User reviews

All of the characters here look like Goofy. We have the settlers and the Native Americans pitted against each other. The cliches run rampant, especially when it comes to the Indians. They do al the things that movies have taught us--all of which are wrong. At least both sides are formidable, which is unusual. There is no doubt about the racism because the Indians act in a savage way while the settlers are pretty passive.

Jack Kinney did what was the closest to zany Warners sensibility at Disney's.

This entry appears to be an over the top parody of the western genre. The set up was also probably inspired by the WB cartoon SWEET SIOUX, which was released in 1937 and reissued when this cartoon was in production. It even has some of the same gags. Although Kinney uses the gags more effectively.

Typical of Native American depictions of the era, the caricatures are stereotypical and offensive. The use of the slur "injun" doesn't help. What takes the edge off, is that the Natives are all Goofy lookalikes. I can easily see this being made in later decades as a satire of the Western cliches much the same way Blazing Saddles was.

Although Kinney may have been going for that angle anyway.

If you can get past the stereotypes, this is a pretty hilarious short.

Walt Disney and his animation staff gave the world a great many fascinating, entertaining and memorable characters over the years, but one of the best has also, paradoxically, been largely given short shrift by far too many people-Goofy, who was and is, in many ways, far more interesting than Donald Duck ever was or could be and even gives Mickey a run for his money at times.

Where Mickey and Donald needed foils to work exceptionally well, Goofy works quite well simply placed in a situation and having jokes bounce off him (sometimes quite literally) without needing a Pluto or a Chip n' Dale around to provide a source for tension and/or interaction. Besides, in a pinch, every character in a cartoon could resemble Goofy (like this one, for instance) if need be. This is a marvelous short from the mid-1940s that holds up very well indeed. Typically superb animation (a Disney hallmark throughout their history, as a general rule) and hilarious premise and narration. Well worth watching. Recommended.

A narrator tells the story of how the Western pioneers doing battle with Indians on the Wild Frontier. All the pioneers and Indians are Goofy lookalikes; Goofy himself doesn't really make an appearance. Much of the cartoon is just these chaotic and crazy war scenes, which are basically slapstick mayhem.

Not much of a laughable cartoon here - no suspense and no plot.

Grade D-

It is understandable why American Indians may not like Californy'er Bust. The reason being that their portrayal is not always positive. However seeing as this is 1945 we are talking about, it worked considering the time period, besides it wasn't even offensive. Putting that aside, Californy'er Bust is a vastly entertaining short. Goofy is in multiple personality mode and really excels, I am in agreement that in terms of working on his own easily that Goofy is the strongest between him, Donald and Mickey They are great characters too, just not as strong as their own but in fairness they don't have that many shorts to show whether they can). The animation is great, both for back then and nowadays, it has beautiful vibrant colours and the backgrounds and characters are drawn with clean detail and fluidity. The music has much character and the quality of the orchestration, articulation and such really suit everything else going on in the short perfectly. The narration is thoughtful and funny, managing to really entertain while also teaching us things too, just another strength of the How to...series or shorts in a similar vein/format. The grammar, spelling and geography is going to be quite an artistic-license eye-opener, but it is what's done with it that's funny, this is not something that inaccurate for no reason at all. And there is a real feel of what it's like in the Wild West. The gags and physical contortions are hilarious to see and are very inventive, the broken English is funny without offending too much while the conversion of vicious savages to a music-playing band is a great and hilarious contrast, likewise with the Indian slithering on the rock and climbing on the wagon train and onto the arrow-ladder. To conclude, great entertainment and beautifully animated, despite you might think while stereotypical perhaps there's nothing to be offended by here. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This short is narrated by my Grandfather Taylor 'Cactus Mack' Mc Peters. He also narrated others which he is uncredited on. He is the first cousin of 60's Disney narrator Rex Allen. I'd sure appreciate advice on how to add these credits to his IMDB page, and to correct the many incorrect additions being added to his site.