Teaming of Mickey and Goofy

[Olivier]

Hi everyone!


Frank:
>>> Of course, as Luca told me, MM and GO had already been teamed together as
>>> early as 'The Crazy Crime Wave' (1933), but my theory is that DD would have
>>> been included in that story, if he had been created by then. Later on he of
>>> course appeared in four (?) Gottfredson episodes, and the debate is still
>>> open if Gottfredson & Co. weren't supposed to use Donald anymore or if they
>>> didn't WANT to use him anymore, because they had already fallen in love with
>>> the MM/GO duo.

Hmmm-- I wonder if  he *would* have been included. This requires a little analysis of  the kind of
stories he appeared in, and what Donald brought to the story / duo.

Oct '33 - Jan '34: "The Crazy Crime Wave"
I need to read it again to better imagine Donald in it

June 1934: "The Wise Little Hen"

Oct - Dec '34: "The Sacred Jewel"
Same as above

Dec '34: 'The Wise Little Hen" comic strip

Feb - March '35: "The Case of  the Vanishing Coats"
Donald is a bumbling cowardly duck

March - June '35: "Editor-in-Grief"
Donald sells the paper but doesn't play a big part; Goofy accompanies Mickey, follows the gangsters

June - Sept '35: "Race for Riches"
The situation is serious: it is a race against time to help Clarabelle; besides being involved with
Clarabelle, Horace is brave enough to follow Mickey; the himor comes from the incidents rather than
the character

Sept '35 - jan' 36: "The Pirate Submarine"
Dead serious; not even Horace; Mickey teams up again with Gloomy-- the name fits in with the grave
matters at hand

Jan - March '36: "Oscar the Ostrich"
Goofy & Donald are but bit players; Donald does a bit more, acting as a competitor who plays tricks
on others

Aug - Nov '36: "The Seven Ghosts"
A funny spook story; Goofy & Donald goof  around; Donald is the coward, Goofy the naive

Nov '36 - April '37: "Island in the Sky"
I really can't imagine Donald in this story

Aug '36 - Dec '37: Donald Duck "Silly Symphony" strips
Taliaferro & Karp then launch "Donald Duck" strips

I'd say Donald is still too cartoony,caricatural; he throws tantrums, is a big coward, and doesn't
do much else. Goofy's simple-mindedness makes for more serious gags: not slapstick but
character-driven-- ex: stays still while Mickey saves the day, then shakes his hand; "Muh hands?
Gawsh Mickey-- they never *was* tied! Pete told me tuh keep 'em behind me-- -so I did* !" ("Island
in the Sky"; March 18, 1937). It is also through Goofy's naivete that we are introduced to "The
Seven Ghosts".
The fact that Taliaferro started doing Duck strips probably was influential. I don't think, though,
it was just a matter of  "You do the Mouse, you do the Duck, and you guys stick to your characters";
rather, the creation of  the Donald Duck strip seems to have come about just at the same time
Gottfredson figured he didn't need Donald that much, felt he didn't really belong in the MM strip,
and was indeed better suited to the gag-a-day format of  Taliaferro/Karp's strips.
[update: Gerd posted somthing interesting regarding the strips being sold to different newspapers]
Goofy in a sense is more serious, therefore a better companion for Mickey, whose adventures are
pretty serious after all. "The Mighty Whale Hunter" (Feb - July, '38), for instance, isn't merely
lifted from "The Whalers" (1938). Looking for adventure, Mickey decides to enlist on a whaler (with
Goofy) when he sees a poster reading "Men Wanted For voyage to northern waters for purpose of
capture of  destructive whale!! Liberal bounty will be paid! Apply to Captain of  boat 'Lady
Daffodil', foot of  Maint St Wharf-- No weaklings need apply!" The last line is clear: there is no
place for Donald on board. It's nothing like Mickey's whaler: this is a "real" whaler, tough work &
danger and all (especially when a well-known villain appears). There is some humor, but not of  the
Duck sort-- Goofy's umbrella for instance.
In short, even if  he had been able to, I am not sure Gottfredson would have kept using Donald; once
in a while, for variety, but in the end, I guess he would have stopped anyway.

I wish I had time to get further into this analysis.


Olivier