Californy er Bust

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-

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.

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.

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.

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.