Goofy is an animated cartoon character from Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse universe. He is an anthropomorphic dog and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. In addition to displaying a lack of intelligence, Goofy tends to be very clumsy. His original concept name was "Dippy Dawg" in cartoon shorts created during the 1930s; then his name was given as "George Geef" or "G.G. Geef" in cartoon shorts during the 1950s (implying that "Goofy" was a nickname). Contemporary sources, such as A Goofy Movie, now give the character's full name to be Goofy Goof.

Background

The Goof Troop pilot refers to Goofy as "G. G. Goof" on a diploma, likely a reference to the original name. In the film A Goofy Movie, a map belonging to Benjamin Goof depicts a trip that Goofy took with his father, implying Bejamin as the name of Goofy's paternal parent. In the television series Goof Troop, Goofy claims he was born in California as the first-born Goof in America, despite the fact that ancestors of Goofy have been seen before.

Goofy's wife has been seen in some earlier short cartoons depicting the character as a "family man," but his modern appearances portray Goofy as a widower. As a single father raising his son, Max Goof, Goofy's family life contrasts with other major Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, who are often shown only as uncles rather than parental figures. Goofy does have a nephew, Gilbert, but that relative has hardly been seen since Goofy became known as a father. Goofy also has an adventurer relative Arizona Goof (a spoof of Indiana Jones).

Goofy's catch phrase is "gawrsh!" which is his usual exclamation of surprise, along with an ahyuck (a distinctive high-pitched chuckle).

Theatrical cartoons and television

Goofy first appeared in Mickey's Revue, first released on May 25, 1932. Directed by Wilfred Jackson this short movie features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow performing another song and dance show. Mickey and his gang's animated shorts by this point routinely featured song and dance numbers. It begins as a typical Mickey cartoon of the time, but what would set this short apart from all that had come before was the appearance of a new character, whose behavior served as a running gag. Dippy Dawg, as he was named by Disney artists, was a member of the audience. He constantly irritated his fellow spectators by noisily crunching peanuts and laughing loudly, till two of those fellow spectators knocked him out with their mallets (and then did the same exact laugh as he did). This early version of Goofy had other differences with the later and more developed ones besides the name. He was an old man with a white beard, a puffy tail and no trousers, shorts, or undergarments. But the short introduced Goofy's distinct laughter. This laughter was provided by Pinto Colvig. He would serve as Goofy's voice actor until 1965. He was then replaced by (in order) George Johnson, Bob Jackman, Hal Smith, Tony Pope, Will Ryan, and currently, Bill Farmer. A considerably younger Dippy Dawg then appeared in The Whoopee Party, first released on September 17, 1932, as a party guest and a friend of Mickey and his gang. Dippy Dawg made a total of four appearances in 1932 and two more in 1933, but most of them were mere cameos. But by his seventh appearance, in Orphan's Benefit first released on August 11, 1934, he gained the new name "Goofy" and became a regular member of the gang along with new additions Donald Duck and Clara Cluck.