YET ANOTHER ENTRY in those multi-Goofy how to and sports specials. In this case, it takes on Ice Hockey (Or just "Hockey", as we'd say on the Southside of Chicago). It's manic pace and generously supplied abundance of finely tuned and tailored hockey gags surely must have been a welcome hiatus from the most serious and grim daily War news that had occupied the transcendental over-soul of the World for the previous half decade or so.THE STORY MAKES fine exploitation of every it. The stadium, the rabidly enthusiastic fans, the names of the teams, the official and the break-neck speed of the action all contribute to the fun.IN ONE SENSE, this film must have been both a pleasure to do and also somewhat easier than some others. After all, at its core is lampooning a particular esoteric and highly specialized sector of the Sports World in Hockey and its fans.THE CARTOON ALSO acts as a sort of barometer of the times in illustrating behaviour and practices that were in vogue then, being the mid 1940's of World War II and shortly thereafter. It was a time when the public was just a trifle more formal than now. Our case in point is illustrated so beautifully in the costuming of the spectators portrayed. Simply stated, folks dressed up then. It was suits, ties, nice dresses for the ladies; as opposed to blue jeans & tee shirts of today.BUT THEN AGAIN, on the other hand, we have the game itself. That never does change.

I simply adore this cartoon! Not only is it for me the single funniest of the Goofy sports cartoons, but also alongside Goofy Gymnastics, How to Dance, The Big Wash and Motor Mania as one of his best ever cartoons. The animation is great, colourful and done at fever pitch, the use of multiple Goofys was an interesting touch, and the story is fast-paced with a wonderfully frantic ending and the game itself as wild as you'd expect. But it was the gags and pace that really struck me that was so good about Hockey Homicide. The pace has so much energy to it it's almost like watching a Looney Tunes cartoon(that's a compliment by the way), there is some inspired use of footage of Pinocchio(with Monstro), How to Play Football and How to Play Baseball, and the gags are delivered in a constant breakneck fashion and keep coming so it's not until the ending(which is still one of the cartoon's highlights) when you can sort yourself out from laughing so much. Goofy is still as clumsy and likable as ever, and Doodles Weaver's narration is very witty. All in all, a riot and is recommended without a moment's hesitation. 10/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney GOOFY Cartoon.It's HOCKEY HOMICIDE as the Loose Leafs battle the Ant Eaters for the championship.Here is another Goofy Sports film; the animation is routine, but the story is humorous as it skewers the popular icecapade. Doodles Weaver is the highly excitable narrator.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

This is a hilarious Goofy sports short focusing on one wild hockey game. It moves very quickly, animation fans will want to back up and watch several sequences again. The visual gags are among the best Disney has done. Doodles Weaver, famous from Spike Jones and his City Slickers, plays the role of the play by play announcer perfectly. Watch this along with the great Donald Duck hockey short "The Hockey Champ."