Vimacone During the 1940's, most of the cartoons in the Goofy series demonstrated, satirically, how to play a sport. These are known as the How to cartoons.This genre was actually inspired by Tex Avery's spot gag cartoons he did at WB. They would feature a droll off-screen narrator explaining or demonstrating the nature of a scene, only for the opposite circumstance to occur. Tex's colleagues credit him for the creation of this device and were honored that they (the Schlesinger studio) influenced Disney's cartoons.The Avery cartoon Screwball Football (1939) seems to be a chief inspiration for this short. The premise, characters, and gags are strikingly similar (the quarterback "barking" his signals is used almost verbatim). The Marx Brothers film Horse Feathers (1932) was also a likely influence as it carries the same kind of sensibility.While Tex used literal and visual humor for shorts like this, Disney's shorts of this genre subtly satirized the many aspects of game play and related cultural elements. (compare this short with Tex's "Batty Baseball", which was released the same year).The original credits, which were discovered a few years ago, show that the main titles were displayed on the scoreboard (Goofy head shot and all).The shorts of this genre have aged well and sports fans will enjoy them.

ccthemovieman-1 Here's another "Goofy" explanation of a sport: this time, college football. The beginning explains all the ingredients that go into the game, and that's pretty funny.Then the football starts, pitting Taxidermy U. vs. Anthropology A&M. The star is Taxidermy's "Swivelhips Smith," who takes the opening kickoff and swivels his way 105 yards for a touchdown!This is really cornball material, but very funny in spots. For example of the corn, they explain "the quarterback barks the signals" and you hear a dark barking - that sort of thing. The funniest play of the game is a 100-yard fumble recovery and run. The rest is fairly routine sight gags.Very corny, very dated but definitely fun to watch.

King Of The World This Walt Disney Cartoon spoofs the many newsreels that people watched in Cinemas in the '20's, '30's and '40's. It explains to viewers how to play (American) Football, with hilarious results. Recommended Deeply.

Robert Reynolds This short, nominated for an Oscar, is likely the best of the sports cartoons Disney did (most of them centered around the lithe, atheletic and graceful Goofy) and is a classic, although Tex Avery was there ahead of them, with Screwball Football in 1939. Tex more than holds his own, but How To Pay Football is hilarious and yet another in a long line of works with which Disney can be justifiably proud. This airs on the Ink and Paint Club periodically. Recommended.