Editing Goofy (section)

===Development under Art Babbitt===

Inspired by popular comedy trio acts of the era – such as ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' and ''[[The Marx Brothers]]'' – Walt Disney and his storymen decided to team Mickey, Goofy and the newly popular character of [[Donald Duck]] together in a cartoon entitled ''[[Mickey's Service Station]]'': directed by [[Ben Sharpsteen]] and eventually released on March 16, 1935.{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=69}}

In mid-1934, Walt held a story meeting for ''Mickey's Service Station'' where he and Sharpsteen began assigning animators to specific sequences. One of the animators assigned to the short, [[Art Babbitt]], took a particular liking to a sequence with Goofy.{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=71}} "I had to fight for that..." Babbitt remembered years later:

{{quote|"... in it [''Mickey's Service Station''] there's a small sequence of Goofy on this cylinder block of a car. And he reaches down in one of the holes of the cylinder block and his own hand comes up behind him. God, I wanted that... Walt was in this story meeting and I said, “Gee I want that.” [Walt said] “Nah, I've got you scheduled to do Pete, Pegleg Pete". I said “I'll do Pegleg Pete, but give me Goofy, too.” And so that was the final deal, I'd do Pegleg Pete and get Goofy for dessert. Goofy was originally a sort of stock character in mob scenes, so on, but nobody attempted to do anything with him, so I can't say that I created Goofy, but I was the first that made him into a character. I liked the character, there was all sorts of possibilities."<ref name="CanemakerBabbitt">{{cite web |last1=Canemaker |first1=John |title=ART BABBIT Interview |date= June 4, 1975 |url=http://animatedeye.johncanemaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Art-Babbitt-intvw-4Jun75_web-1.pdf |website=John Canemaker's Animated Eye |access-date=24 October 2023}}</ref>}}

Babbitt's scene with Goofy was originally timed to be 7 feet of film (just over 4 seconds); however, Babbitt padded his scene adding additional bits of comic business, with the final scene being 57 feet (38 seconds) long. Sharpsteen was furious that Babbitt had gone over his allotted time without permission, but Walt was impressed by Babbitt's work and approved his scene.<ref name=CanemakerBabbitt/>{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=71}}

Upon completing his sequence with Goofy in ''Mickey's Service Station'', Babbitt (who had been studying [[Konstantin Stanislavski]]'s theories of [[method acting]]) not only redesigned Goofy from his earlier ganglier appearance to a more ovular streamlined version, but also psychoanalyzed the character: something no other animator had done before.{{Sfn|Friedman|2022|p=72}} Babbitt wrote a two-and-a-half page character bible of Goofy, entitled ''Character Analysis of the Goof'' that circulated the studio in late 1934. Some of what Babbitt wrote included:

{{quote|In my opinion the Goof, hitherto, has been a weak cartoon character because both his physical and mental make-up were indefinite and intangible. His figure was a distortion, not a caricature, and if he was supposed to have a mind or personality, he certainly was never given sufficient opportunity to display it... In the case of the Goof, the only characteristic which formerly identified itself with him was his voice. No effort was made to endow him with appropriate business to do, a set of mannerisms or a mental attitude...<br />
... Think of the Goof as a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible [[Good Samaritan]], a half-wit, a shiftless, good-natured colored boy and a hick... He can move fast if he has to, but would rather avoid any over-exertion, so he takes what seems the easiest way. He is a philosopher of the barber shop variety. No matter what happens, he accepts it finally as being for the best or at least amusing. He is willing to help anyone and offers his assistance even where he is not needed and just creates confusion. He very seldom, if ever, reaches his objective or completes what he has started. His brain being rather vapoury, it is difficult for him to concentrate on any one subject. Any little distraction can throw him off his train of thought and it is extremely difficult for the Goof to keep to his purpose. Yet the Goof is not the type of half-wit that is to be pitied. He doesn't dribble, drool or shriek. He is a good-natured, dumb bell who thinks he is pretty smart. He laughs at his own jokes because he can't understand any others. If he is a victim of a catastrophe, he makes the best of it immediately and his chagrin or anger melts very quickly into a broad grin. If he does something particularly stupid he is ready to laugh at himself after it all finally dawns on him. He is very courteous and apologetic and his faux pas embarrass him, but he tries to laugh off his errors. He has music in his heart even though it be the same tune forever, and I see him humming to himself while working or thinking. He talks to himself because it is easier for him to know what he is thinking if he hears it first.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sporn |first1=Michael |title=Goofy and Babbitt |url=https://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2418 |website=MichaelSporn.com |date=26 October 2010|access-date=24 October 2023}} NOTE: In the original version of his character analysis, Babbitt referred to Goofy as an "[[N-word]] boy". In a later revised edition he changed this to be "colored boy".</ref>}}

Babbitt's ''Character Analysis'' was considered highly influential within the studio, and character bibles were quickly adopted for all Disney's major stars; including Mickey, Donald and [[Pluto (Disney)|Pluto]].{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=72}}

''Mickey's Service Station'' also set the template for a series of films where Mickey, Donald and Goofy attempted to perform a certain task, with each character being separated early on, and attempting to solve a problem in their own way and with their distinct style of comedy, before reuniting at the end – often resulting failure rather than success.

While other animators would also animate the character of Goofy in these "trio" shorts (such as in ''[[Mickey's Fire Brigade]]'', released in August 1935, where an earlier Pre-Babbitt version of Goofy was animated by [[Wolfgang Reitherman]]), Art Babbitt became the Goofy specialist at the Disney studio and the authority on the character.{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=77}}

Babbitt continued to develop the character of Goofy when he next animated him in ''[[On Ice (film)|On Ice]]'' (released in September 1935). Here he developed a technique he called "breaking the joints" – where Goofy's arms, legs, feet and other appendages would bend the wrong way for a few frames before popping back into the correct position. This gave the character a lot more loose and unpredictable movements, emphasising his stupid personality.{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=77}}

Babbitt finally crystalized the character of Goofy with his third time animating the character in ''[[Moving Day (1936 film)|Moving Day]]'' (released in June 1936), where he was tasked to animate a scene of Goofy attempting to move a piano onto a truck. For this scene Babbitt created another first for animation: using his recently acquired [[16mm]] camera, he filmed Pinto Colvig performing Goofy's movements in his ''Oregon Appleknocker'' persona, making Babbitt the first animator to use live-action reference.{{sfn|Friedman|2022|p=81}}

As animation historian [[Michael Barrier]] wrote of this scene: "Babbitt's ''Moving Day'' animation was by far his most ambitious... Babbitt's ''Goofy'' was the first Disney character after [Norm] [[Norm Ferguson (animator)|Ferguson]]'s ''Pluto'' to have a visible inner life and ''Goofy'', stupid though he was, was clearly more complex than ''Pluto''. For the most part, ''Pluto'' simply reacted; ''Goofy'' schemed and planned, however dimly."<ref name="HollywoodCartoons">{{cite book |last1=Barrier |first1=Michael |title=Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-516729-0 |page=150 |edition=revised }}</ref>

Ben Sharpsteen directed the majority of the Mickey, Donald and Goofy trio cartoons.<ref name=HollywoodCartoons/> ''[[Clock Cleaners]]'' and ''[[Lonesome Ghosts]]'' (released on both October 15 and December 24, 1937 respectively), are considered the highlights of this series, with the former being voted Number 27 in the book ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons''.<ref>Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals''. Atlanta: Turner Publishing. {{ISBN|1-878685-49-X}}.</ref>

Progressively during the series, Mickey's part diminished in favor of Donald, Goofy, and [[Pluto (Disney)|Pluto]]. The reason for this was simple: between the easily frustrated Donald and Pluto and the always-living-in-a-world-of-his-own Goofy, Mickey—who became progressively gentler and more laid-back—seemed to act as the [[double act|straight man]] of the trio. The studio's artists found that it had become easier coming up with new gags for Goofy or Donald than Mickey, to a point that Mickey's role had become unnecessary.

''[[Polar Trappers]]'', released on June 17, 1938, was the first film to feature Goofy and Donald as a duo. Mickey would return in ''[[The Whalers]]'', released on August 19, 1938, but this and ''[[Tugboat Mickey]]'', released on April 26, 1940, would be the last two shorts to feature all three characters as a team.