Release Date May 9, 1953

Running time

Unedited - 6:58

Edited - 6:13

Synopsis

While driving through mexico, Goofy accidentally outsmarts a bull in the middle of the road. The villagers then decide that he would make the perfect matador.

Characters

Goofy

Credits

Director : Jack Kinney

Animation

John Sibley

George Nicholas

Ed Aardal

Dan MacManus

Effects Animation : Blaine Gibson

Story

Brice Mack

Dick Kinney

Layout : Bruce Bushman

Background : Eyvind Earle

Music : Joseph S. Dubin

Solo Trumpet : Rafael Mendez

Cut Scenes

Some Mexican stereotypes have been edited form this short.

Videos

United States

Cartoon Classics (Second Series) : Volume 3 : Here's Goofy

France

Sport Goofy Joue et Gagne

Germany

Heir ist Goofy

Italy

Le Vacanze di Pippo

Le Radici di Pippo

Laserdiscs

United States

Here's Donald / Here's Goofy

Japan

Sport Goofy's Vacation

DVD

Disney Treasures : The Complete Goofy

It's a Small World of Fun : Volume 4

Television

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

Walt Disney Presents : The Goofy Adventure Story

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.

Comments

From Calvin Daprice : Other titles for this short could've been, "El Toreador Goofy", "Goofy in Mexico," "The Goofy Matador", etc. "For Whom the Bulls Toil" was just one of many options that the Disney people picked.

It all begins when a large crowd (anyone want to guess how many there were) is sitting in a huge stadium. A blimp with the letters XLNT flies over the stadium. I myself happen to be a Spanish student and that isn't the way it's spelled (actually spelled E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T-E), but who cares? It's supposed to make it funny (at least if you know Spanish like I do otherwise it's just over your head). A matador is shown and a bull comes running out of the stables. The matador waves his cape and the bull charges over to it.

Meanwhile, Goofy is seen driving down a rural gravel road. He stops to see that there is a cow (or so he thinks) sitting in his path. Goofy gets out and tries to shoo her away, but she won't budge. A Mexican looks at Goofy and watches in amazement ( this scene has been edited out thanks to those stupid Disney people). Goofy takes out his red handkerchief and the cow (actually a bull) starts running like mad. The Mexican farmers shout "Ole!" (this scene was also edited out) Goofy then manages to get going and drives into town. When he arrives, the Mexicans all greet him and dress him up as a matador. Goofy must've felt really special. Then he walks out into the middle of the stadium. A sheet of paper that shows Goofy's picture and says that he is the matador falls down on the ground by Goofy and he sees it. "Fighter of the bull? Me?", is what he shouts. Hh runs into the bulls stable by mistake. Lighting a match, he sees the bull, runs out, and screams. Goofy tries at all odds to escape the bull. For example, he climbs into the crowd, but they throw him back into the bullring. Goofy climbs onto a pull, but gets tangled onto the bull's horn and the bull swings him around.

Well, by now poor Goofy has had enough and hops into his car and tries to drive away, but the strings on his suit are still tangled. His car gets ahead of him and he is pulled back into the stadium by the bull. We then see that the bull is knocked unconcious and Goofy is showered with sombreros. At the end, Goofy is driving home with his sombrero souvenirs and he comes upon a bull (or so he thinks). He sneaks behind it and quickly drives off. The bull is actually a cow. Another flaw in this short was the incident with the matador. When a matador is fighting the bull, he actually sticks a sword in the bull, eventually ending up killing it. In my opinion, that is pretty barbaric. However, there is one thing that puzzles me. Why did Disney edit out the scenes with the Mexicans talking to each other on the phone? I don't believe that is stereotyping Mexicans. They were just talking to each other.

From J. D. Weil : The censored telephone call (I, for the life of me, can never figure out as to why that call was censored) contained a reference to Manolete. For the uninitiated, Manolete was a legendary matador, and for some a paragon of the art.(To many Latins, bullfighting is an art form, not a sport.) Kinney and co. obviously thought they coud get a few extra yoks in by comparing Goofy's capework to Manolete's. Good joke.

From Ryan : Goofy is riding through the countryside of Mexico when he has a run in with a bull in the middle of the road. The censored scene, which I find funny, has the Mexicans thinking that Goofy is a wonderful matador. Another part I enjoy is at the beginning of the short, there is a shot of the arena full of cheering fans. A blimp that reads: XLNT floats above the arena, when in Spanish it's actually excellente.

From Baruch Weiss : This cartoon plays such a contrast to the Looney Tunes cartoon 'Bully for Bugs'. In that cartoon Bugs has the "I am the guy who is in charge" additude and defeated the bull without showing any sings of fear (well except for the part where he is shown writing his will, but of course he is fakin it!). In contrast, this cartoon shows Goofy scared as hell when he said "UH THE FIGTER OF THE BULLS, ME?! OH NO HO HO HO!". However, he eventually kills it which might I add is illegal in some countries.

In conclusion, there is really nothing funny about bullfighting, but when it comes to the two cartoons mentioned above it is just out fun.

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