"A Goofy Cartoon"
Release Date September 15, 1944
Running Time 7:38
Synopsis
Characters
Credits
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Original Movie Poster |
Awards
Inside Jokes
Videos
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Technical Specifications
Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Gallery
Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture
Comments
This "college-style" cartoon is certainly one of the greatest Disney cartoons ever made, given its "rah-rah" attitude and its splendorous background.
It all starts with an overview on the ingredients: a college covered with ivy, a coliseum or stadium with up to 100,000 rabidly wild cheering fans, and so much more. Crowd noise prevented the narrator's voice from being audible. In reality, he says, "the object of the game is to get the ball into the opponent's end zone by air or foot. There are 11 men on either team, 2 ends...and that's how the game is played."
As the game begins, Swivel-Head Smith of Taxidermy Tech returns a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown, which nobody sees because the players and cameras block the view of the play. Anthropology A&M fumbles the ensuing kickoff and Taxidermy was ready to extend the lead, especially after an 8-yard run that starts their drive. However, everything goes downhill after a delayed handoff loses 9 yards. On third and 11, several players touch the ball on a razzle-dazzle play, and as the last player touches the ball, he gets flattened by everyone on defense, but an offensive player jumps in after the play was dead and that penalized Taxidermy 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.
On 4th and 26, Taxidermy punts (thanks to the coach's smoking signal) and although the punter is tackled, his foot manages to get a high spiral off. The Anthropology player muffs the ball after being distracted by numerous flashes from cameras, and it them becomes a game of hot-potato as nobody could get the loose ball. Finally, after the ball travels 100 years, one of the Anthropology players picks up the ball for a touchdown, but the extra point was swallowed - I mean, blocked, to keep Taxidermy up 7-6.
A major blooper by the narrator states that "Anthropology A&M receives", where in reality Taxidermy received the ball and got nailed at the 25 yard line. The quarterback, on the first play rifles a pass off the fingertips of a couple of players and is intercepted by Anthropology and returned for a touchdown, with the player taking the entire grass field with him. The extra point was hanging on the crossbar (after the holder had his head stepped on by the kicker) and as the gun ended the half, the bullet pierced the football, hanging halfway still. After a decision was reached, Anthropology was credited with an unprecedented half a point, making the score 12 1/2 to 7.
After the Taxidermy cheerleaders beat up on one of their own during a cheer, the players rest up and the coach gives a pep talk, which end with "NOW GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT!!" A shortened second half ensues as Swivel-Head Smith makes some incredible moves to get himself an apparent touchdown, but his showboating is costly as he is mauled 2 yards shy of the end zone, causing injury. An unsuccessful two plays follow, then after medical people detect that Smith's heart still had life in him, the coach puts him in for one final play. After some illegal blocks by the offensive line, Smith gets the ball and weaves through the carnage left on the field, but an Anthropology player gets on his feet, and as the tension mounts, the announcer chomps on his microphone as the player leaps to make a tackle. He misses, rams the goalpost, and the goalpost rotates around to pull Smith in for the winning touchdown, giving Taxidermy the win by half a point. The coach was then tied up by everyone, thinking he belonged to a mental institution.
"How To Play Football" has 3 cuts. On 4th and 26, there is a scene before the punt that has the coach smoking a cigar and the smoke spells out "punt". Second, after the taxidermy cheer at the half, there is a spot that says "during the half the players are allowed to relax", or something of that nature. Finally, on the final play, Smith cuts back...but they leave out "the crowd is hysterical" for some reason.
Disney has destroyed a piece of what Goofy is made of by cutting these three scenes, and we are ALL at fault as a society. Can't there be an advisory label that can be shown before the cartoon that says "this cartoon may contain questionable scenes that some may consider offensive today despite the time the cartoon was made. Use good judgement and discretion while viewing this cartoon." That's all they need to do! There's enough sex and violence on the radio and TV now, editing questionable parts of cartoons does not help!
--- Tom Wilkins
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