"A Goofy Cartoon"

Release Date November 2, 1940

Running Time 7:58

Synopsis

Goofy learns to fly with his own homemade glider; but he has to try any number of ways to gain enough speed to get it off the ground.

Characters

Goofy

Credits

Director : Jack Kinney

Animation : Art Babbitt

Narraration : John MacLeish

Poster available through MovieGoods.com

Videos

United States

Cartoon Classics : Limited Gold Editions 2 : The World According to Goofy

France

Sport Goofy Joue et Gagne

Germany

Heir ist Goofy

Italy

Le Vacanze di Pippo

Le Radici di Pippo

Pippo Pasticci e Simpatia

Laserdiscs

United States

The World According to Goofy

Japan

Sport Goofy's Vacation

DVD

Region 1 : United States

Disney Treasures : The Complete Goofy

Disney's Funny Factory with Goofy

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #35 : More Sports Goofy

Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode 59

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Gallery

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

Comments

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 doesen't succeed) to do something. In this case he's trying to learn to fly. Fun cartoon, but not one of my favorites!

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!"