30. Goopy Geer (1932)

Release date: April 16th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Goopy), Rudy Ising (Waiter), Marcellite Garner (Girl), The King's Men (Chorus)

The background scoop on this one is weirdly fascinating. Enter Goopy Geer, a tall, lanky, piano playing dog. Surprising as it is, he WASN’T inspired by Disney’s Goofy, because it wouldn’t be possible.

Goofy made his debut in Mickey’s Revue, which came out over a month later than Goopy Geer on May 25th, 1932. Not to mention, he wasn’t even called Goofy yet. He went by “Dippy Dawg” (which does arguably sound more like Goopy Geer in terms of syllables, but again, a coincidence). The chances of Disney copying Harman and Ising are low, and it’s more than likely just an uncanny coincidence, but it’s really fascinating! Here, our titular canine plays the piano as we observe the antics of the night club around him.

It seems Goopy is quite a star as we open to a crowd chanting “Bring Goopy Geer!” in a nightclub. Exact recycled footage from Lady, Play Your Mandolin! displays a gorilla waiter skipping through the club, as well as reused (but not exactly ripped from the cartoon) animation of the hippo from Lady, Play Your Mandolin! asking of Goopy’s whereabouts.

Fret not! A Looney Tunes staple—a number of curtains rise, one after the other, to reveal a distance shot of our hero Goopy, greeted to a warm reception of confetti and applause.

No time is wasted as Goopy launches into a musical number. He tells us “I have not studied music, I do not know my notes!” before launching into a very impressive piano riff. I love the animation above, it’s so smooth and bouncy and addicting to watch! The music is just as addictive.

He’s briefly interrupted by three cats loudly eating soup. To adapt to the newfound sound, he plays the piano to the beat of their slurps. A gag is reused from Freddy the Freshman where one cat reaches for a piece of bread, the next one in line chews, and the third swallows. There’s also a scene of a cow eating some spaghetti to the beat of the music.

Goopy then launches into the favorite 12th Street Rag, a tune you might recognize. As the song rages on (and Goopy plays with his hands and with his gloves, who are floating next to him) the gorilla waiter asks a chicken sleeping in a pot of water for one chicken soup.

The chicken obliges and swims a few laps, dipping its butt in the broth one last time before hopping out of its own juices and drying off. I love that! I wish all soups were made like that. Maybe I’d be more willing to eat certain chowders and creamier soups.

The dog from Freddy the Freshman excitedly leaps on stage and converses with Goopy. She squeals that she’s got a new baby in “our” house. Wow, what’s been going on behind the scenes? Freddy was certainly left out to dry! Goopy is just as bewildered, for he asks for the baby’s name, and the dog answers she doesn’t know! A perfect segue for her to sing “I Need Lovin’”.

In the middle of her song, there’s a shot of a boy blowing up a balloon. It slips out of his grip and slides away, and hurriedly he chases after it.

Image in all of its crude goodness, the balloon slides beneath the legs of a hippo (from Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!) who GIGGLES excitedly. The hippo turns to see the boy and gives him a good smack in the face! Whew! The innuendo in these cartoons is wonderfully fascinating! Another gag that I wouldn’t be surprised if Bob Clampett had some sort of involvement in.

Pan to Goopy, who’s dancing away to the music. Beautiful animation! Although he doesn’t have any discernible personality, his moves are spot on. I love how rubbery he is! 

A turkey uses its feathers as a skirt and twirls around, while coat hangers (again from Lady, Play Your Mandolin!) dance to the beat of the music. The syncopation between the sound effects and the music is great! Undoubtedly, the music is the highlight of this cartoon.

The intoxicated horse from Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (see a pattern here?) also makes an appearance. It gets drunk and begins to hallucinate, looking into a mirror and seeing various monsters... And Ghandi. Although it is slightly annoying with all of the reuses of animation (but I’ve been binging all of these shorts, so they’re all still fresh in my mind) I think this is hilarious because it just comes TOTALLY out of left field. I wasn’t expecting it at all.

Back to Goopy, who’s tickling the ivory. The horse staggers up to him and spits, which turns into a flame, sparking an explosion.

The show must go on! Iris out as Goopy plays some bars of Nagasaki on his charred piano.

As far as Merrie Melodies go, this one was decent. There was a LOT of recycled footage, which, if you’re me and watching all of these at once, becomes a bit of a distraction, but it WAS The Depression. Inarguably, the music is the best aspect of the cartoon. It’s infectious! And Goopy, as transparent and lacking in personality as he is, is entertaining to watch with his various rubber hose dances. There have been better cartoons, but there have also been worse. I’d say you check it out just for the music alone.