African Diary
Studio: Disney Release Date : April 20, 1945 Series: Goofy Cartoon

Cumulative rating:
(1 rating submitted)

Synopsis

Akin to the earlier short "Tiger Trouble", this time Goofy's game is rhinoceros.

Characters

Goofy

Credits

Director

Jack Kinney

Animator

Andy Engman
Murray McClellan
Eric Larson
Marc Davis

Story

Bill Peet

Music

Oliver Wallace

Backgrounds

Ray Huffine

Layout

Lance Nolley

Producer

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney


Reused Animation Used in:

The Goofy Success Story

Included in:

The Adventure Story
Vacationing with Mickey and Friends

Cut Scenes

  • An extended scene with Goofy sighting on the rhino with his gun and the rhino getting his revenge when the gun sticks on his horn have been cut out.

Television

Donald's Quack Attack (Season 1, Episode 62)
Donald's Quack Attack (Season 1, Episode 2)

VHS

Germany

Goofy im Fußballfieber

France

Sport Goofy Joue et Gagne
Footmania pour Dingo

Italy

Le Vacanze Di Pippo
Le Radici di Pippo

Laserdisc (CAV)

Japan

Sport Goofy's Vacation

Laserdisc (CLV)

Japan

Sport Goofy's Vacation
Soccermania

DVD

United States

The Complete Goofy
It's a Small World of Fun - Volume 1

Germany

Disney Treasures : Wave 2 : The Complete Goofy

United Kingdom

Disney Treasures : Wave 2 : The Complete Goofy

Sweden

Disney Treasures : Wave 2 : The Complete Goofy

Technical Specifications

Running Time: 7:04
MPAA No.: 9947
Animation Type: Standard (Hand-drawn-Cel) Animation
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Cinematographic Format: Spherical
Color Type: Technicolor
Negative Type: 35mm
Original Country: United States
Original Language: English
Print Type: 35mm
Sound Type: Mono: RCA Sound Recording

Reviews and Comments

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From Ryan :

This is one of my favorite Goofy cartoons. I especially enjoy the scene with the rhino (the only drawback is that the part where Goofy points the gun at the rhino has been deleted). Another part I laugh at is when the narrator says that they land on the Ivory Coast, which is actually made of piano keys.

From Jacob :

This short is the best! I had it on "It's a Small World of Fun Vol. 1". And that sounds nice.

From Baruch Weiss :

This is one of my favorite goofy cartoons. I loved the part where goofy rushes to his tent and quickly dresses (6 seconds to be exact) and reappeared with all his gear with his Goofy Smile.

From Mike :

I agree with Baruch Weiss this is a good goofy cartoon, and the scene of him dressing real fast is funny. The scene of him hunting the rhino is very exciting.

From Al Galen :

I saw this classic animated short in "The Roots of Goofy" and the summer vacation television special "Let's Get Away From It All". Gary Owens hosted both of them. These programs were on the air in the 1980s and 1990s. This cartoon appeared as a flashback in Father's Lion if you watch the Disney Cartoon Classics video "Happy Summer Days".

From Ryan Kilpatrick at The Disney Film Project :

My love for Goofy is well known. He is my favorite of the Fab Five Disney characters, and always has been. I love Donald and Mickey as well, but Goofy is the one whose shorts I enjoy watching the most. Much of that comes from the format and fun of the “How To” shorts, where the narrator describes the crazy antics that Goofy is doing on screen.

African Diary takes a little twist on that, this time casting the narrator as Goofy himself, with the words coming from his diary of an African safari. It’s an interesting choice and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. You would think this twist would add comedic value to the short, but it doesn’t.

Lots of fun bits are contained within African Diary, however. It’s another short that substitutes multiple Goofys for men. Every character is some form of Goofy, from the lead of the safari to the “natives” who carry him around. That makes it much easier to avoid any racial stereotypes that were contained in past jungle/African shorts.

There’s no bit that stands out as laugh out loud funny in this short, and I guess that’s the problem I have with it. There are some fun pieces here and there, such as the shots of the entire safari rolling by and stopping suddenly, or the nocturnal visit of Goofy to the watering hole. But by and large, nothing stands out.

The real capstone to the cartoon is supposed to be the ending, where Goofy finally spots a black rhino and attempts to shoot it. I say “attempts” because his efforts are not very successful, and he ends up being chased out of Africa by the rhino. That part is funny, but the rest falls flat.

We don’t get to see Goofy doing some of the crazier stunts that he has pulled in his “sports” films. That’s the disappointing thing with this and Tiger Trouble, the last Goofy short. Both ended up with Goofy in the jungles, and it’s not a good fit for him. I’m hoping there will be more Goofy shorts in the urban jungles in the years to come.