For Whom the Bulls Toil

I used to have this cartoon on a video that I had donated to the library where my mom used to work. Now, however, I have it back on video after taping it off the Disney Channel (although one disadvantage is that the version I have now is edited because of numerous Mexican sterotypes, which is pretty annoying if you're a Spanish student and want to pick up on what they're saying). Goofy drives into town and the people dress him up like a matador. One thing I noticed was that at the beginning of the short, a blimp that said "XLNT" flew over the stadium. Of course, the real spelling for it is "excellente", which makes it funny if you know Spanish. At the end, after that awful experience with the bull was over, Goofy drives down the gravel road and runs into a bull. He has the car sneak around it and when it looks at him he drives away as fast as he can. We see, however, that this bull is actually a cow.

A Walt Disney GOOFY Cartoon.

Hapless tourist Goofy finds himself facing the meanest toro in all of Old Mexico.

This gentle spoof of bullfighting has plenty of chuckles as the Goof continues to get himself into increasingly dangerous difficulties. Although Goofy emerges triumphant, he appears to be literally `cowed' by the sight of a bovine henceforth. It is interesting to compare this short with Disney's classic FERDINAND THE BULL (1938).

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 storm of naysayers, 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 always pay off.

A pretty good Goofy cartoon where he was traveling in Mexico and nonchalantly runs into a bull in the middle of the road, and nonchalantly dodges his attempted attacks on him. Impressed by Goofy's bravery, the citizens recruit him to be their new matador and takes him to the arena. There, Goofy realizes he is fighting a bull and escapes its every move, with funny results. Goofy may be clumsy, but he always wounds out getting the last laugh.

A pretty entertaining cartoon with some classic Goofy moments and action, and not consisting of those sometimes boring narrated stories analyzing a part of Goofy's life.

Grade B

As always we can rely on Disney and Goofy to bring an entertaining short and For Whom the Bulls Toil(great title!) is exactly that. The ending is one that mightn't sit well with people, not then and not now. The animation though is fluid, bright and colourful, and the music is lushly orchestrated, energetic and full of great Spanish/Mexican character. For Whom the Bulls Toil is crisply paced and has some clever gags that are amusing at worst and hilarious at best as well as timed well. The story is always fun, taking on a subject that is not really that fun to begin with but makes it so here, if slightly routine. Goofy is great here, every bit the clumsy yet lovable everyman. You can also relate to him as you visibly see him scared of fighting the bull, completely different to the I'm in charge attitude that Bugs Bunny adopts in Bully For Bugs. The bull is antagonistic but also fun, a very good foil for Goofy. The voice work is suitably dynamic when it calls for voices to be used.

In conclusion, great fun but the ending is not for the faint-hearted. 9/10 Bethany Cox