| How to Play Baseball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jack Kinney |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Pinto Colvig |
| Music by | Paul J. Smith |
| Animation by | Les Clark Marc Davis Hugh Fraser Ollie Johnston Ward Kimball Milt Neil John Sibley Bill Tytla |
| Layouts by | Al Zinnen |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
How to Play Baseball is acartoon produced byWalt Disney Productions and released byRKO Radio Pictures in September 1942, featuringGoofy.[1] The short was produced at the request ofSamuel Goldwyn and first shown to accompany the 1942feature filmThe Pride of the Yankees.[2]
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 ofbaseball 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 theWorld Series between the fictional Blue Sox and Gray Sox (possibly a parody of the real-lifeChicago White Sox andBoston 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 theumpire (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.
This is the first of Disney's "How to..." shorts starringGoofy. The short was made on a rushed schedule of 12 weeks so it could be released in time to accompany Samuel Goldwyn'sThe Pride of the Yankees.[3] It was followed by nine "How to..." shorts inWalt Disney's lifetime:How to Swim andHow to Fish (both also in 1942);How to Be a Sailor,How to Play Football, andHow to Play Golf (1944);How to Ride a Horse (1950, originally included inThe Reluctant Dragon in 1941);How to Be a Detective (1952); andHow to Sleep andHow to Dance (both 1953).
After Disney's death, the studio producedHow to Haunt a House (1999) andHow to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007). Similarly-styled Goofy shorts that do not include the "How to" titling convention areThe Olympic Champ (1942),Hockey Homicide (1945),Goofy Gymnastics (1949) andMotor Mania (1950). Prior toHow to Play Baseball, Disney had released two other "instructional" shorts starring Goofy:The Art of Skiing andThe Art of Self Defense in November and December 1941, respectively.
Bosley Crowther ofThe New York Times called it "deliciously confused ... goofy burlesque".[2]
The Film Daily wrote: "With a serious world looking forward to the World Series, that incomparable master of animated humor, Walt Disney, comes forward with one of his most side-splitting subjects... The footage was especially created by Disney to accompany Samuel Goldwyn's RKO Radio powerhouse,The Pride of the Yankees... Exhibs. will be figurative namesakes of Goofy if they don't book this one."[4]
The short was released on December 2, 2002 onWalt Disney Treasures: The Complete Goofy.[5]
Additional releases include:
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