How to Dance (1953)

Goofy learns the basics of ballroom dancing.

Director:

Jack Kinney

Writers:

Milt Schaffer (story), Dick Kinney (story)

Stars:

Firehouse Five Plus Two, Pinto Colvig

Cast

Credited cast:
Firehouse Five Plus Two	...	Themselves

Storyline

After a short sketch of the universal importance of dance in human cultural history, Goofy demonstrates the misery of those who don't master dancing to a confident level in the 20th century, the perilous techniques to learn ballroom dances and the result of all that hard footwork- more hard then it works...

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Plot Keywords:

dance | dancing | ballroom dancing | goofy the character | learning to dance | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Music

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 July 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hessu tanssikoulussa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Firehouse Five Plus Two Dixieland band consists of Ward Kimball, Frank Thomas and, for the most part, other Disney animators. Not only is their music on the soundtrack, but their likenesses are caricatured in the dance animation sequence. The band made many record albums over the years for Good Time Jazz and often performed at Disneyland.

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Connections

Edited into Totally Minnie (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Southern Comfort"
Written and Performed by Firehouse Five Plus Two

User Reviews

Cutting The Rug With Mister Geef

A Walt Disney Goofy Cartoon.

Tired of being a wallflower, Goofy takes instructions in HOW TO DANCE.

This humorous little film was one of several made by Disney between 1940 & 1956 in which Goofy receives instruction in some task or pastime - with inevitably chaotic results. In this cartoon the Goof once again portrays his vaguely human alter ego George Geef. The snappy soundtrack was provided by The Fire House Five Plus Two, a lively little Dixie band founded by wacky Disney animator Ward Kimball and consisting entirely of other Disney staffers; they appear as toons during the film's closing scene (Kimball is the fellow playing the trombone).

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & 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 comic 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 childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.