“Cold War”

This is the first George Geef cartoon. I’ve long been fascinated by the differences in the Disney characters by era; the fifties in particular are worth discussing that way. As I’ve said before, Mickey was settling into Bing Crosby mode. Donald was firmly ensconced in suburbia. And Goofy was essentially a different character entirely. People slightly younger than I am will remember Goof Troop, which was a strange blend of Geef-era Goofy and pre-Geef Goofy. It’s obvious to me at least that the changes in these three characters were inspired by the changing lives of the animators themselves.

In this case, Geef (mostly Bob Jackman but with a little Pinto Colvig left) is working in an office doing paperwork. He opens a window on what appears to be a snowy day, which the narrator (Jack Rourke) assures us is just asking for a cold. His boss (Bill Anderson) sends him home. He is incapable of caring for himself. When his wife (Helen Parrish) comes home, she doesn’t notice at first, but when she does, she provides him with enough care that he is soon sleeping peacefully in bed.

It’s good advice as far as it goes to send Geef home—ah, for the days when people had sick leave, I guess, and could take two weeks off for a cold—but it is a little frustrating that the cold is shown as what makes him sick even though the narrator specifically name-checks viruses. You can tell it isn’t cold, because people in Antarctica don’t generally get colds in the winter. Because there aren’t people in Antarctica to spread colds. Now, cold weakens your immune system and makes you more vulnerable to viruses, but it’s not as though the mere act of opening a window in winter makes you sick.

I’m also a little annoyed by the portrayal of Mrs. Geef. When Geef comes home, he can’t even swallow a cold pill on his own. When Mrs. Geef gets home, she takes probably a solid thirty seconds of cartoon time to even notice that he’s sick, even after asking why he’s home in the first place. She of course does not listen to his answer but instead chatters on about what I assume to be bridge. It’s only when she gets mad at him for not listening that she goes into caretaker mode and shoos him into bed. It’s very Funny Fifties Little Woman, which I’ve never found funny.

Honestly, I prefer the previous era of Goofy cartoons, the how-to ones. Some of the Geef ones are better than others, and it’s interesting that Goofy never fully settled into the mode. We’ve got a couple of how-to ones after this, and a few that don’t fit in any particular mold. And then, of course, there’s the Goof Troop era. Even if I’ll die on the hill that his name on that show should’ve been George Geef and his nickname should’ve been Goofy.