As so many of his fellow Disney characters have done, Goofy has often played a significant role on the Walt Disney television anthology program of the 1950s and '60s, which has gone by several different names like Disneyland and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Often, he appears, as he had in the past, with Mickey and Donald. However, only a small handful of television episodes center around Goofy in particular.
Like many animated episodes from this prime-time series, these ones featuring Goofy involved cartoon shorts of the past cobbled together with brand-new interstitial footage to link the shorts together.
Original broadcast: December 7, 1955
Directors: Jack Kinney and Wolfgang Reitherman
Goofy's rise to stardom is featured when his iconic guffaw gets him discovered by talent agents in search of a new star with an intangible something. In addition to featuring Pinto Colvig as Goofy, the movie mogul who tells him all about what it takes to be a star sounds very much like he might be voiced by Hans Conried, the voice of Captain Hook in Peter Pan. It has inspired a children's book called "Goofy, Movie Star". It was later released theatrically overseas in 1959 and was also featured as a bonus on the DVD release of A Goofy Movie.
Original broadcast: March 21, 1956
Directors: Jack Kinney and Wolfgang Reitherman
A brand-new character, a Grecian named Spyrus Olympolous demonstrates how ancient sports throughout the world have evolved into the modern sports of today, with help, obviously, from Goofy and some of his many sports-themed ventures. It later spawned something of a sequel, known as...
Goofy's Cavalcade of Sports
Original broadcast: October 17, 1956
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Another venture into the realm of sports. Both episodes were later cobbled together in 1972 to make a theatrical film known as Superstar Goofy.
Original broadcast: March 20, 1957
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Goofy recounts the stories of some of his ancestors' exploits throughout history, whether hunting game in Africa or fighting bulls in old Mexico.
How To Relax
Original broadcast: November 27, 1957
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Goofy tells the story of mankind's quest for leisure, from prehistoric times right up to the present day. Goofy also demonstrates, as only he can, the importance of leisure time, lest the tensions of present-day living can impact one's life.
A Salute To Father
Original broadcast: January 22, 1961
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Walt Disney opens the program by lamenting how fathers are forgotten men who receive little more than maybe a gaudy tie on Father's Day, and so dedicates this program to fathers everywhere. Here, Goofy, in his 1950s "everyman" role as George Geef, demonstrates how spends an average day in the role of a family man, particularly on Father's Day.
Holiday For Henpecked Husbands
Original broadcast: November 26, 1961
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
This episode has some parallels with A Salute To Father, which begins with Walt lamenting the plight of husbands and then shows off Goofy unable to take time off for golf, because he is kept busy with spring cleaning. As he toils, however, a tiny Goofy-type figure dressed like Peter Pan tries to demonstrate to Goofy how to make the work seem more fun, using, obviously, clips of old Goofy shorts of the past.
This list has shown just a few of the many episodes of the Walt Disney anthology series to feature Goofy. He has appeared in other episodes, but these ones are the ones that are about him.
