How to Play Baseball

How to Play Baseball is a cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures in September 1942, featuring Goofy.[1] The short was produced at the request of Samuel Goldwyn and first shown to accompany the 1942 feature film The Pride of the Yankees.[2]

How to Play Baseball
Goofy at bat
Directed byJack Kinney
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringGeorge Johnson
Music byPaul J Smith
Animation byLes Clark
Marc Davis
Hugh Fraser
Ollie Johnston
Ward Kimball
Milt Neil
John Sibley
Bill Tytla
Layouts byAl Zinnen
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • September 4, 1942 (1942-09-04)
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

Goofy takes the time to demonstrate America's national pastime, then plays a game - one in which he plays all the bases. The short describes the basics of baseball in humorous terms; the equipment, uniforms, positions, and pitches, as well as the mannerisms of the players. It then switches to a game in progress, a deciding game in the World Series between the fictional Blue Sox and Gray Sox (possibly a parody of the real-life Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox). The Blue Sox are up three runs and working a no-hitter when the Grays rally in the bottom of the ninth. In a series of events the Grays load the bases, leading to a base clearing hit.

The game is tied, but the play at the plate is too close to call for the umpire, and it then ends in an argument. They unmask the umpire (yet another Goofy!) and the other players attack the three. The narrator then concludes the short praising the values of what makes baseball America's sport.

Production

This is the first of Disney's “How to...” shorts starring Goofy. The short was made on a rushed schedule of 12 weeks so it could be released in time to accompany Samuel Goldwyn's The Pride of the Yankees. [3] It was followed by nine “How to...” shorts in Walt Disney's lifetime: How to Swim and How to Fish; (both also in 1942); How to Be a Sailor, How to Play Football, and How to Play Golf (1944); How to Ride a Horse (1950, originally included in The Reluctant Dragon in 1941); How to Be a Detective (1952); and How to Sleep and How to Dance (both 1953).

After Disney's death, the studio produced How to Haunt a House (1999) and How to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007). Similarly-styled Goofy shorts that do not include the “How to” titling convention are The Olympic Champ (1942), Hockey Homicide (1945), Goofy Gymnastics (1949) and Motor Mania (1950). Prior to How to Play Baseball, Disney had released two other "instructional" shorts starring Goofy: The Art of Skiing and The Art of Self Defense in November and December 1941, respectively.

Voice cast
  • Goofy: George Johnson
  • Narrator: Fred Shields[4]

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "deliciously confused ... goofy burlesque."[2]

Releases
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References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 86–87. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. "Pride of the Yankees, a Film Biography of Lou Gehrig ... on View at Astor". The New York Times. July 16, 1942. Archived from the original on April 26, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  3. 1940-, Smith, Dave (2015). Disney A to Z : the official encyclopedia (4th ed.). Los Angeles: Disney Editions. ISBN 9781484721339. OCLC 907408501.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. Hischak, Thomas S. (2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. p. 254. ISBN 978-0786462711. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
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