How to Be a Waiter

    A Goofy Cartoon

    Release Date : May 1, 1999

    Synopsis

    Goofy's career as a waiter is frustrating - he's always getting ordered around by customers. When things become too much, he decides to shoot for a better career and become a movie star. However, what goes around comes around when his first acting role ends up being that of a waiter.

    Characters

    Mickey Mouse
    Pete
    Clarabelle Cow
    Goofy
    Donald Duck

    Credits

    Television

    Mickey Mouse Works: Season 2 - Episode 9
    Mickey Mouse Works: Season 1 - Episode 1
    House of Mouse: Season 2 - Episode 2

    Technical Specification

    Comments

    From Patrick Malone : Goofy in another "how-to" short which derails half-way through into Goofy becoming an actor. The early part was stiff, but once it veered off into Hollywood, it got interesting. The "Steamboat Goofy" parody was priceless, although I would have liked to have seen more; maybe a complete short like this. The ending was pretty predictable, if you think about it for a second. And, please, never let ANYONE but Pinto Colvig do the Goofy yell. So far, no one else has been able to do it quite as convincingly.
    From Tom : I'd say that it was pretty good. I've always liked short, little detailed plots, over long, hugely detailed storylines. The "How to" series proves that when it comes to developing good gags, it's still got the old pepper. Grade: A-.
    From Lefty Lovitz : Welllll, this could have also been called "How To Be An Actor" but then that would kind of give away what was going to happen, so they were in kind of a title limbo. I also agree with Patrick on two points:

    1. The Steamboat Goofy part was a classic.

    2. No one but Pinto Colvig should do the Goofy yell. Goofy also did it too many times. More than once was too much.

    Overall: There is still dialogue it could do without but I would say within acceptable limits. Good cartoon though far from the quality of the classics.

    From Jon Cooke : Definitely the best short from this episode. I enjoyed the Steamboat Willie bit and the good use of Clarabelle Cow.
    From Juan F. Lara : The title said How to Be a Waiter, but the short's about how to be an actor. That's the joke....Now it was only a title, but I still couldn't help going "huh?" for the whole short: "a short about acting called How to Be a Waiter? So I felt cool to the short the whole time.

    The actor gags in this short I found mostly uninteresting. After the first couple of whacks the gag in the horror movie scene dragged. The "Steamboat Goofy" scene, all they did was redo the first scenes of Steamboat Willie exactly. Except for the last few moments of that scene, which you'll miss if you blink.

    Also, I thought the animation here was the sloppiest of the "MouseWorks" shorts I've seen so far.

    Two jokes I did like were the awards presentation ( great expressions on the nominees' faces ) and Goofy's Japanese lines ( maybe only because it reminded me of how prevalent anime's become in recent years. It was also fun to see Clarabelle Cow in all those different roles.

    From John Renard : This is one of the greatest ones I've seen. (And, up till now, I've seen them all) At first you ask yourself "waiter? actor? huh?" but then it sinks in and you laugh. (I did, anyway). The Steamboat Goofy part was just a gem. Simple as that. I hope there is more where this came from, but not the exact brand.
    From Joey Struss : Clarabelle Cow was in it! She has potential for her own shorts. Maybe she can hook up with Goofy!
    From Lee Suggs : Goofy decides to quit his job as a waiter to pursue a career in the movies. Nice bits about learning to be an actor. Then a FABULOUS imitation of Steamboat Willie, where Mickey sinks Steamboat Goofy's boat. (except that it calls Steamboat Goofy a silent film, Steamboat Willie was Disney's first sound cartoon.) The rest of the cartoon is fast paced and fun. This cartoon has a clever feel to it, and I would rate it as a very good short.
    From Roy "AniDisTin" Lam : Now there's a short that's not afraid to break the rules. I admire the short for that alone. How can I describe the title in two words? Deliberately misleading, that's how!

    After a sampling of what it's potentially like being a waiter, the short divulges into what it's potentially like being an actor! Now how's that for novelty? I have a feeling this may not be novelty anymore as they might decide to do it in another short, and with another Goofy short How to Hook up your Home Theatre having been released last year, that may not be too far away.

    I certainly found it annoying to hear that Goofy holler several times in a row! Not because it wasn't the original voice actor doing, but because it's a sound that's great to hear once, but gets grating when you hear several times in a row and then have trouble getting it out of your head. BTW, the original guy who did that holler wasn't Pinto Colvig. Look up "Goofy holler" on Wikipedia if you're not convinced.

    I did think that the Steamboat Willie parody was great! I can just imagine what was in Mickey's head as he glared at Goofy,"Hey,get lost! This is my short!". Or maybe not.

    It was certainly an enjoyable experience watching Goofy take on roles of different genres. The whole time, I kept waiting for the "Waiter" theme to return, which it did eventually. Like someone else rightfully said,it was a bit predictable when you actually stop to think about it. It would have been better to have shown new clips of Goofy being a waiter, rather than use the ones from earlier on. I have a feeling that the animators were trying to cut costs.

    So all in all,an excellent short,and a worthy entry to the "How To..." shorts.

    On a final note,I liked the part where Goofy tries speaking in different voices. It allowed his voice actor, Bill Farmer to show some vocal range.

    From John G : Instead of How to Be a Waiter, this short should be called "How to Be a Waiter in a Movie".

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