For more than 60 years, Goofy -- the awkward, toothy, curious, and good-spirited Everyman of the Disney cartoon characters -- has been a top performer in every medium, beginning with a bit part in a Disney short, and eventually becoming a major media star in print, television, theme parks, and a variety of merchandise.

Why is Goofy so enduringly popular? Primarily, it's because he's funny. In any language, with any age group, Goofy's antics always communicate. But, beyond that, his popularity is connected to the source of his humor. We generally see Goofy ever-valiantly attempting things that we ourselves might fear, "goofing" them up in a way that we're a little afraid we might, and yet shining through it all with qualities to which we most aspire. Goofy is cheerful, eternally loyal, and always willing to help his friends. He has a gentle, childlike innocence and wonder about the world around him. And, perhaps most important, Goofy always assumes the best about his fellow man.

The character whom we know today as Goofy first appeared six decades ago in Mickey's Revue (1932). Then a bit player (as an obnoxious "laugher" in a barnyard audience), he sported whiskers and square spectacles and was called Dippy Dawg.

Walt often described the type of physical humor used in the Walt Disney Studio's cartoons as being "goofy," and with Orphan's Benefit (1934), that name officially stuck to this affable character. But Goofy's personality really began to take shape in the 1935 cartoon Moving Day, in which animator Art Babbitt built up Goofy's role and gave his character definition. And thus, a new Disney star was born.