Automobile Month: Freewayphobia

Automobile Month continues today with a look at a classic Goofy short that deals with driving.  The short in question is titled Freewayphobia.  The short comes from Goofy's Everyman years.  These were the years when Goofy didn't play himself but he was used to represent the man of the day.  In this vein, they are similar to the How To shorts that also featured Goofy attempting to do something while failing miserably.

The Plot

In this short, Goofy is used to basically show what types of drivers to avoid while driving on the freeway. Granted, the information is a bit dated but we aren't here to take a look at the information but rather how well it entertained.

Narration

Narrator - Paul Frees

The narration in this short is done rather nicely as compared to Goofy's actions, it is played rather straight.  Unlike some other narrators that I have had problems with some of the past shorts that I reviewed,  there is actually emotion and excitement in his narration and even when he was being informative, his voice was still able to hold my attention.  This was one of the best narrations I have heard in a short in a long while as he was able to match the excitement of his voice to the silly actions of Goofy.

Main Character

Goofy voiced by Pinto Colvig

Now as I stated before, Goofy doesn't actually play himself in this short. Rather he is used to show three different types of drivers, the timid driver, the fidgety driver and the inattentive driver.  So instead of just looking at Goofy as one character, I'll be breaking it down by talking about the three different drivers.  Our driver that we look at is the Timid driver or as the short calls him, Mr. T.

Mr. T - The Timid Driver

Yeah, not that Mr. T.  No this short's Mr. T is used to show the timid driver. The one that is afraid of driving on the freeway and doesn't want to go to fast or at the speed limit of the freeway. Mr. T doesn't actually know how to drive on the freeway and his actions whether he means to or not cause many accidents.  Now Mr. T is the type of driver that sees no point in driving too fast and he thinks is going at a reasonable speed even if he is driving below the freeway speed limit.  Now you may have noticed that I haven't commented  much on whether or not I actually liked this character.  Well that is because while Goofy is a likable character, that wasn't the point here as the three different Goofy's were used as tool so to speak and to show what not to do.  I felt as though you weren't supposed to relate to the characters but rather understand the characters and that you should not emulate their actions.

Mr. F- The Fidgety Driver

Now the next driver,  we see is Mr. F he is the Fidgety driver.  Also known as the aggressive driver or the easily annoyed driver. He is the type of driver that has somewhere to go and needs to get there NOW!  We have all seen these drivers.  They don't take into consideration the acts of others on the road and I feel that they own the road. These are the types of drivers that are wreckless and don't care about anyone else.  Honestly, this is the closest the short got to having a jerk character. Though I didn't like seeing Goofy as a jerk.  

Mr. N - The Inattentive Driver

The final driver that short this talks about is Mr. N, the Inattentive Driver. Mr. N is the type of driver that just can't seem to keep his eyes on the road. He might try to shave or pour a cup of coffee while driving. According to this short,  Mr. N or the Inattentive Driver is the worst type of driver that one can encounter on the road.   That is because they just aren't able to pay attention and while not stated outright, these are the types of drivers that really shouldn't be on the road.  Now there is funny montage showing Mr. N crashing doing all of the things that he is doing while he is not keeping his eyes on the road.

My Final Thoughts

While not one of the stronger  Goofy shorts that I have watched,  I was still able to find some enjoyment in it and it was a nice for a laugh. As I said I felt that the portrayals of the different Goofy's were not meant to be actual characters but rather visual aides that show the watchers how not to drive on the freeway and in a way, I can understand that. As this was meant to be an educational short and they probably wanted the audience to focus on the educational parts.   

Join me next time when I take a look at another Goofy driving short as I take a look at Motor Mania