Walt Disney and Goofy

[ajmrowland]

To add further evolution to the character, Goofy comes to conclusions that few others would even think of.

[Goliath]

Walt Disney would not have the only legendary Disney collaborator who hated Goofy. Carl Barks, who worked in the story department on many Donald Duck cartoons between 1935-1942, and who achieved worldwide fame with his Duck comics between 1943-1966, also said he had a strong dislike for Goofy:

"There was one I couldn't stand: it was Disney's Goofy. Goofy was simply a half-wit. I could never understand what was supposed to be funny about a half-wit."

He didn't like Pluto, either: "Pluto was in a lot of their comic-strips, but he was a very artificial dog, so different from any idea one might have of a dog. I never liked him very much. He was a dumb dog, you might say."

http://www.cbarks.dk/themouseuniversecharacters.htm

[ajmrowland]

You'd think that somebody named Carl Barks would've had a slightly more positive opinion on these canine characters.

[Goliath]

You'd think that somebody named Carl Barks would've had a slightly more positive opinion on these canine characters.

I think Goofy and Pluto were too simple, one-dimensional characters for a true satirist like Barks. Like he said, he could have fun with Donald, toy around with him, placing him in akward and painful situations, having faith beating up on him. But Barks 'forgot' that he had *made* Donald that way. When he started doing the comic, Donald also was an equally simple-minded, one-sided character, that Barks has single-handedly transformed in the character we know and love today.

[Avaitor]

Of the fab 5, Minnie is by far my least favorite. I've never been a fan of female reimaginings of popular male characters, and Minnie is kidn of the archetype of characters like Daisy, Lola Bunny, Winnie Woodpecker, and so on.

As for Goofy, I guess his wacky antics aren't for everyone but I still like his stuff. Donald is more enjoyable to me, but Goofy's cartoons have a little more variety in comparison. I prefer his How to shorts over his more traditional stuff, though.

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This one, for example, is one of my favorite Disney cartoons.

[IagoZazu]

Goofy's a good character. I like Donald more, but Goofy never fails to make me chuckle, whenever it's from the old cartoons like "Lonesome Ghosts" and "Moving Day" to the "How To" series. He's a lot of fun.

[MICKEYMOUSE]

Hey guys don't hate my friend Goofy!!

[Heil Donald Duck]

I have often felt that Pluto and Goofy are indeed the same character Pluto is the none-antro version while Goofy is the antro version,

[Big Disney Fan]

Hey guys don't hate my friend Goofy!!

I don't hate Goofy. On the contrary, I think he's great!

[TheValentineBros]

I don't hate Goofy either.

[DisneyAnimation88]

In Bob Thomas' biography of Walt Disney, he mentions that Walt disliked characters like Goofy and Donald as he felt they took away some of the spotlight from Mickey. In many ways, Mickey represented much of Walt's personality so he felt a kind of personal disappointment that characters designed to be supporting characters for Mickey ended up being so popular and, at certain times, became more popular.

[Big Disney Fan]

In Bob Thomas' biography of Walt Disney, he mentions that Walt disliked characters like Goofy and Donald as he felt they took away some of the spotlight from Mickey. In many ways, Mickey represented much of Walt's personality so he felt a kind of personal disappointment that characters designed to be supporting characters for Mickey ended up being so popular and, at certain times, became more popular.

Well, part of that issue was that Mickey, who had been quite an imp early on, was greatly and quickly sanitized, thanks to the mouse's audience, whose popularity was such that the animators and storymen could no longer do things that would offend that mouse's audience. At least with Donald and Goofy, they had more freedom, but Mickey? Not so much.

[Big Disney Fan]

I learned from my sister, who often visits the Disney Family Museum, that Diane Disney Miller viewed Gabler's book on her father as "slanderous", meaning that it tends to always view Walt in a negative light. So maybe, just maybe, Walt didn't exactly hate Goofy, he just didn't like him as much as other characters.

[Semaj]

I didn't like Goofy as much as a kid. Some of his cartoons though, are among the funniest Disney has ever made. My two absolute favorite Goofys are Hockey Homicide and Tiger Trouble.

I had heard that it was Donald that Walt had beef with, and for whatever reason behind that, Donald was the resident troublemaker in the Disney universe (as best exhibited in the Disneyland episode "Donald's Award").

[Big Disney Fan]

Really, I thought I heard that Walt Disney said, "Donald is a very outrageous fellow, with bad manners and a worse temper, and everyone is fond of him, including myself."

There has to have been something there like that, for Donald to ultimately rake in the largest number of cartoons ever at Disney, surpassing even Mickey.

[Goliath]

I learned from my sister, who often visits the Disney Family Museum, that Diane Disney Miller viewed Gabler's book on her father as "slanderous", meaning that it tends to always view Walt in a negative light. So maybe, just maybe, Walt didn't exactly hate Goofy, he just didn't like him as much as other characters.

Or maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't trust blood relatives when it comes to an animation historian writing a book on somebody.

Really, I thought I heard that Walt Disney said, "Donald is a very outrageous fellow, with bad manners and a worse temper, and everyone is fond of him, including myself."

There has to have been something there like that, for Donald to ultimately rake in the largest number of cartoons ever at Disney, surpassing even Mickey.

I have read he said: "I hate that Duck!" But he said that in private, and he said your quote in public. Of course Disney isn't going to trash his own characters in public. It's all marketing, and I can't believe how many people on UD fall for 'the official story'. Why Donald did surpass Mickey in cartoon shorts? Because he was more popular with the public, thus making more money for Disney.

[RIPJoeRanft]

I have always enjoyed the Goofy character - more so in the 1990s than in Walt's day. A Goofy Movie is one of my favorite Disney films and never gets any recognition. The way they portrayed Goofy in that movie was brilliant, making him likeable, relatable, a bit eccentric and an extremely human character. (who doesn't like a piping hot cup of Hi Dad Soup?) None of the other Fab Five characters have been portrayed that well. Ever.

Sadly, An Extremely Goofy Movie wasn't nearly as good, but still watchable.

[Goliath]

I have always enjoyed the Goofy character - more so in the 1990s than in Walt's day. A Goofy Movie is one of my favorite Disney films and never gets any recognition. The way they portrayed Goofy in that movie was brilliant, making him likeable, relatable, a bit eccentric and an extremely human character. (who doesn't like a piping hot cup of Hi Dad Soup?) None of the other Fab Five characters have been portrayed that well. Ever.

You're right when it comes to the cartoons, but I would say Donald was made into the most human, realistic and relatable character in the comic books done by Carl Barks.

[RIPJoeRanft]

I have always enjoyed the Goofy character - more so in the 1990s than in Walt's day. A Goofy Movie is one of my favorite Disney films and never gets any recognition. The way they portrayed Goofy in that movie was brilliant, making him likeable, relatable, a bit eccentric and an extremely human character. (who doesn't like a piping hot cup of Hi Dad Soup?) None of the other Fab Five characters have been portrayed that well. Ever.

You're right when it comes to the cartoons, but I would say Donald was made into the most human, realistic and relatable character in the comic books done by Carl Barks.

Barks is a legend and did add a layer to the character by making Donald more of an everyman and creating Duckburg and most of its colorful residents. Barks did Donald the best and A Goofy Movie did Goofy the best.

[Goliath]

Barks is a legend and did add a layer to the character by making Donald more of an everyman and creating Duckburg and most of its colorful residents. Barks did Donald the best and A Goofy Movie did Goofy the best.

Agreed!