Goofy

Goofy is a funny-animal cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and is one of Disney's most popular characters. He is normally characterized as extremely clumsy and dimwitted, yet this interpretation isn't always definitive; occasionally Goofy is shown as intuitive and clever, albeit in his own unique, eccentric way.

Goofy debuted in animated cartoons, starting in 1932 with Mickey's Revue as Dippy Dawg, who is older than Goofy would come to be. Later the same year, he was re-imagined as a younger dog, now called Goofy, in the short The Whoopee Party. During the 1930s he was used extensively as part of a comedy trio with Mickey and Donald. Starting in 1939, Goofy was given his own series of shorts that were popular in the 1940s and early '50s. Two Goofy shorts were nominated for an Oscar: How to Play Football and Aquamania. He also co-starred in a short series with Donald, including Polar Trappers, where they first appeared without Mickey Mouse. Three more Goofy shorts were produced in the 1960s after which Goofy was only seen in television and comics. He returned to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol. His last theatrical appearance was How to Hook Up Your Home Theater in 2007. Goofy has also been featured in television, most extensively in Goof Troop (1992–1993), as well as House of Mouse (2001–2003) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–present).

Originally known as Dippy Dawg, the character is more commonly known simply as "Goofy," a name used in his short film series. In his 1950s persona, Goofy was called George Geef, or G. G. Geef, implying that "Goofy" was merely a nickname. In Goofy Gymnastics (1949) he fills out a coupon with the name James Boyd. Sources from the Goof Troop continuity give the character's full name as Goofy Goof, or G. G. Goof, likely a reference to the 1950s name. In many other sources, both animated and comics, the surname Goof continues to be used. In other 2000s-era comics the character's full name has occasionally been given as Goofus D. Dawg.

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. Goofy also has a characteristic habit of holding his hand in front of his mouth, a trademark that was introduced by Paul Murry.

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, that 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.

Super Goof is Goofy's superhero alter ego who gets his powers by eating super goobers (peanuts). His powers mirror some of Superman's. Goofy became the first Disney character to get a career as a superhero, but several would follow — notably Donald Duck as Paperinik.

The initial concept was developed by Disney Publications Dept. head George Sherman and Disney United Kingdom merchandising representative Peter Woods. It was passed on to Western Publishing scripter Del Connell who refined it, including the eventual device of the goobers providing super powers.

Super Goof first appeared in The Phantom Blot #2 (February, 1965) by Connell (story) and Paul Murry (art), where he was just imagining that he was a super hero. He made his first appearance as an actual superhero in Donald Duck #102 (July, 1965), in the story "All's Well that Ends Awful", also by Connell and Murry. In that story his powers come from wearing a cape invented by Gyro Gearloose. Beginning with his third appearance, "The Thief of Zanzipar" from Super Goof #1 (October, 1965), the origin of his powers is peanuts. In later stories, Super Goof not only encountered the Phantom Blot, but also such adversaries as Black Pete, the Beagle Boys, Emil Eagle, and Mad Madam Mim as well as several characters created for the stories.

Super Goof's secret identity is known only to his nephew Gilbert (and, in French-produced Super Goof stories, to Mickey Mouse as well). This is despite the fact that Super Goof does not wear a mask, his costume consisting solely of a red union suit and a cape (that appear out of seemingly nowhere whenever Goofy eats a goober and change back to his regular clothes when the powers wear off), a likely parody of Superman's poor yet effective means to conceal his identity. Comic relief in the stories would spring from the fact that Super Goof's powers would "wear off" at the least opportune moments, such as when he was flying or in need of super strength. Goofy always kept a few super goobers in his hat, but would occasionally forget to restock, leading to situations in which he would have to get out of trouble without the super powers. In a crossover story, Huey, Dewey and Louie found a super goober plant sprouted by a dropped goober, and "borrowed" Super Goof's powers; after doing a round of super deeds, the ducks' powers faded, and they had to be rescued by the Junior Woodchucks.

On occasion, Gilbert uses the super goobers to become a superhero under the name Super Gilbert (although his uncle calls him Super Gilly).

Super Goof had his own comic book series from 1965 to 1984 with a 74-issue run from Gold Key Comics including a handful of stories scripted by Mark Evanier.[12] Additional Super Goof stories (both original and reprints) appeared in Walt Disney Comics Digest. Reprints were featured in one of the Dynabrite deluxe comics issued by Western in the late 1970s and Disney Comic Album #8 (1990) from Disney Comics. The first release in the German-language Heimliche Helden book series by Ehapa published Oct. 2005 was devoted to Super Goof. Gemstone reprinted a Disney Studio Program story written by Evanier and drawn by Jack Bradbury as a backup in their 2006 release Return of the Blotman with the rescripting handled by longtime Super Goof aficionado Joe Torcivia. On Disney's Toontown Online during the Halloween season, Goofy is Super Goof for the occasion. He also appeared in one episode of Disney's House of Mouse and in two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.