The Goofy Gophers (1947)

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

. . . is the worst case scenario posed by Warner's always prophetic Animated Shorts Seers division (aka, The Looney Tuners) during THE GOOFY GOPHERS. What if unchecked Wall Street Fat Cats running amok ate up the celery of We True Blue Loyal Patriotic 99 Per Center Normal Average Silent Majority Progressive Union Label Working Stiffs, producing record levels of Income Inequality? Warner warns us with this GOOFY GOPHERS interrogative. What if all of the USA's potatoes were relegated into one rotten basket of Deplorables? Warner questions. What if rampant billionaires also were allowed to scarf up America's supplies of carrots, tomatoes, radishes, onions, head lettuce, turnips, strawberries, cabbage, pumpkins, watermelons, peppers, and so forth? Warner demands. Perhaps Daniel Day Lewis' drinking out of everyone else's straws in THERE WILL BE BLOOD is the only comparable treatment of the omnipresent tendency toward Satanically Evil gluttony always displayed by the U.S. job-killing corrupt conservative corporate culture, a frequent target of Warner's Cinematic Crusades against America's Truest Enemies. By tagging this Demonic Plague with an innocuous-sounding label like "THE GOOFY GOPHERS," Warner is able to insert their polemic into the Belly of America's Corporate Beast, the Mainstream Media. How Clever.

The Goofy Gophers was one of those cartoons that I remembered vividly as a child(especially the ending) but for a while had forgotten the title of. Coming across it by chance via Youtube(always good for re-discovering childhood favourites and new discoveries), I found myself falling in love with it. The Goofy Gophers is one of the most hilarious cartoons I have seen in a while. The dialogue is razor-sharp and witty and the gags- in laugh-a-minute mode- are imaginative and executed brilliantly. That is especially true of the "did you have your iron today?" and female gopher gags. The ending is also very entertaining for a brief but priceless cameo from Bugs Bunny. The fast pacing and fun story, detailing of the intellectual dog even when very crafty not being a match for the polite but somewhat dangerous gophers, further compliment the humour, while the slapstick and violence also add to the fun without being too cartoony or sadistic. The animation is great, with some luscious colours and backgrounds and everything is very fluid and detailed. Carl Stalling has been consistently wonderful with his music, it is always dynamic and beautiful to listen to while also enhancing the action and colour(which is what music in cartoons should do) and his scoring for The Goofy Gophers is not a disappointment whatsoever. The dog and gophers work wonders together, and voiced with aplomb by one of the gods of voice-acting Mel Blanc. All in all, a hilarious and very well-made cartoon and one I recommend with no hesitation. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This cartoon from Arthur Davis features an effete overeducated dog. He appeared in several cartoons battling against the gophers. He's sort of a prototype for the bumbling super-genius Wile E. Coyote. His intellect is no match for the well-mannered and excessive violence of the gophers. A fast paced and slapstick heavy classic.