20 Days of Summer, Day 20: Aquamania

Day 20: Aquamania (1954)
Starring: Goofy
Costarring: Goofy Jr.
Setting: Anytown
Plot: Mr. X’s life as an “Aquamaniac” is documented from prospective boat buyer to finishing first place in a water skiing competition.

Tan Lines
This is considered to be the last in Disney’s “Golden Era” of shorts. However, I don’t know why or how the “Golden Era” is classified as such.

Neither Goofy’s theme music nor his title card are featured in this short.

One-third of the population is an “Aquamaniac.”

Here, Goofy is known as “Mr. X.”

Goofy’s two front teeth inexplicably disappear and reappear throughout the episode.

This is Goofy Jr.’s fifth and final appearance in the classic shorts.

As with many of the later Goofy cartoons, most of the characters are “Goofys.”
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The rollercoaster Goofy lands on is called the “Giant Dip” which may be in reference to the famed “Giant Dipper” rollercoaster from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Sitting by the Campfire
They hit the generic “everyman” theme pretty hard here by identifying Goofy as “Mr. X” as well as calling the town he lives in “Anytown.” In fact, they even lose Goofy’s trademarked theme song and title card altogether. However, this short does provide a nice ratio between narrator and Goofy’s actual voice (with the return of Pinto Colvig some years earlier). Other than that, this is a pretty pedestrian effort despite the fact that it was nominated for an Academy Award in the Animated Short category. The whole “Aquamania” theme fell flat to me – was there really a substantial rise in the popularity of water sports during the 50s??? Idk…