Victory Vehicles

A Goofy Cartoon

Release Date : July 30, 1943

Running Time : 8:03

Synopsis

Goofy demonstrates different modes of transportation for wartime travel.

Characters

Pluto

Goofy

Credits

Director

Jack Kinney

Animation

Ward Kimball

Inside Jokes

In one scene where Goofy is dressed as a cowboy he is shown in front of the "Gower Gulch Pharmacy." Gower Gulch was the nickname of the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood where silent movie cowboys used to hang out looking for work. Reportedly, a pharmacy at that location gave birth to the phrase "drug-store cowboy."

Video

France

Goofy Fait le Fou

Italy

Le Radici di Pippo

Il Mondo Di Pippo

Laserdiscs

Japan

It's a Goofy World

DVD

Television

The Ink and Paint Club: Episode 56: Wartime Disney

Technical Specification

Color Type: Technicolor

Animation Type: Standard animation

Sound Mix: Mono

Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1

Negative Format: 35mm

Print Format: 35mm

Cinematographic Process: Spherical

Original Language: English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project : For someone who was not around during World War II, Victory Vehicles is a great example of how the war affected the United States at home. Because of the need to ramp up war production rapidly, Americans were asked to give all sorts of items back to the government. Gasoline, rubber and metal were all rationed, making automobile travel much more difficult.

The Disney team recognized that there were some great comic possibilities with rationing, and responded appropriately. Using their best character for “explaining” things, Goofy was called upon to star in Victory Vehicles, a short that lauded the creative ways that Americans were getting around the gas shortage and finding new ways to commute.

This short is filled with gags, one right after the other, and even though they are all variations on a theme, they’re still hilarious. We get to see an astounding assortment of vehicles created by the Disney team, each with Goofy serving as the passenger. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen multiple Goofs, but it probably is the most effective.

Some great examples of the various vehicles are the running foot car, where Goofy starts a unicycle of sorts with shoes around the wheel, then sits on the bicycle seat and reads a book while the shoes keep moving. That’s a favorite of mine, because I’d love to be able to read while traveling.

There’s also the great golfing vehicle, where a “wheel” of golf balls is attached to a tuft of grass, and Goofy swings to drive the ball, turning the wheel. Then, as he gets closer to a parking spot, Goofy has to “putt” in order to get the vehicle into a parking spot. It’s a pretty classic piece of animation.

The ultimate decision of the short, however, is that we should all switch from cars to pogo sticks. The beginning of the short features a song “Hop On Your Pogo Stick” that comes back at the end to highlight the pogo stick as an alternative. The creative lyrics and visuals showing pogo hopping Goofys are fantastic. It’s a perfect marriage of subject and song.

Victory Vehicles is a fantastic short because it takes several viewings to really get the full impact. This is a short that has political commentary, fantastic gags, music and more. It’s an example of how Disney did some fantastic work during the war, even if other efforts were more uneven.

From Jerry Edwards : Goofy demonstrates various forms of transportation - most of them very impractical - that require no gasoline or rubber, which are in short supply due to the war. He manages to learn to travel quite well on a pogo stick.

This short contains numerous comments on the war and war shortages. The start and end of the short contains the song "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" with lyrics like "Who cares if rubber's short Just laugh it off and be a sport," and "Who needs a limousine that's always out of gasoline?" One of the billboard signs along the highways says "Buy Defense Bonds." It is suggested that the concrete saved from highways only using pogo sticks be dropped on Tokyo and Berlin.

An odd, unusual wartime short - with Goofy playing the multiple roles of "everyman" he often does in the shorts. The short isn't that interesting viewed now, but I imagine it tickled many a funny bone back then.

From Ryan : This is another one of those many Goofy cartoons that features Goofy look-alikes. This is considered a wartime cartoon (aside from the fact that it was produced during WWII) because it demonstrates alternative modes of transportation to cars (people needed to use those rubber tires for the war effort and to save $$$ on gasoline). There is the vehicle that is powered by a dog (who is none other than Pluto). All you need to do to start it is put a cat (who is none other than Figaro) in front of the dog's face. This causes the dog to chase after the cat. Another funny part I enjoyed was a "roller skate" vehicle. The person would wear a metal helmet and hold a magnet at it so that it would attract the metal and move the person to his/her destination. This was a good cartoon, but I wouldn't call it one of my favorites.

From Serita Fei : I loved this short. Rubber and gasoline is short, so Goofy shows us numerous ways to get around town taking on the roles of various townsfolk. The most successful turns out to be the pogo stick and we are then treated to its benefits and advantages. It has a rather catchy jingle with it as well.

Certainly not the best short, but it's a joy to watch and I've always loved those "everyman" Goofy cartoons.

From Nick : I love this cartoon, all of the alternative vehicles are funny, especially the air raid warden. There's some very nice backgrounds and music to go along with it. The "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" song is very catchy.

From Christian : I like how Pluto made a cameo in this cartoon, but mostly, the song, "Hop on Your Pogo Stick" which is a very hard to forget song.

From Baruch Weiss : This is an excellent cartoon made during World War 2 with different methods of transportation as there was a rubber shortage at the time. Therefore, people had to find other methods of transportation.

From Trae Robinson : These Goofy shorts where exactly like the later MGM cartoons. Goofy reminds me of two characters who are not cartoons: Steve Urkel and Jerry Lewis. Too bad Goofy's theme isn't used in this short. I like it.

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