Father's Week-end

Any Goofy short is worth seeing once, and Father's Week-end is not an exception. Junior is cute to look at and counter-balances really well with Goofy, but somewhat of an irritating brat as well. Other than that, Father's Week-end is one of Goofy's better domestic shorts, which generally are entertaining if not quite on par with the How to...series. The animation is made up of vibrant colours and fluid drawing, the background art is often very striking. Especially that for the amusement park scene, though similar to those used in Straight Shooters(with Donald Duck) and Hold that Pose(also with Goofy). The music is lively and very pleasant on the ears, giving the gags a lot of character. One of the Disney shorts' biggest strengths was how the music blended and synchronised so well with the action and Father's Week-end is no exception to that. The gags are clever and don't forget to entertain, the scenes with Goofy in the tunnel of love and when he gets a tattoo are just great. The story is always involving and done in a way that you can relate to Goofy's situation, all of us would love a quiet Sunday, which for Goofy because of his son is not possible. Goofy is still an immensely likable character, and naturally humorous as well. Pinto Colvig and June Foray bring dynamic voice-acting to what they have, which is wittily written and easy to understand. Overall, easy to like, colourful and funny, not a masterpiece for Goofy but a winner all the same. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney GOOFY Cartoon.

FATHER'S WEEK-END turns out to be something rather different from the quite respite for which he'd hoped.

This humorous little film has Goofy once again portraying his vaguely human alter ego George Geef. The viewer has to feel a tad sorry for him as he deals with all the complications the Disney animators can hurl his way.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.

A seven a.m. Alarm clock starts off the daily routine that "Goofy/George" must endure, always anticipating the relaxation of that Sunday morning lie in. That is, of course, until "Junior" decides that dad has slept for too long, mum wants to do the hoovering, the phone rings and then there's the washing machine, trumpet practice - maybe even a visitor for lunch. I know: some succour from a delve into the Sunday paper? Fat chance - peace is elusive! "Junior" and the dog want a leisurely drive to the coast? More a traffic jam of like minded optimists! Quickly his thoughts turn to the relief of Monday when he will be glad for the chance to get back to the sanity of work! It's quite an effective observation of the Sunday madness that so often constitutes the epitome of the day of rest for the working man! People who say "Happy Monday" always annoy me but maybe they have a point! Mum keeps a sensibly low profile, too!

This is a Goofy cartoon where it shows his daily, routine life - going to and from work and back home. On Saturday, he spends the night out on the town, and on Sunday, he rests. Seems like a great way of life. However, his son, who's quite a handful, wants Goofy to take him to the beach on a Sunday, where he has anything but fun.

It was quite entertaining seeing Goofy's interaction with his son while he runs into some misadventures at the carnival by the beach. Him getting stuck in traffic was the funniest scene, I think. Then, after Goofy finally arrives him and gets up the next morning, the routine workweek starts again - much like a story of my life.

A realistic and funny cartoon!

Grade B+