Cartoon a Day: Motor Mania

Motor Mania
1950
Directed by Jack Kinney
Available on: Walt Disney Treasures - The Complete Goofy

Goofy is an interesting character if you look at his history. In many of his later cartoons he doesn't really play himself. He's used to play a variety of different characters. In fact, in several cartoons, every character is based on his design. One of those cartoons is "Motor Mania," a cartoon that addresses the problem of road rage before it was ever fashionable to do so.

Goofy plays "Mr. Walker" who is a normal, peace-loving member of society when he's a pedestrian. However, get him behind the wheel of a car and he becomes the maniac driver "Mr. Wheeler." This cartoon has it's funny moments, but it's a bit jarring to see the lovable goof as a raging menace of the highway. It's also interesting to note that Goofy doesn't have ears in this cartoon, which in some ways helps separate him from the lovable character he usually plays.

The art is very crisp looking. You can definitely see the difference between the Disney style of the 50's and the Warner Brothers style in this cartoon. There's nothing wrong with the WB style, but this is what animation looks like when every "t" is crossed and every "i" is dotted.