Western Animation / How to Hook Up Your Home Theater

Surge-protected powerbar, a spaghetti of AV jacks and a vintage two-dialer. How's that for Schizo Tech?

A throwback to Classic Disney Shorts animation, as well as an experiment with "paperless animation", "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater" is a 2007 short starring Goofy, in a short that obviously draws much of its inspiration from Goofy's "How To" shorts of the 40's and 50's. The short in question features Goofy trying to acquire a big TV and all other components as the narrator provides commentary on how it's all done - all while lampooning just how many accessories and commercial items are available for the taking as far as TV goes.

Originally shown in front of National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, it has since been released on the "Walt Disney Animation Studios Shorts Collection Vol.1" DVD/Blu-Ray.

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Tropes:

• All-CGI Cartoon: Though it definitely doesn't look it, it was made completely without paper, in a new style dubbed 'tradigital animation'.
• Blatant Lies: 5-Minute setup... or not. The Narrator loves mocking this.
• Continuity Nod: There are references to many of the earlier Goofy "How-To" shorts, in particular, "How to Play Football".
• Compressed Adaptation: A three-minute version occasionally airs on Disney Channel's Have a Laugh! Among other cuts, the soundscape and remote control scenes are deleted.
• Cosmic Deadline: After Goofy sets up his home theater, he realises that the Big Game is starting, and panics over the absurd amount of remote controls that came with the setup. Then the narrator reminds Goofy that he has a universal remote.
• Daydream Surprise: Goofy imagines his setup as like being at the game, and imagines himself in his chair getting the football and getting run in for a touchdown. At the end, he does end up in the game, gets the ball, and is tackled repeatedly. At the end, the referee throws a penalty flag on him.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Or at least the narration fits the title.
• Faux-To Guide: Like the classic shorts, the narrator tries to be genuine, but Goofy screws it all up.
• Frank's 2000 Inch TV: Goofy buys what has to be the biggest set available to the consumer market - a 1200" one. It's so big, in fact, that the delivery crew had to lift Goofy's house up just to fit it inside.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • Before Goofy swipes four pictures off of a table, we see a picture of Clarabelle Cow, Goofy's first appearance in Mickey's Revue, a real life picture of Walt Disney, and a signed caricature of John Lasseter.
  • There's text on the TV package that reads "M1C-K3Y MO-U5E" and a logo for Dopey Digital.
  • In the wide pan of inside the hardware store, you can see one Goofy shoplifting.
• Furry Reminder: Right before his TV arrives to his house, Goofy is shown sleeping on the floor like a normal dog, albeit lying in a human position.
• Genre Throwback: Just take one look at the poster above. 'In Technicolor' indeed.
• Impossibly-Compact Folding: The tiny instruction booklet unfolds until it covers the whole room.
• The Last Straw: As Goofy is floating in midair holding up the huge pile of electronics, the tiny pair of batteries that lands on them causes him to fall.
• Lemony Narrator: The narrator shows shades of this.
  Narrator: (as Goofy is staring at a very large TV) Ahem! A conservatively-sized unit is the most prudent selection.
• Long List:
  • A few key components, indeed. There's the DVD, the CD, the LD, the DVR, the VCR, the audio receiver, AV cables, TV cables, satellite dish, with satellite, the Blu-ray, the Green-Ray, the Who-Ray, the Hi-Fi, Wi-Fi, HDMI, heebie-jeebies, and E=MC squared. Oh, and don't forget the batteries. They're not included.
  • Behold the perfectly balanced soundscape: the center channel, left and right front speakers, a bit more to the left and a bit more to the right speakers, surround speakers, SURROUNDING surround speakers, AND VARIOUS, OVERKILL, TO ENSURE EVENTUAL DEAFNESS SPEAKERS! And the all-important, subwoofer.
• Misleading Package Size: Goofy is having trouble opening a small package of cables. After failing to open it, a single drop of sweat causes the package to burst open, covering Goofy in about half a metric ton of cables.
• Mythology Gag: The two football teams are called the Dawgs and the Geefs, both references to two of Goofy's pseudonyms over the years, Dippy Dawg (his early incarnation) and George Geef (his "everyman" name from his 1950s cartoons).
• Retraux: The entire short is animated in the style of the 40's and 50's Disney cartoons, with the Goofy headshot, "Walt Disney presents Goofy" title card and "The End, A Walt Disney Production" cards even making appearances.
• Shout-Out:
  • The team's T-shirts have letters that spell "GO TEAM". However, they were standing in the wrong position, making it form "GO MEAT". "GO MEAT" being Hillshire Farm's slogan.
  • The "Shiny Stuff" store looks an awful lot like a Best Buy.
• That Poor Cat: Hit by a delivery truck.
• Two-Keyed Lock: To engage the universal remote.

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