From Patrick Malone : This short could just as easily be called "That Magnificent Dawg in his Flying Machine." If Donald whined about wanting to fly in Sky Trooper, Goofy just goes out and tries it on his own and in the end, beats out John Glenn by at least twenty years!

Goofy has his own homemade glider all set, but first he always consults the book. And the book tells him that in order to get off the ground, he needs to get the proper speed and altitude. Okay then, so the easiest way is for Goofy to just strap on the glider and take a running start. Of course, anyone who's seen The Olympic Champ knows, running is not one of Goofy's major talents, but eventually he is able to run his glider right into a closed gate, ejecting him from the plane and bouncing him along the countryside.

Attempt two has a little bit more philosophical reality to it as the Wright Brothers were originally bicycle repairmen And this time it appears that he does have sufficient speed to get the glider off the ground; unfortunately, not with him in it. Luckily, after a short chase, he is able to get back inside the glider and bring it to a safe, controlled landing ... at the bottom of a nearby pond. Good thing the instruction book lands with him.

Now Goofy, like Jiminy Cricket, is no fool and at least with his next attempt he decides to bring his parachute along. This time it's the catapult approach, with a slingshot made of everything from an old girdle to what looks like they might be Mickey's gloves. After cutting the stanchion with a hatchet ... WHOOSH! ... off he goes. But, once again, he's forgotten to bring along the glider, most of which has become lodged in the tree he had braced his catapult with. Not to worry, he still has his parachute, and the instruction clearly say "Count to ten and pull the string." Goofy is nothing if not conscious of the instructions and counts all the way to ten before deploying his chute; even after he lands on the count of seven. Oh well, as the narrarator says, we'll worry about learning to land later.

Taking a tip from The Art of Skiing Goofy builds himself a huge ski-ramp and decides to attempt a take-off on roller skates. And it works! Goofy is airborn; "The sky above, the earth below." Okay, maybe he does have it a bit backwards with the sky below and the earth above as the ski ramp has flipped him over upside down. Not to worry, he only alarms a few cows and chickens as he comes in for a rather tortured landing.

Okay, when nothing else works, turn to high-explosives. Mixing Goofy with high-explosives might not be a smart move in anybody's book, but Goofy presses on, loading his glider into the cannon, trying to get it aimed upwards and not into the ground, putting his fingers into his ears and "KA-BOOM!"

And at least 10 years before the first Russian sattelite went into orbit and 20 years before John Glenn, there was Goofy, finally breaking the surly bonds, of earth orbiting the globe as the audience sings along:

"High, high, up in the sky
There goes my glider and I
Bye bye!"

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project : Goofy is my absolute favorite of the Disney cartoon stars, because his shorts were what I grew up on. Although I enjoy watching the Donald shorts a little more these days because they are brand new to me, Goofy still holds a special place in my heart. The reason for that begins in this short – Goofy’s Glider.

For some reason, in 1939, Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy, left the Disney studio. This left Walt and his team with a serious quandary – how could they continue to make Goofy films without Goofy having a voice? The solution created what I think are some of the funniest shorts that the Disney company ever produced.

Rather than have Goofy go through an adventure where he engaged in conversation and talking to other people, the choice was made to create “How To…” style short. A narrator was used to tell the “correct” way to do a certain task – in this case flying a glider. The counterpoint to that was Goofy doing the activity the wrong way, making the same sort of mistakes that he always made, but it’s so much funnier when it’s a counter to the serious narration.

That said, how does the original short fare? I’m happy to report that it does very well. Goofy’s Glider, in providing a template for these shorts going forward, makes the juxtaposition of the narration and action seem very natural. Goofy’s actions are perfectly consistent with what he had done in previous shorts.

I think that’s the key to why Goofy works so well – he is consistent. In fact, Donald is much the same thing, always consistent in his actions and reactions. Goofy, though, always will get confused, and do things that lead him into bad situations. He always handles those situations with a goofy grin and happiness. It’s why we love him.

For example, in Goofy’s Glider, he ends up launching himself into the air, but is upside down. It takes him a good minute or two to figure it out, though, and his increasing realization is visible through the animation. It’s fantastic work. But ultimately, despite some hysterics, Goofy ends up smiling at the end.

Enough praise can not be laid at the feet of the narrator of these shorts, however. The haughty, over the top tone combined with the technical jargon gets more and more hilarious each time. These shorts are a treasure, and I’m so happy to have them ahead of us in this project.

From Nikki : Although not one of my favorites it is probably one of the best "How to" shorts. It does have its moments however.

From Gijs Grob : The first of the "how to's" is probably the best, as well. Goofy's attempts to fly result in wonderful gags. I particularly like Goofy's view on an upside down world.

From Sam : The first of Goofy's classic "How To" series and Goofy short to be directed by Jack Kinney, this short would launch Goofy into a new phase in his career. Full of hilarious gags, Goofy is at his comic best here as he attempts to get his glider up in the air with some truly goofy results.

From Rebecca : I definitely got some good laughs watching this "How To" short, and the song made an already funny cartoon that more enjoyable. It is definitely Goofy at his best.

From David Adan : When I was a little kid the Three Wise Men brought me a Cinexin. It came with 3 short movies, one of them, Goofy's Glider. Ah, what a memories ... Despite it's not the best Goofy cartoon, it's very enjoyable. Fun to watch.

From Trae Robinson : I do like this Goofy short. This is the 2nd time somebody else voiced Goofy rather than Pinto Colvig. This is also another cartoon where Goofy is on a farm. The first time Goofy was on a farm was on Billposters.

From Dino Cencia : Funny Goofy cartoon. Goofy learns to fly with his glider, and does funny stuff. My favorite part is when Goofy was chasing his glider around in circles and his glider clipped on his pants making him fly and he goes way up in the air coming down like a broken airplane. Also, DTV has some clips of Goofy's Glider from the Billy Preston song "Will It Go Round in Circles". I also liked Goofy singing the song "High, High, up in the sky-- there goes my glider and I bye-bye!" Great cartoon! I give it 30 out of 30.

From Baruch Weiss : This would be the first of several cartoons where Goofy learns and tries (but usually doesn't succeed) to do something. In this case he's trying to learn to fly. Fun cartoon, but not one of my favorites!

From Al Galen : I saw this animated short in "The Roots of Goofy" during the early 1990s on the Disney Channel. Gary Owens hosted that television special and "A Disney Vacation" which aired in the summer from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. If you enjoy this short, please watch the Cartoon Classic videos "The Goofy World of Sports" and "Happy Summer Days".

From Mike : An enjoyable cartoon. It is kind of funny watching Goofy attempt different methods to fly. To me the cannon one at the end was the most creative.

Poster

Goofy's Glider

A Goofy Cartoon

Synopsis

Characters

Credits

Director

Animation

Voices

Video

United States

Germany

France

Italy

Laserdiscs

United States

Japan

DVD

United States

Germany

Canada

Sweden

United Kingdom

Television

Technical Specification

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

Submit Your Comments

(Note: you must be logged in to submit comments)

Referenced Comments