Of its time, and interesting historically
In this animated short, Goofy plays a teacher trying to reach his pupils. Most of it consists of goofball gags and some slight humor with the way kids of the 50s viewed school. The real reason to watch and study this short however, is for its implicit (and attempt to find humor in) school violence. In the short, "Billy" brings a virtual arsenal of weapons to school, including a gun, slingshot and hand grenade. Goofy eventually, lightheartedly takes these away, disposing of the grenade in the trash can. Billy goes on to cheat off a students paper by "holding him up" with a water pistol, and blows up the school. In the end, "Billy" is seen writing on the chalk board (as does Bart Simpson 40 years later), "I will not bomb the school again." This is another example of Disney naivete and really seems frightening in todays culture. 8/10
- movieman-187
- Jan 16, 2003