From Tom Wilkins : For those of you who need exercise, this video may not be the beginner's model that you would expect. With Goofy and a 78 RPM record running the helm, there would be plenty of painful blunders in this one.

It all starts as Goofy collapses as he opens the door and falls into his house. He crawls to the nearest recliner and reads a magazine, where he turns to a page which featured an exercise advertisement. It said, "don't be a spineless, weak-kneed, no good nincompoop!" As Goofy looks on, he is excited by what he reads, so he is urged on by the narrator to fill the coupon out and then just wait for the arrival of the exercise equipment. But will it deliver the promise of fame, money, and fortune to Goofy? After Goofy mails the coupon, the equipment arrives in state-of-the-art fashion. Instant equipment from the mailbox! Goofy carries it in and sets up very quickly, then compares his muscles to the muscular man on the posterboard. Needless to say, there is no comparison. Afterwhich, he carries the record over to the record player but he never makes it - he trips over a barbell, loses grip of the record, and, in a "stroke of luck" Goofy fashion, the record lands right on the player and the needle lands right on the first track.

The first exercise was with the barbells, where Goofy is taught how to lift them properly. When told to lift, he obviously does not lift the heavyweights a millimeter. On his second attempt, the dots pop out of his caveman suit (used for his exercising) and he manages to get it off the floor a couple of inches, but then lands down, with the weights falling over and the bar crushing his hands. As he fixes the barbells, one of the weights he picks up lands on his left toe! Then, he (as Goofy as it is) tries to lift the weights behind his back! Needless to say, that did not work as he drops the weights and the barbells bangs him in the back of his head. Somehow, he manages to lift the weights using his feet, but gets them trapped between the weights, so he rolls to a platform and as he comes off, he lands feet first, weights over his head! Then, as sad as it is, a fly lands on the weights and as he walks across the bar of the barbell, Goofy goes crashing through the floor and through apartments a few stories below him.

Goofy collapses once he re-enters his apartment, then is told to walk over to the muscular chart to compare bicep sizes. He makes a muscle (pointing upside down), then manages to have his muscle inflate his nose! After that, he goes to the chin-up bars, and as he jumps to get a grip, he lives up to his name by clubbing his head on it. He pulls himself up a few times, then cheats by pulling the bar down without moving. As he finishes, he lets go of the bar and once again, it lands on his head, producing a lump as the record says, "notice the quick muscular development."

The next exercise gets Goofy tangled up in knots as he attempts to use the cable expanders to help strengthen his arms. He stretches with his left arm, then with his right - causing his left arm to wap him on the side of his head. The right hand follows, and Goofy now finds himself with his face trapped between the springs! His left legs follows as he tries to separate the springs from his face. Eventually, Goofy winds up playing a spiderweb game with the springs until they reached under him and yanked his caveman sweatsuit off. Finally, the springs haul him over to the hanging rings. Goofy grabs on to them and hangs on for dear life as he prepares for the best act in the history of Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus!

Goofy swings through the apartment above him, then goes airborne through the glass house and back down again, dribbling like a basketball! The springs stretch him over to a mirror, and as Goofy is thrown into reverse, his mirror reflection becomes human by waving sayanora to him! He crashes on more equipment, including the chin-up bar, then goes flying out the window, where Goofy tries to grab onto the balcony of an upstairs apartment a quarter of a mile away, 30 stories high! As he returns, he does not use the window... rather, he crashes through the bricks and imprints himself exactly onto the muscular chart, where he passes out as the cartoon closes by being "just plain physically fatigued."

So much for this cartoon making a good exercise program! What Jane Fonda thinks is not my business, but hey - use whatever program that works!

From Ryan : This is one of my favorite Goofy cartoons. I always find myself laughing at the "Goofy style" of working out. Instead of starting out with lighter weights on the barbell, Goofy uses several of them and struggles to lift the barbell. The beginning of this short is similar to the later Goofy short Hold that Pose when Goofy staggers into his apartment room after a hard day at work.

From Sam : In this gag-filled short, Goofy attempts to change from a "weak-kneed, no-good nincompoop" to a man by purchasing a home exercise kit. I always wished that my PE coach in high school would have let me to my chin-ups like Goofy did in this short. The best part, though, comes at the end with Goofy's own unique acrobatics display. After going through a workout like that, I'm sure anyone would feel "just good old-fashion physically fatigued".

From Christopher Cruz : Goofy always made me laugh as a kid. This was one of my favorites of his shorts. I like the part where he's trying to utilize this pulley machine to exercise his arms, and he ends up yanking himself out of his apartment building, fly into the air and land in another building where he inadvertently descends floors, garnering the shouts of residents (including an annoying shrill by a woman) and finally, we hear what sounds like Pegleg Pete saying, "Get 'em outta here!" Of course, when all is said and done, we hear Goofy's famous, "Yaaaa-ha ha-ha-hooey!" Cracks me up everytime!

From Baruch Weiss : I own this short on the video "Sport Goofy." I like it, but one thing that I don't understand is why didn't the package arrive at Goofy's home?

From Laura Cross : I agree with all of you guys! This short is hilarious! Incidentally, a short clip of this was shown in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," which takes place in 1947, but I play with the idea that this cartoon was first released in 1947. Anyway, five years after the death of Clara Cluck in Symphony Hour (1942), Goofy, determined to recover, decides to work out. Enjoy, all ye that like Goofy!

From Al Galen : I saw this animated short in "The Roots of Goofy" during the early 1990s. Gary Owens hosted that television special on the Disney Channel. This classic Goofy cartoon mocked athletes and work-out. He was also comedic in The Olympic Champ. If you enjoy this short, watch the 1992 Cartoon Classics video "The Goofy World of Sports".

Submit Your Comments

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

Referenced Comments

Goofy's Radio

Poster

Goofy Gymnastics

A Goofy Cartoon

Synopsis

Characters

Credits

Director

Animation

Backgrounds

Layout

Story

Music

Video

United States

Germany

France

Italy

CED

United States

Laserdiscs

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