Goofy

* Will Ryan (*DTV Valentine*, *Down and Out with Donald Duck* and *Totally Minnie*)
* Jack Wagner (Disney Parks, 1983-1986)
* Bill Farmer (1987-present)
* Jason Marsden (*Me and My Dad* DVD storybook)
* Hank Azaria (*The Simpsons in Plusaversary*)

### Debut

Mickey's Revue

> Though he seems intoxicated, he's just highly animated!
>
> Max Goof on Goofy, A Goofy Movie

**Goofy** is an animated character that first appeared in 1932's *Mickey's Revue*. Named for his clumsiness and ineptitude, he is an anthropomorphic dog characterized as a hick with a southern drawl. Goofy is predominantly known for his slapstick style of comedy, and regularly appears alongside his best friends Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Originally dubbed as **Dippy Dawg**, Goofy was conceived as a one-shot character, but proved so popular amongst audiences and Walt Disney's staff (in no small part due to his signature guffaw, courtesy of Pinto Colvig) that he quickly became a recurring character in Disney short films. He was known for regularly singing a blissful rendition of his trademark song, “The World Owes Me a Living”. Animator Art Babbit would be largely responsible for developing and refining the Goof’s character. Babbit imbued Goofy with a good-natured and laid-back mien, while also establishing such traits as Goofy’s sloppy walk and baggy attire. Goofy would eventually receive his own film series, starting with *Goofy and Wilbur* in 1939.

In the 1940s, Goofy featured in a series of “How To” cartoons, which saw a pantomime Goof participating in various recreational activities (mainly sports) at the behest of a posh narrator. Goofy was reinvented as an Everyman father in the 1950s—in a series of shorts that would inspire the 1992 animated series *Goof Troop*, in which Goofy served as the suburban single parent of his son and only child, Max Goof. Goofy would also become the first of Disney's classic characters to star in his own feature-length film, being 1995's *A Goofy Movie*.

## Background

### Personality

Clumsy, unintelligent, and humble are some of the words that describe Goofy. Living a rather simple lifestyle, Goofy tends to miss the obvious, act somewhat childish and absent-minded, and gets confused very easily. As a result of these factors, Goofy is rather accident-prone and is an easy target for trouble. Nevertheless, his blissfulness usually keeps him from any legitimate harm, as he tends to walk away from life-threatening danger with a smile and his signature guffaw.

Goofy's blissfulness and optimism can sometimes blind him from the feelings of those around him, however, most notably Mickey, Donald, and his son Max, who are often annoyed by Goofy's antics, as they typically receive the short end of the trouble that follows the Goof around. Despite this flaw, Goofy is extremely supportive and caring towards his loved ones. He tries his best to lighten their spirits when they feel down and selflessly sticks by them when they're in need. Goofy is also charming, somewhat infectiously; often at times when someone meets him for the first time, they are immediately taken by his welcoming aura.

Ironically, however, Goofy is aware of his fairly limited intelligence, and though usually self-loving, he does not always enjoy being goofy. In *A Goofy Movie*, for example, Max tricks Goofy into taking him to a concert in Los Angeles. After discovering the truth, Goofy became uncharacteristically upset and downhearted, feeling his son had such a low opinion of his capabilities and intelligence that he believed scamming him would be an easy thing to accomplish. This is one of the rare occasions where he displayed genuine anger.

He has shown a level of intelligence, as he is shown to be a superb sports player in his "How to" cartoons, which requires the ability to follow tactics. He is also smart enough to raise a child as a single parent; Max's development into a mature and responsible adult proved that Goofy's parenting skills were completely reliable. Additionally, Goofy can be stern and no-nonsense when he believes necessary, most notably seen in his "George Geef" cartoons.

Goofy is also one of the most versatile Disney characters. Although primarily a good guy, the Goof has occasionally played antagonist roles in many cartoons, such as "Ye Olden Days", "Motor Mania", "Freewayphobia", "Goofy's Freeway Troubles", "Mickey's Christmas Carol", "Donald's Halloween Scare", "No Service", and in many of the sports-themed Goofy shorts of the 1940s.

### Family

In contrast with other major Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, who are always shown only as uncles, Goofy's family life has instead afforded him portrayals as both a husband and a father. In the 1950s, cartoon shorts were produced that depicted Goofy as a family man, having both a wife—but always with her face unseen—and a son, Goofy Junior, whose birth was seen in the short "Fathers Are People". Though, this status of Goofy's was eventually fazed out afterward.

His grandmother, Grandma Goofy, made her debut in a 1944 *Mickey Mouse* newspaper strip, with her first speaking appearance being in 1955. In a 1953 newspaper strip, Goofy says that he grew up in a large family. Though the specific members vary, many subsequent sources would go on to illustrate this in their own ways.

In the 1957 *Disneyland* episode "The Adventure Story", it was said that Goofy's father is named Amos Goofy and that he is, in fact, the Goofy from the cartoon "African Diary". Other members of Goofy's family tree given in the special included Wilbur Goofy (1901), Wyatt Goofy (1880), Lewis Goofy (1807), Pilgrim Goofy (1642), Leonardo da Goofy (1551), Cedric Goofy (1142), Nero Goofy (636 A.D.), Horatio Goofy (106 B.C.), and Caveman Goofy (no date given). Plus Goofy's Aunt Matilda, his Uncle Joe (the Goofy from "For Whom the Bulls Toil"), and his grandfather Ebenezer Goofy (a raincoat-wearing sailor).

In comic books, Goofy was regularly featured as having a nephew, Gilbert, who has never appeared outside of comics. In the 1958 comic *Goofy's Last Stand*, more information about Goofy's father is given as Goofy says "Looky here! Muh pappy was a railroad man!" while showing his family album to Gilbert. In the European comic books, Goofy has an adventurer cousin called Arizona Goof, who is a spoof of the archaeologist Indiana Jones. Goofy's brother Gaffy (*Pappo* in the original Italian version) disappeared in the jungle and was reunited with his brother in the Mickey Mouse comic *The Quest for Tarzan* (first published in 1957).

In modern years, Goofy's status as a family man, as originally depicted in the 1950s cartoons, resurfaced in the 1992 animated TV series *Goof Troop*, albeit with two major changes. His marital status was changed to make him a single father, while his son was re-invented from Goofy Junior into Max Goof. It was this TV show and its related media that explored Goofy's family more than any other media.

Several episodes of the show would feature Goofy telling Max about the heroic exploits of their ancestors, including Sir Goofy of Knock-Knees A.K.A. Goofin' Hood (Goofy's ninth great-granddad), Eliot Goof (Goofy's uncle), Sherlock Goof (Goofy's great-great-uncle), Mopalong Goofy (Goofy's great-great-grandpa), and Caveman Goof (Goofy's ancestor). The episode "Goof Under My Roof" first mentioned Goofy's Aunt Goophelia, whose china cabinet was said to be the family heirloom. Aunt Goophelia later appeared in person at a family reunion in "Calling All Goofs" along with three other members of the Goof Clan: Great-Uncle Pattonleather Goof, Cousin Wernher von Goof, and Uncle M. Angelo Goof. Other relatives seen or mentioned in the show were Goofy's niece/Max's cousin Debbie, Goofy's great-great-granddaddy Gooferamus T. Goofy, his "great-grand-uncle" Dr. Frankengoof, an unnamed uncle who "had a rewarding yet brief career in the circus," his Aunt Mildred, his *other* great-great-grandfather Gooferamus G. Goof, and even his grandma (whom he referred to as "Granmammy").

Goofy's parents were also mentioned in two *Goof Troop* episodes each, in contexts that implied them both to still be alive during the show's time. Goofy even once implied that his mother had given birth to him at a public place like a zoo or a farm or some such. His father, meanwhile, was also a point of importance and reverence in the 1995 spinoff feature film *A Goofy Movie*, wherein it was said that Goofy, when he was Max's age, once took a road trip to Lake Destiny, Idaho with his father and that the two had also once gone on a camping trip at Yosemite National Park. A map depicting the road trip to Lake Destiny was shown in the movie to have first belonged to a "Walter P. Goofey", which was passed down to a "Benjamin Goofey" and then to "all Goofeys". The movie also featured a fishing pole that had been "handed down from Goof to Goof to Goof," as well as a fishing technique called the Perfect Cast, that Goofy described as "a family secret handed down through about twelve or thirteen Goof generations."

In the April 1995 issue of *Disney Adventures* magazine, a *Goof Troop* comic strip titled "Losted Founder's Day" referred to Goofy's granddad as having known the real story of how Spoonerville (Goofy's hometown in *Goof Troop*) was founded, which he passed down to Goofy who then told it to Max. In the same comic, it is implied (but never confirmed outright) that another of Goofy's ancestors was a man named Sourdough Goof, who was one of two gold prospectors involved in the formation of Spooner Lake in the 1800s (the other being his partner, Grubstake Pete, who was likewise implied to be one of Pete's ancestors). In the French magazine *Le Journal de Mickey*, three out of nine *Goof Troop* (or *La Bande à Dingo*) comic strips published from 1993 to 1995 went into Goofy's ancestral history in ways very much like the aforementioned "Goof History" episodes of the TV show. The ancestors described by Goofy (or "Dingo", as he is known in France) in these issues were Aladdingo, his lover-turned-wife Princess Samia, Sherlock Goof again and Messire Dingochotte de La Mancha.

In *An Extremely Goofy Movie*, Goofy's father is brought up again when his old counting machine is given to Max as a going-away-to-college present from Goofy. Both of Goofy's parents have also made cameo appearances in episodes of *House of Mouse*, with his mother appearing in the cartoon short "How to Be Groovy, Cool and Fly" during the episode "Big Bad Wolf Daddy", and his father briefly shown working in the nightclub's kitchen in "Goofy's Menu Magic". A grandfather of Goofy's, Captain Goof-Beard, has also appeared in the *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse* episode "Mickey's Pirate Adventure", and Goofy's Grandma was the subject of the 2013 *Mickey Mouse* TV series episode aptly titled "Goofy's Grandma".

### Voice

Goofy had a distinctive low-pitched voice, originally provided by voice actor Pinto Colvig. Colvig first voiced the character from 1932 to 1938. When Colvig left Disney in 1938 to work on other projects, Richard Edwards would voice a couple lines for Goofy in the 1938 shorts *Mickey's Trailer* and *The Whalers* due to Colvig leaving before recording had finished. Jack Bailey would also briefly voice Goofy in his first solo short *Goofy and Wilbur* in 1939. Danny Webb would briefly be the main voice from 1940 to 1943. Colvig returned to Disney and resumed voicing Goofy from 1944 until 1965's "Goofy's Freeway Troubles"; however, Colvig continued to voice Goofy several more times until his death in 1967. Stuart Buchanan voiced Goofy in *The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air* and would provide some lines in *Moose Hunters* when Colvig was not available to record. Jimmy MacDonald also voiced Goofy in the 1960s Disney album, *Donald Duck and his Friends*.

After Colvig's death, Walker Edmiston would voice Goofy in the 1974 Disney album, *An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players*. Tony Pope would become Goofy's first main voice after Colvig's death starting in 1977 for various record albums. Pope would alternate with Jack Wagner who would voice Goofy for theme park attractions from 1983 to 1986, Hal Smith who voiced Goofy for various shorts and educational films from 1982 to 1987, and Will Ryan who voiced Goofy in various TV specials from 1986 to 1987. By 1987, Disney Character Voices would be founded to ensure each characters' voice would be the same across Disney media which would lead to Tony Pope and Bill Farmer alternating as Goofy in projects for a year until 1988 when Farmer became the sole full time voice of Goofy in all media.

During the early 1950s, many cartoons have Goofy with a normal human-like voice. The "normal" voice was also provided by Bob Jackman, but the Goof was given his traditional voice back after a few cartoons.

Goofy's catchphrases are "Gawrsh!" (which is his usual exclamation of surprise), along with "A-hyuck!" (a distinctive chuckle), and especially the Goofy holler (see below).

### Goofy holler

Since 1941 short *The Art of Skiing*, Goofy has become famous for his signature holler "Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!", a sound effect used whenever he is falling in the air. The holler was first recorded by yodeller Hannes Schroll. Some sources claim that Schroll was not paid for the recording. Today, the holler is done by Goofy's current voice actor Bill Farmer. Farmer also demonstrated the "Goofy Holler" in the Disney Treasures DVD The Complete Goofy. Although, the holler is retitled to the "Goofy Yell" in *Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two*. This famous holler is sometimes used in cartoons, films, and attractions in which Goofy does not appear (notable examples include *Cinderella* and *Lambert the Sheepish Lion*).

## Trivia

* Goofy, Donald, and Pluto are the only characters from the Mickey Mouse gang to have a son instead of a nephew or niece. Goofy has Max as a son Donald and Daisy have a toddler son in the 1959 short How to Have an Accident at Work and Pluto had kids in Pluto's Quin-puplets and Pluto Junior.
	+ Also, Goofy is the only member of the trio to have a confirmed wife, although Walt Disney has speculated that Mickey and Minnie are married off-screen. However, they have no children of their own (*Mickey's Nightmare* does not count as it was only a dream at the time).
* In his 1930's 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). This has been the character's iconic look ever since, even though it was seldom featured in cartoons after the 1930s.
* The only times Goofy is referred to being a dog are in early shorts, an episode of *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse*, a Toon Disney commercial for *Goof Troop*, *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, by Hades in an episode of *House of Mouse*, and the episode *Dog Show* of the 2013 series.
* Goofy is currently the only member of the Classic Disney Shorts to have his own non-segmented movie.
* Even though Goofy has sometimes been paired with Clarabelle Cow and has dated a couple of women in the *Goof Troop* series, he does not seem to have a significant female counterpart, making him the only member of the original Disney trio not to have one in official Disney canon.
* Although Goofy's hat is usually colored green with a black line, it is usually colored blue in comics. In his appearance in *Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers*, his hat was a yellow-orange color. Sometimes his hat is green with a yellow line.
* The color of Goofy's vest has been somewhat inconsistent, in most appearances, it is officially black, in some appearances such as *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse*, his vest is a light brown, and in the Theme Parks and *Kingdom Hearts*, it is yellow.
* 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 1950's name.
* Goofy's exact height seems to be indeterminable:
	+ However, in the episode, New Shoes from the *Mickey Mouse series*, *a lyric from Mickey's song hints him to be 6'7" (201 cm).*
* While Goofy is famous for his trademark exclamation "Gawrsh!", he can sometimes be heard saying "Gosh!", which is the proper way to say said exclamation.
* Goofy's mother made an appearance in the Mickey Mouse Works cartoon *How to be Groovy, Cool, and Fly*.
* According to biographer Neal Gabler, Walt Disney himself disliked the Goofy cartoons, thinking they were merely "stupid cartoons with gags tied together" with no larger narrative or emotional engagement and a step backward to the early days of animation. As such, he threatened constantly to terminate the *Goofy* series, but only continued it to provide make-work for his animators. However, Gabler cites no source for the claim of Walt hating Goofy.
	+ According to animation historian Michael Barrier, Gabler's source for Walt's alleged hatred for Goofy may have been Harry Tytle's book *One of Walt's Boys*, specifically a chapter called "Shorts Go Out of Style", and even then, it is doubtful that Walt so much hated the Goofy cartoons as he became increasingly aware of and concerned about the difficulties they posed, especially in regards to merchandising.
* Some Disney movies use Goofy's holler, such as *Home on the Range* (where Maggie, Mrs. Calloway, and Grace accidentally hit Junior the Buffalo), *Cinderella* (when the King cuts the rope on the chandelier and he and the Grand Duke fall onto his bed), *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (when Quasimodo caused some of Frollo's guards to fall from the Notre Dame cathedral into the nearby river), *The Rescuers* (when Orville takes off for the last time), and *Enchanted* (when the troll is flung over to the next kingdom while trying to eat Giselle). You can also hear the Goofy Holler on Alice in Wonderland during your ride vehicle transition to outside through the doors.
* Goofy, Donald, and Mickey make a cameo in the opening Concert Hall sequence of *The Little Mermaid* as King Triton passes them on camera left. They are in the audience with the merpeople.
* Goofy is currently one of three major Disney characters with a full-length theatrical film featuring him as the protagonist, with the others being Donald Duck (*The Three Caballeros*) and Scrooge McDuck (*DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp*). (A film starring Goofy, Mickey, and Donald is currently in development.)
* Though "Goof" is Goofy's official last name, it is rarely used in most of his appearances.
* In *Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days*, Goofy's stat chart shows he has the second-highest Defense in the game, but if one takes notice and increase his Defense stat to the highest point possible, it will be shown his Defense reaches 211, one point higher than Lexaeus' Defense at max, who stat chart states he has the highest Defense stat. It is possible, but unconfirmed, that Goofy's Defense stat chart being the 2nd highest is a mistake.
* The color of Goofy's hands when his gloves are removed are inconsistent: In *Goofy and Wilbur*, a scene showing Goofy removing his gloves depicts him with flesh-colored hands, while in other times when his gloves are removed, they are black.
* Goofy's great-grandfather was shown to be still alive (at a *very* high age) in a 1961 Mickey Mouse newspaper comic.
* Goofy was said to be Walt Disney's favorite character.
* Goofy has other names in different dubs: "Dingo" in French dub, "Pippo" in Italian, and "Pateta" in Portuguese.

## Gallery

**Goofy** in **Mickey Mouse Clubhouse****Goofy** in **Kingdom Hearts****Goofy** in **Kingdom Hearts II****Goofy** in **Kingdom Hearts III**
## References

1. ↑ Canemaker, John (2006). *Paper Dreams: The Art And Artists Of Disney Storyboards*. Disney Edition. p. 86. ISBN 978-0786863075.
2. ↑ "Mickey's Answering Service"
3. ↑ *Two Weeks Vacation*, *No Sail*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *A Goofy Movie*
5. ↑ "Third Wheel"
6. ↑ "Potatoland"
7. ↑ *Christmas Maximus*
8. ↑ "1953 Sunday newspaper strip"
9. ↑ A Goofy Family Tree from "The Goofy Adventure Story", via Calisota.org
10. ↑ *The Quest for Tarzan*
11. ↑ Officially, Disney's Guest Services once declared there to be "no definitive answer" as to "who Max's mother is and where "Mrs. Goofy" went", leaving her fate up to unofficial speculation and presumption.
12. ↑ In "Midnight Movie Madness", Max wanted to see the new *Mutilator* movie, but Goofy wouldn't let him because he knew that scary movies didn't agree with Max. When Max denied Goofy's claim that Max had been scared by the witch in the movie *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs*, Goofy retorted with, "Max, you can't watch Grandma stuff a chicken without getting faint."
13. ↑ In "The Good, the Bad and the Goofy", Pete mentioned Goofy's father when he said "Let's get one thing straight: I am onto you. I don't know when, and I don't know why, but somehow, one of the *nuts* in your family tree got the evil eye put on 'em, see? And that curse has been oozin' down through the bloodline ever since. Your father had it, you have it, and I don't want it! Got that?"
14. ↑ In "Clan of the Cave Goof", Max tried to use the argument of "Grandpa never went to the dentist," to get out of going to his own dentist appointment, to which Goofy replied "Grandpa doesn't have any teeth, Maxie."
15. ↑ In "The Good, the Bad and the Goofy", when Goofy nearly knocked over a highly-stacked display at a grocery store, Pete grumbled to Goofy, "You were born under a bad sign," to which Goofy replied, "Well, actually, I was born under a sign saying 'Please don't feed the elk.' Ah-hyuck! You see, my mother, who was pregnant at the time..." before being cut off by Pete.
16. ↑ In the French dub of the *Goof Troop* episode "Sherlock Goof", the titular Sherlock Goof is named "Sherlock Dingo", the same name as the detective featured in the French *Goof Troop* (or *La Bande à Dingo*) comic strip "L'Oncle Sherlock" ("Uncle Sherlock"), implying that the two are the same person.
17. ↑ http://www.micechat.com/forums/news/42925-disneytim-talks-walt-disney-historian-neal-gabler-micechat-news-team-10-29-06-a.html
18. ↑ http://www.michaelbarrier.com/WhatsNewArchives/2008/WhatsNewArchivesApril08.htm#didwaltreallyhate