Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Motompa
Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Iseerphia
All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.
Ariella Broughton
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
OllieSuave-007
A narrator tells the story of the racetrack, where a bunch of Goofy lookalikes bet on various horses, some through dirty tricks. Goofy himself is the rich guy in this one, betting on a posh horse. Just about the funniest thing in the cartoon are the names of the horses. Other than that, much of the cartoon is just a lot of narrating and horse-betting - not much of a laughable cartoon here.Grade D
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"They're Off" is a 6.5-minute cartoon from 1948, so this one will have its 70th anniversary next year and it from the glory era of cartoons of course. The words in the title are usually spoken at the beginning of a race at the racetrack, but this one here is not about cars, motorbikes or even boats, but about horse racing. It is another of these "educational" short films starring Goofy and I must admit I quite like these indeed. This one here is probably not among my very favorites from the series, also because horse racing was never too high on my priority list, but they gave it a nice and entertaining (as always) execution I guess, by including fun references about the horses, jockeys, viewers in the stands and of course the gamblers as this is one of the most popular betting sports and apparently also was over half a century ago. As usual in these, all the characters are played by Goofy lookalikes and this also adds a certain humor to it. Of course, it is a Disney production. Good watch overall. I give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out.
morrison-dylan-fan
After a bit of a hectic week,I started to get in the mood for an easy-going,cheerful final viewing of the week. Remembering that I still had the last 2 titles on the Complete collection to view,I got set for the Goofy races.The plot:Being masters of spotting the winner, the wealthy members of the public put bets on Snapshot III winning the horse race. As the race kicks off, everyone discovers that Snapshot III is a bit too in love with all the attention. View on the film:Taking over from regular Goofy narrator John McLeish, Harlow Wilcox gives a wonderfully witty narration which keeps the racing energetic as Wilcox droll voice give the movie a playfulness. Gathering a whole bundle of Goofy's at the race track,the screenplay by Riley Thomson & Campbell Grant displays a sharp whip in giving each Goofy "their moment" and making them stand out in the crowd. Running round the entire track,director Jack Hannah gives the animation an incredible flow,with the difficult design of the horses each having a detailed,lively appearance,as Goofy crosses the finish line.
TheLittleSongbird
A very good start to the 1948 series of Goofy shorts. It is not one of Goofy's or the How to...series' best, with the narrator not voiced by John McLeish a bit of a shock. The narrator still does a very good job, very droll and commanding, but lacking McLeish's more sardonic and thoughtful approach. Even with this change, as said before They're Off is still immensely enjoyable. The animation is vibrant and flows well from frame to frame, and the music is lush and lively with some witty sound effects. The narration still manages to entertain with some funny interaction- the gem has always been that Goofy often does the exact opposite to what the narrator says- and also to teach, I know next to nothing about horse-riding/racing and I learnt a good deal from They're Off. The gags are funny and well-timed, Goofy takes on multiple character roles again- except with a more dramatic rather than physical approach- and excels hugely and the fact that the horses had their own individual character was very nice. Overall, even if you don't know much about the subject, seeing as it's Goofy you're guaranteed to have some degree of fun, I certainly did. 9/10 Bethany Cox