Father's Lion

A Walt Disney GOOFY Cartoon.

Goofy's boasting to his son takes on the smack of reality when FATHER'S LION wanders into their campsite.

Here is a typical Goofy film - lots of physical comedy and few intellectual presumptions. This was one of a small handful of cartoons to feature the Mountain Lion and probably gave him his best role. After a few roles in the shorts, Junior would return years later in the Goofy animated features as 'Max.'

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 blizzard of doomsayers, 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.

This is a short that any fans of Disney and Goofy will love wholeheartedly. Father's Lion is beautifully animated, the vibrant colours seen with the Disney shorts of the 40s and 50s are still here and look stunning while the way the backgrounds and characters are drawn are fluid and strongly-detailed. Another strong point nearly always with Disney shorts is the music, how it is appealing to listen to, how energetic and memorable it is and how it matches the action and gags. You hear all of this in Father's Lion. The dialogue is thoughtful and funny, Goofy's end line is inspired as is how he recalls some of his previous endeavours. The gags, driven mainly by the lion's conceit from Goofy, do amuse, never leave a bad taste in the mouth and paced and delivered cleverly. The story is simple but great and easy to identify with, it is also a great scenario for Goofy and how he recalls his endeavours from African Diary, Californy'er Bust and Tiger Trouble is wonderful in its absurdity. Goofy's everyman persona is immensely infectious and makes him a very likable character, different from when we first saw him in the 30s but personally much preferred. His son is sweet without being overly so, is sometimes resourceful and doesn't come across as a brat. And the lion counterbalances them perfectly in personality and humour. Pinto Colvig and Bobby Driscoll's voices are fine. In conclusion, excellent Disney short that any Goofy fan will love. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Goofy takes his son to the forest, and runs into a mountain lion. At first, Goofy was oblivious the lion exists, but nonetheless averts him on several turns. But, when Goofy notices the wild cat, father and son both try to outsmart him.

I really enjoy the sportsmanship, bonding time, and chemistry Goofy and his son had together - thought not all funny, it's a really feel-good cartoon.

Grade A-