Motor Mania

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Motor Mania
Goofy series
File:Motormaniaposter.jpg
Motor Mania poster.
Directed by Jack Kinney
Produced by Walt Disney
Story by Dick Kinney
Milt Schaffer
Voices by Pinto Colvig
John McLeish
Music by Paul J. Smith
Animation by John Sibley
Charles Nichols
Ed Aardal
Jack Boyd
Layouts by Al Zinnen
Backgrounds by Claude Coats
Studio Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s) June 30, 1950 (USA)
Color process Technicolor
Running time 7 min (one reel)
Language English

Motor Mania is a cartoon made by Walt Disney Productions in 1950. In this madcap motoring animation, Goofy (during his "Everyman" period) transforms into a Mr. Hyde-type split personality, when he gets behind the wheel and provides the lowdown on how not to drive safely.

Synopsis

The cartoon shows how the character, as the pleasant, friendly, and good-natured "Mr. Walker", undergoes a change in personality to the violent "Mr. Wheeler" when he gets behind the wheel of his car. As Mr. Walker he's good natured, while Mr. Wheeler, he is very mean. Upon reaching his destination in town (we are not shown the character's reason for traveling) and leaving his automobile, he reverts to the mild-mannered Mr. Walker, whereupon he is the victim of other motorists' unsafe (and sometimes even predatory) driving habits. However, once he returns to his car, he becomes Mr. Wheeler again, seeking to impose his own will upon traffic, to the point of blaming the tow truck that hauls him away for his slow pace after an auto accident.

The Car

The car that Goofy drives is a yellow Lincoln-Zephyr convertible. Although not every detail is correct on the cartoon car in relation to the original, its deep, growling sound is unmistakable.

Historical significance

  • The first Goofy cartoon to have Goofy redesigned, with a lack of both floppy ears and front teeth.
  • Used as Army commercial film in 1955.[1]
  • This cartoon reveals that road rage is not a recent phenomenon, but an issue recurring with each generation of drivers.
  • Due to its subtle topicality, it and two 1965 Goofy cartoons about freeway safety, Freewayphobia #1 and Goofy's Freeway Trouble, have been shown in driving schools across the continent.
  • This short was awarded the Buyer Trophy for the best film on traffic safety.
  • In D-TV, clips from the cartoon were set to the Beach Boys' "I Get Around".
  • Mr. Walker makes a cameo reading a newspaper in Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
  • In the House of Mouse episode "Max's New Car", after getting banned from getting a car from Goofy, Max Goof also showed clips of this cartoon (with altered audio) to prove how Goofy was a 'responsible' driver.

References

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