Revisiting classics of literature is a very popular practice of children's comics. It is even more so at Disney, which has never stopped having fun with great literature.Discover with Goofy Quixote how Cervantes is jostled by a bad wind.
Goofy Quixote enchants reality
The beginning of Goofy Quixote can bring a sense of déjà vu when an accident upsets the mundane daily life of Disney characters. Goofy inherited from his family a comic book bookstore, Historias y historietas, but he despises these fantastic tales. Everything is turned upside down by a box full of comics. By receiving it on the corner of the head, Goofy confuses the imaginary and literature: he undergoes a case of literary possession! Goofy thinks he is a knight of the Middle Ages, Don Goofy of Castile and reinterprets his entire environment! Mickey becomes Sanchito Mouse. Together, they will set out into the modern world in pursuit of cattle rustlers, terrifying wind turbines before a more formidable threat is revealed.
Claudio Sciarrone's drawing illustrates the delusions of Goofy Quixote: an amusement park becomes a castle. Clarabelle with her lover Horace is a damsel in distress kidnapped by an enemy. The designer plays on colorization when a brown monochrome illustrates the attack on the castle. In addition, effects explain the parts representing comics. The style of Goofy Quixote is placed in the canons of the Disney house but modernizing them. The organization of items in the box is more dynamic. There are fewer strokes and the shapes are less systematically round.The large format surprises the reader accustomed to smaller magazines.
Miguel de Cervantes with big ears
One might think that Goofy Quixote is a very free adaptation, by Disney, of the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes. Nothing is less certain. Goofy becomes a dreamer in a world that is not for him. This distance fits perfectly with the subject of Cervantes' book. Don Quixote is a penniless nobleman who wants to live an adventure worthy of the chivalrous gesture when the world has changed. Goofy Quixote sometimes touches on historical terms when the invaders are Normans or Languedocians. The last more modern part revives the interest and pleasure of reading.
For once, Goofy is the heart of the story and is not just Mickey's assistant. It is even the opposite because it is the latter who follows his friend in the many and often successful adventures. Also, the dialogues in Goofy Quixote are quite funny.
Dreaming makes you bold
Goofy Quixote opposes two visions of literature. Mickey is a fan of the genre while Goofy has an accounting and family vision. He wants to continue the work of his ancestors but that's all. Mickey is happy to please young readers when Goofy is happy to fill the cash drawer. When he gets sick, it's because he's repressed his imagination for too long. Through the syndrome of literary possession, reality disappears to give way to an abundant world: a magician, felon knights… However, this confusion is a remedy for the doctor and for Goofy's gloom.
The screenwriter Fausto Vitaliano builds in Goofy Quixote a parallel world in the Disney universe. The book begins in the imaginary city with the Spanish name, Ciudad de Esmeralda or the city of wonders. It is more modern because it works by wind energy. However, mills were needed in a story of Don Quixote.
The screenwriter also plays with the characters. Horace is the best mechanic in town. Clarabelle runs a restaurant.Pat Hibulaire is the sheriff of the city thanks to the support of the governor. This corrupt policeman creates imaginary crimes to recover money. Without doing too much, Fausto Vitaliano denounced police arbitrariness. In the same way, the big bad guys are those who hold power in the city.
Dingo Quixote, published by Glénat, is a perfect adventure story for the little ones. They won't get bored. Moreover, the book is also a fable with a joyful (and crucial for children) moral about the importance of imagination.
Find other chronicles on Disney comics with Donald on vacation and another revisits classics with Power Rangers.
