Disney Shorts - Teachers Are People (1952)

September is here and I miss being in school already. That's what happens when you graduate college. I remember grade school. I remember the wobbly chair I had to sit in, the desk with lines carved into it, the nasty things carved into the bathroom wall, eating mush for lunch, art class, recess, singing in chorus, the difficult decision of what you wanted to do with the rest of your life (which I'm still trying to figure out). I remember the transition from elementary to middle to high school and college. School was a big part of growing up. You make some good friends, you make mistakes, learn from them, and reminisce. It would only make sense for me to write about relatable Disney content.  My second blog post, this one specifically, is dedicated to the hard-working men and women who work hard to educate the minds of the young generation of students with bright futures. I hope you have a good sense of humor.

If there's anything I love about the "Goofy" shorts of the 1950's is that the character could be placed in many different everyday situations. That's not to say he had great roles beforehand, but he goes from satirical instructional shorts to stories about living the life of a 50's suburban father. Goofy was the everyman, and Walt Disney himself came up with the idea of this change, hoping it would gain Goofy back his personality that he felt was dying in popularity. While each short would always open with the title "Walt Disney presents 'Goofy,'" he was usually called "George Geef" in the cartoon dialogue. These cartoons, while putting Goofy in an everyday life situation, would bring out  His clothing changed from a casual style to a business attire. He was the person that every working-class adult could relate to. In different cartoons, Goofy would have a different career, which made way for more comedy.

Teachers Are People is a 1952 short film in which Goofy plays a school teacher who has to cope with the antics of of a classroom full of children, while they distract him with little things. We open with the jazzy version of Goofy's usual theme music. Fall is here and it's the beginning of a school year (or I could assume. They never specify what day it is). An interesting thing to point out is our narrator. You are hearing the voice of Alan Reed, who would later gain fame in the animation world as Fred Flintstone. The narrator's voice makes him sound excited and eager to describe the typical day in elementary school. We see children leaving their houses, being dressed by their mothers, and making friends on the sidewalk, on their way to school as the bell rings. We are also introduced to Goofy's character, the teacher.

As Goofy stands proud, the narrator describes him as "fair, honest, understanding, and intelligent." He takes out a stop sign to help the kids cross the street. But as soon as he puts the sign back in his pocket, the cars start running again, making Goofy react quickly to run back to the sidewalk. This is something I like to call "scare comedy."

This cartoon shows an example of how Disney exaggerates everyday problems in a Goofy short for comedic affect. Before walking into the classroom, Goofy gets into some umpire gear and then a strong wind blows as he opens the door, indicating how wild and crazy the young children act when the day begins. Goofy slowly struggles to walk in as if he was going through a snowstorm and dodges every book and pencil thrown in his direction. Goofy blows a whistle to calm everyone down and the kids sing a rendition of "Good Morning to You." (When I was in elementary school, we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance and then recite a poem about staying away from drugs). One kid named George, who plays a running gag throughout the episode, fires a sling shot at the teacher and Goofy takes it away and puts it in a drawer of other confiscated toys. Most of them being firecrackers, guns, and a grenade. (Because every school takes kindly to a kid with a deadly weapon, right?).

While Goofy does role call, he finds George sneaking out of class to play hooky and go fishing. He then asks the kids to pass in their homework, which the assignment was to give the teacher a fresh apple. And Goofy eats all of these apples. (He definitely lost all of his teeth later that night. Kids, apples may be healthy but for the love of god, don't eat more than one a day).

During the geography lesson, the kids are carving into their desk, soaking their classmates' pig tails into a jar of paint, and throwing paper airplanes. The school bell rings, interrupting Goofy's geography lecture. He overhears young George through the window at recess telling a joke to a group of kids (which you obviously hear mumbling instead). After eaves-dropping on the kid's dirty joke, Goofy decides to skip a particular health lecture.

After recess, it's time for a spelling lesson. George is asked to spell "cat" and threatens his classmate by holding a pistol to his head to give him the answer. He spells the word wrong and shoots water at the other kid. We get a messy art lesson and then a test, where every kid is cheating off of each other's papers.

Finally, it's the end of the school day and its time to clean the schoolhouse. George sets off a bomb and the school explodes. The cartoon closes with George in detention, writing multiple times on the blackboard, "I will not bomb the school again." (Even Bart Simpson never got in trouble for that) This is the part of the cartoon that is the most controversial in this day. I don't think anyone in that decade would've imagined how much of a huge issue school violence has become in America. This isn't the kind of routine that would be written on one of today's cartoons, but that's not to say Teachers Are People isn't an enjoyable cartoon. On the Walt Disney Treasures DVD release of this cartoon, Leonard Maltin states that we should "try to put ourselves back in a more innocent time and place and to remember that this cartoon is all in fun."

It's really hard to pick out a Goofy short and call it the best. The 1950's is one of my favorite decades for Disney animation. I like the background art style, done by Art Riley, who also did the dramatic woods scenery in Bambi among other Disney projects. Everything looks modern (for the time), and detailed to look suburban.

Teachers Are People is a prime example of the many settings Goofy can be thrown into. Definitely check out this and other Goofy shorts. I don't see this one airing on the Disney Channel anytime soon, but you can find this one on the expensive and out-of print Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Goofy 2-disc DVD set.