Tennis Racquet (1949) User Reviews (7)

A good show of sportsmanship.

[OllieSuave-007 · 6/10 · 12 October 2017]

Another Goofy cartoon from Disney, where many Goofys gather together to watch two Goofys play a game of tennis. Meanwhile, another Goofy character serves as announcer of the game and another mows the lawn during the middle of the tennis match.

Some crazy, slapstick stuff here, but not one of the funniest Disney cartoons I've seen. Though, I did like the show of sportsmanship at the end.

Grade C

I loved it

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 25 December 2017]

"Tennis Racquet" is an American cartoon from 1949, so this one will soon have its 70th anniversary. If the name of the Kinneys doesn't make it obvious to you yet that it is another Disney production, then Pinto Colvig should for sure. Everybody's fool Goofy takes on the subject of professional sports again this time and we see him elaborate on the topic of tennis performing as a commentator, athlete and gardener who may take the grooming of the grass a bit too seriously. This recurring joke was maybe the best thing about it all. There are many other fun parts though, especially in the reporter's cabin, like during one scene an audience member is so enthusiastic about the commentator that he watches him rather than the on-court action. This is just one example of how this was a really funny and creative cartoon. Still is today. I write this as somebody who really loves watching professional tennis and it adds a very special note to it. To other tennis fans who didn't like it as much I might say that they shouldn't take it this seriously really as nobody's mocking our great sport. They are laughing with us, not about us or about what we love. To see how old this one is, let me say that the Laver domination was still over a decade away at this point. I'm still glad this was made in color as it really adds something in terms of outfits, the green grass etc. I really love the Goofy cartoons and this is one of my very favorites. It's almost as good on rewatch than on first watch and that's why I would also say it is a contender for best short film from its respective year. Highly recommended, a must-see if you love these old cartoons. This one's even more ahead of its time than most others from the Golden Age of Animation.

Not Up to the Usual Sports PIeces

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 22 January 2019]

One of the strengths of these little cartoons featuring Goofy, is that they try to give us a somewhat realistic view of the sport (granted, ridiculous things take place). But in this one about tennis, it features an announcer who is blocked by the crowd and can't see. It also is on a grass court and there is farmer who plants trees and sprinkles seeds while the guys are playing. The game itself is not treated with any respect. As a matter of fact, there seems to be general disdain. It's still our friend Goofy and it's OK, but I liked the other sports much better.

Anyone for tennis?

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 4 June 2013]

Goofy is a truly great character, he is immensely likable and while clumsy he is funny and charming at it. And he can work amazingly on his own(as well as with a foil), immediately standing out from the rest of the recurring popular Disney characters somewhat. There are better Goofy shorts out there than Tennis Racquet, but it's still entertaining. The repeated gags with the grounds-keeper and the exaggerated back-and-forth heads with the crowd are overdone and eventually got rather tiring. The story is also rather routine. However, the animation is very colourful and fluid with Goofy very nicely drawn. The music as usual has much character and is orchestrated appropriately and beautifully. The narration is very thoughtfully written, and still manages to not only entertain hugely but also teach, tennis is not my thing or my kind of sport but I learned a lot from Tennis Racquet. Having John McLeish, who was tailor-made for the role, not do the narration is a shock that will take some getting used to, but the narrator here still does a very good job. Goofy's expressions and action and how he defies the narrator and does everything badly provides the best of the humour, and when the humour is at its best it is actually very funny. It's just the repeated jokes that didn't work so well. Goofy in more-than-one-personality/character mode carries Tennis Racquet with real aplomb. In conclusion, a good short but not quite enough to class it among the gems with Goofy involved. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I have been very close to a sports reporter . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 17 March 2022]

. . . and the stories I've heard from him makes me believe that the match announcer portrayed during TENNIS RACKET is extremely true-to-life; this site's defective spell checker does not permit the correct typing of this title. It is not at all unusual for so-called sports journalists and stadium announcers to need to resort to questioning nearby fans to learn the score of the event upon which they are supposed to be reporting, according to people who have observed how this informational sausage is made. Things get REALLY messed up and confused when those fans sitting nearest to the press box are not able to follow the game with rapt attention themselves, due to trips to rest rooms, concession stands and souvenir shops. How sad.

Goofy Devastates Another Sport

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 6 December 2002]

A Walt Disney GOOFY Cartoon.

Goofy uses his TENNIS RACQUET to create merry mayhem all over the court...

This amusing little film is another entrant in the long series of Sports Goofy cartoons. Tennis fans will particularly appreciate the way in which their pastime is mercilessly mangled by the Goof. Doodles Weaver is the excitable narrator.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

Making Fun Of Tennis

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 7 January 2007]

Here's a takeoff on the sport of tennis. The first thing they do is make fun of the fact - at least when this was made - the sport didn't draw many fans. They show a long line of cars.....going to the nearby Flower Show, instead. The "packed crowd" is just packed in one small area of the stadium.

We then see the first contestant, "Big Ben," who is shown to be a primma donna and a man with an assortment of powerful shots against "Little Joe," a defensive specialist (meaning he just holds the racket up for self-defense, and the ball the hits and bounces back each time.)

The match goes back and forth and really silly things are seen such as "the greenskeeper" of this grass court coming out in the middle of play and mowing the grass, planting a tree, planting seeds and watering the lawn. Another thing frequently shown is crowd with their heads going back and forth in an exaggerated manner as the ball is hit back and forth. That gag is overdone.

This is not one of the better Disney sports cartoons featuring Goofy.