Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that Disney in the late
40s and early 50s seemed to be an alternating stream of Donald Duck and Pluto
shorts. So when I saw a new Goofy short
on the upcoming list, I got excited. I
got even more excited when I saw what it was – Motor Mania. This is a short that I’ve seen many times
before, but it never fails to entertain.
But now I’m a jaded reviewer, right?
Having watched so many shorts, this one had to be less impressive, or
was it?
Absolutely not. Motor
Mania holds up today as a prime example of how cartoons can be used as a
comment on life and a mirror to our existence.
If that sounds too deep for a Goofy cartoon, just watch it. The entire short is about the craziness that
people are overcome with once they step behind the wheel of a motor
vehicle. I dare anyone to watch this
short and not see parallels of themselves or someone they know. It makes it instantly relatable and accessible
for adults, but remains funny for kids.
The short details the conflict inherent between Goofy when
he is walking, as Mr. Walker, and his driving self, known as Mr. Wheeler. There’s a Jekyll and Hyde transformation when
he sits down in the car that is so well done they use it twice! It’s everything you are looking for in this
sort of comedy. It’s over the top yet
it’s fairly accurate to things you will see in every day life. That’s the best kind of satire that doesn’t
make you feel like you’re being preached to in any way, but just makes you
laugh.
This is Goofy in his “everyman” period, when instead of
being the loveable Goof he is instead thrust into the role of playing you or
I. It works well because the gags are so
relatable. Watching a fellow motorist
get Goofy in his sights on the car hood, I flashed back to trying to escape the
Citrus Bowl a few years ago, when someone sped up to try and run down my wife
and I. These things really happen, and
they’re not funny when they do, but in cartoons, we can see the inherent
silliness of things we do every day.
Using the omniscient narrator to tell the story, Disney
managed in this short to show how amazingly insane some of our simplest
behaviors can be. It’s the same contrast
they used in the Goofy “How To” shorts, but instead of poking fun at the Goof,
the finger is now pointed at the audience, even if it’s indirectly. It’s this brilliant yet subtle change that
makes Motor Mania one of the standout shorts of Goofy’s career.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.