Goofy Gophers

The Goofy Gophers are animated cartoon characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The gophers, named Mac and Tosh, are small and brown with tan bellies and beards.

Related Topics:
Animated - Cartoon - Characters - Warner Bros. - Looney Tunes - Merrie Melodies - Gopher

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The Goofy Gophers were created by Warners animator Robert Clampett for the 1947 film The Goofy Gophers (Norm McCabe had used a pair of gophers in his 1942 short Gopher Goofy, but they bear little resemblance to Clampett's characters). Clampett left the studio before the short went to production, so Arthur Davis took over as director. The cartoon features the gophers' repeated incursions into a vegetable garden guarded by a dog whom they relentlessly, though politely, torment. Voice actor Mel Blanc plays Mac and Stan Freberg Tosh.

Related Topics:
Animator - Robert Clampett - 1947 - The Goofy Gophers - Norm McCabe - 1942 - Gopher Goofy - Arthur Davis - Director - Voice actor - Mel Blanc - Stan Freberg

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Some sources claim that Clampett intended the Goofy Gophers to be a spoof of Disney's chipmunk characters, Chip n' Dale. Others, however, point out that this seems unlikely given the two pairs of characters are so different in characterization. The only real similarities are the fact that the characters are paired up and have puns for names.

Related Topics:
Disney's - Chipmunk - Chip n' Dale - Pun

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The gopher's mannerisms and speech, patterned after that of the title characters in the comic strip Alphonse and Gaston, are those of "high-class twits". Their dialogue is peppered with such over-the-top politenesses as "You first, my dear," and "But, no, it must be you who goes first!" Clampett later stated that the gophers' effeminate mannerisms were

Related Topics:
Comic strip - Alphonse and Gaston

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derived from character actors Franklin Pangborn and Edward Everett Horton.

Related Topics:
Character actor - Franklin Pangborn - Edward Everett Horton

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Davis would direct one other Goofy Gophers short, the 1948 film Two Gophers from Texas. This time, the dog from the first film pursues the gophers with a gopher cookbook in hand.

Related Topics:
1948 - Two Gophers from Texas

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Robert McKimson was the next Warners director to utilize the characters. He pitted them against Clampett and Arthur's dog once again in the 1949 film A Ham in a Role wherein the dog's efforts to become a

Related Topics:
Robert McKimson - 1949 - A Ham in a Role

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Shakespearean actor are foiled by the rambunctious rodents.

Related Topics:
Shakespearean - Actor

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The Gophers lay dormant for two years until Friz Freleng made a series of four shorts beginning with 1951's A Bone for a Bone, another dog-versus-gophers short. This was followed by I Gopher You in 1954, featuring the Gophers in their first cartoon without the dog; Pests for Guests in 1955, which has the gophers antagonize the helpless Elmer Fudd; and Lumber Jerks later that year, where the Gophers face off against a lumberyard trying to cut down their home.

Related Topics:
Friz Freleng - 1951 - A Bone for a Bone - I Gopher You - 1954 - Pests for Guests - 1955 - Elmer Fudd - Lumber Jerks

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After Freleng finished with the characters, they would star in two more cartoons, once again directed by McKimson. These two cartoons, Gopher Broke in 1958 and Tease for Two in 1965, pit the Gophers against the dog and Daffy Duck, respectively.

Related Topics:
Gopher Broke - 1958 - Tease for Two - 1965 - Daffy Duck

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The Goofy Gophers were largely forgotten by Warner Bros. in the years since the animation studio's closing in 1967. However, in recent years, they have made a few cameos in various Warners projects. They are seen briefly in the 1996 movie Space Jam, for example, and they feature prominently in episodes of the animated series The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries ("I Gopher You") and Duck Dodgers ("K-9 Kaddy").

Related Topics:
1967 - 1996 - Space Jam - Animated series - The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries - I Gopher You - Duck Dodgers - K-9 Kaddy

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