complete Goofy

This generous collection includes 46 of the 48 shorts that starred Goofy between 1939 and 1961 (but none of the great Mickey-Donald-Goofy films from the mid-'30s). The "How to Ride a Horse" sequence in The Reluctant Dragon (1941) set the pattern for many of these cartoons. An elegant narrator (artist John Ployardt) explains a sport that Goofy attempts to demonstrate. The character that animator Art Babbitt described in a 1935 lecture (quoted in the DVD bonus material) as an easygoing dimbulb gave way to an enthusiastic but spectacularly maladroit figure. One of the funniest entries in the series, "Hockey Homicide," contains several studio in-jokes: dueling stars Icebox Bertino and Fearless Ferguson, and referee Clean-Game Kinney are named for artists Al Bertino, Norm Ferguson, and director Jack Kinney.

Mickey Mouse Disco

A clip-show music video for the album of the same name and vintage. Includes 5 songs from the album ("Mousetrap", "Disco Mickey Mouse", "Watch Out For Goofy", "Macho Duck", "Welcome To Rio").

On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends

Walt Disney, who is on vacation, gives Jiminy Cricket a phone call to take over hosting duties for one TV episode while he is away. Jiminy decides to gather the other Disney stars together to help him out. Unfortunately, they, too, are on vacation, but how they are spending their respective vacations helps put the show together for him.

Dude Duck

Donald is vacationing at a dude ranch. After all the beautiful women pick the best horses, Donald ends up with the sad sack Rover Boy. But Rover Boy wants nothing to do with Donald.

They're Off

At the race track, various spectators (all Goofy lookalikes) are playing the ponies. A posh rich Goofy bets on the equally posh Snapshot III while another more common looking Goofy bets on the bedraggled Old Moe. When the race begins, Snapshot and the rider are so overconfident they wait a few minutes after the race has begun to start running. When they finally do get going, Snapshot is not above stooping to dirty tricks such as tripping and biting the other horses. Sadly, Snapshot's vanity is what costs him winning the race (he stops to pose for the photo finish) and Old Moe is declared the winner.

Symphony Hour

Mickey guest-directs a radio orchestra. The sponsor loves the rehearsal, but come the actual performance, Goofy drops all the instruments under an elevator, so they sound like toys. The sponsor hates it, but the audience loves it anyway.

Symphony Hour

Mickey guest-directs a radio orchestra. The sponsor loves the rehearsal, but come the actual performance, Goofy drops all the instruments under an elevator, so they sound like toys. The sponsor hates it, but the audience loves it anyway.

Mickey's Birthday Party

The gang throws Mickey a surprise birthday party; his present is an electric organ, which Minnie plays while Mickey does a jazzy dance. Goofy bakes the cake, but keeps having trouble with it falling. The gang does a conga line to a Latin tune.

Mickey's Birthday Party

The gang throws Mickey a surprise birthday party; his present is an electric organ, which Minnie plays while Mickey does a jazzy dance. Goofy bakes the cake, but keeps having trouble with it falling. The gang does a conga line to a Latin tune.

Orphans' Benefit

Mickey and friends put on a revue for the orphans. Donald recites nursery rhymes, but the orphans torment him. Horace, Goofy, and Clarabelle do a dance number. Donald tries again. Clara clucks a song while Mickey plays piano (with support from an unseen orchestra). Donald returns, and the orphans finally send a parade of bricks and eggs on balloons over him and use slingshots to drop them on his head.

The Nifty Nineties

Mickey courts Minnie in the Gay Nineties: they take in a vaudeville show and go for a drive in his horseless carriage, to the strains of "While Strolling Through the Park" and "In the Good Old Summertime". Goofy rides by on a penny-farthing bicycle, and the whole Duck family rides by on a bicycle built for five.

The Little Whirlwind

Mickey wants some of the cake Minnie has just baked, so he offers to clean up her yard. As he's working, a tiny tornado (smaller than him) with a mind of its own comes along and causes trouble. After Mickey finally chases the little twister off, it gets its big brother, which makes a grand mess of the yard. Most of the cartoon, except for the opening and closing, has no dialogue.

The Volunteer Worker

A trailer created for the Community Chest features Donald as a charity collector having a hard time.

Put-Put Troubles

Pluto is towing Donald and his little motorboat. He gets distracted by a frog, and the boat runs away from him. While Pluto is struggling with the frog, and then a bedspring, Donald struggles with the outboard motor, which either won't start, or when it does start, has a tendency to destroy the boat.

The Practical Pig

After his two brothers are captured, the third little pig invents a machine to capture the big bad wolf.

Brave Little Tailor

When a giant threatens the land, the cityfolk mistake Mickey's boast of killing seven flies with one blow to be giants. He is then forced to fight the giant for real.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

A beautiful girl, Snow White, takes refuge in the forest in the house of seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother, the wicked Queen. The Queen is jealous because she wants to be known as "the fairest in the land," and Snow White's beauty surpasses her own.

The Phantom Ship

Uncle Beans and the kids are off to visit a haunted ship ('The Phantom') trapped in the ice, hoping to find pirate treasure. They encounter all manner of ghosts and goblins, but eventually find what they've been looking for. When Beans tries to warm up by throwing some chairs in a stove and lighting it, he thaws out a pair of pirates that chase the trio around. They treasure-seekers are eventually forced back into their plane and they decide to fly away.

Hot-Toe Mollie

This jazzy short was one of two efforts in the very brief "Binko the Bear Cub" series. Completed in 1930 yet never exhibited in theaters. Created by a team of future animation stars including Preston Blair and brothers Bob and Tom McKimson, this fragmentary short of Binko haunting a run-down Mexican cantina whizzes along with funky, freaky visuals and fluid movement.