Fathers Are People

A Walt Disney GOOFY Cartoon

With all the problems & perils of new parenthood raining down upon him, poor Goofy is about to discover that FATHERS ARE PEOPLE just like anyone else.

The Goof manages to struggle through a preponderance of paternal pitfalls in this funny little film. Although the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune have set up residency in his home in the shape of little Junior, the big lug still manages to emerge semi-triumphantly in the end. This is one of the cartoons in which Goofy goes by the pseudonym George Geef, for reasons best known only to the Disney animators.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

"Goofy" (aka "George") is delighted to be a dad! No sooner is it born, though, than he is immersed in the cycle of washing, sterilising, ironing, feeding and terrifying it with his baby talk! Sleep? Well he's on night-duty too as that relentless feeding routine shows no sign of letting up! A family trip to grandma with more luggage than was used on the D-Day landings follows before the little critter makes it to the walking and talking stage - and then we get the quarrelling, bickering, playing and you can just tell what's coming next - yep, boisterousness and strops! It's quite a fun look at parental indulgence, the relentless of fatherhood and the innocence (and belligerence) of a child. Will poor "George" ever get a moments peace?

Very entertaining as you'd hope from a Disney short. It's not one of the best there is, a couple of the requisite jokes(especially the packing the car and forgetting the baby) don't come off as well as they could have done, they are well executed but would have been funnier if they weren't so familiar at the same time. Some people will also pick up on the "fathers not being properly able to take care of children" stereotype, and may be annoyed by it, I wasn't hugely bothered by it but can see why others would be. The animation is just lovely, very like the animation in the Disney films/shorts of the 50s it is sumptuously coloured and fluid in detail. The music has much character and beautiful orchestration, its synchronisation with the action/humour and how much it adds to it is also a great strength, while the gags are clever, well-executed and funny on the whole, the best ones being with the growing up kid's successful attempts in outsmarting Goofy. The story to Fathers are People is simple, well-paced and always engaging, once again taking on an issue that is still relevant today and exploring it in a way that is both funny and informative, and very well too. Goofy is every bit the everyman that is so distinctive and endearing about his character, his situation also being one that the viewer can relate to easily. The child is cute and quite smart, not so much of a brat as seen in other Disney shorts like Bellboy Donald, Mickey's Good Deed and Orphan's Benefit(all very good cartoons still, Mickey Good Deed especially actually is a huge personal favourite). To conclude, very entertaining, colourful and interesting. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Although I am sure kids will enjoy this cartoon, the humour is primarily aimed above their heads. I am sure a lot of fathers will smile wryly while Goofy as Everyman comes to terms with fatherhood. Enjoyable and nicely observed cartoon. Not as immediately funny as some but more subtle than most.