Snuck into Ron Diamond's 'Animation Show of Shows' at HBO's NY screening room the other night. (I told security I was Paulie Walnuts, or maybe Paulie's walnuts, I forget which. Oh, and I understand this blogateria I'm part of is part of Ron's entertainment empire - love ya', Mister D!)
A most intriguing assortment of short toons were screened. Some were horribly arty, others artfully heartfelt, but being an old-time Hollywood studio cartoon junkie (if you remember "Meeska, mooska, mouseketeer / mousecartoon time now is here," welcome to my decrepit demographic), I went completely bonkers over a nouveau/retro Goofy 'How To' short from Lassetter's Burbank boys - 'How to Hook Up Your Home Theater.'
The formula - hapless but eternally optimistic Goofy makes a complete mess of some endeavor while the plummy narrator tries to put the best light on his ongoing disaster - still works like a charm. Giving him a completely of-the-moment project like performing said hook-up lends itself to innumerable slapstick and script gags, all jammed into the toon at a mile-a-minute, rat-a-tat pace. (My personal favorites: Goofy heading into one of those airplane hangar-sized mega stores called 'Shiny Things,' and a 'universal remote' that resembles a nuclear missile launch button.)
Film features nods to Walt himself, JL and a quickie peek at a group photo that I suspect may be of the fabled 'Nine Old Men' (somebody help me out here). Word on the street (the corner of Dopey Drive and Mickey Mouse Lane, to be exact) is that this short will be playing with 'Enchanted' next month. If the feature is 15% as funny as 'Hook Up,' I may enjoy it too.
Joe Strike has written about animation for numerous publications. He is the author of Furry Nation: The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture.
