Is Goofy really a dog after all?

Since its creation 100 years ago, Disney has been responsible for creating countless characters that have marked the lives of millions of people around the world in different ways. Among one of the studio’s most famous names is Goofy, Mickey’s clumsy best friend.

Even though he is loved by many, a question involving Goofy remains in the minds of many fans: after all, is he really a dog?

official answer

When we analyze his appearance, the character actually has characteristics similar to that of a puppy, such as wide ears and a large muzzle – in addition to also being very similar to Pluto, Mickey’s pet dog.

However, during an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment reflected by the Cinebuzz portal in 2020, the official voice actor for Goofy since 1987, Bill Farmerstated that the character is not a dog as many imagine.

“Pluto is a dog, but Goofy seems to be in the canine family in the same way that a wolf is also in the canine family, but it’s not a dog,” explained Bill, who further joked about the issue by stating “I think Canis goofus is the technical Latin term for what Goofy is. He’s just Goofy.”

Despite not actually being a dog, we can understand that Goofy is still part of the canine family since, during the conversation, farmer even revealed that when the character was created in the year 1932, he would have received the name of Dippy Dawg, where “dawg” refers to a slang of the United States formed from the word “dog”, and that means someone rascal or “ big dog”.

It’s not today that people argue about which animal would be Goofy. Among the numerous theories created by fans on the internet, some even considered that the character could be a bovine due to his slurred way of speaking, being very similar to a moo. Despite this, Disney has yet to give an exact opinion on what Goofy’s exact race would be.