“They’re Off” is a 1948 Classic Disney Short directed by Jack Hannah.
With the science of horse racing, Goofy demonstrates the proper way to pick the winning horse.
Tropes in this work
- Alleged Steed: Old Moe is a bedraggled horse with a tiny chance of winning. Being the slowest horse in the race, Old Moe is the 100 to 1 shot. However, as Snapshot trips the other horses, Old Moe jumps over his leg.
- Snapshot might as well qualify as well due to his camera hog tendencies. Snapshot nearly wins when up against Old Moe, only to pose for the photo finish. Because “Snapshot just couldn’t resist the camera,” Old Moe wins.
- Attention Whore: Snapshot III, true to his name, loves having his picture taken, stopping in the middle of the race in front of a camera at one point. This proves to be his undoing at the finish line, losing to Old Moe because he stopped to pose for the photo finish.
- Butt Biter: Snapshot does this to one of the horses boxing him in.
- The Cameo: Near the beginning, Goofy has a vision of the unicorns from “Fantasia.”
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Snapshot trips the other horses near the end of the race. He then loses to Old Moe by posing for the photo finish.
- Chekhov's Gag: Snapshot’s camera hog tendency. He is shown stopping to pose before a camera on the home stretch. As mentioned above, this becomes his undoing as it costs him his victory.
- Clothing Damage: At the finish line, the flash of the camera somehow destroys the photographer’s clothes.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: When the photo finish is taken, the flash of the camera destroys the photographer’s clothes leaving him in his underwear.
- Cool Horse: Snapshot III is from a long line of champion racehorses. He even runs like a champion, not to mention his enormous speed after his late start. However, Snapshot is too much of a camera hog to be of any use on the track. His camera hog tendency is what costs him his victory.
- Darkhorse Victory: Old Moe, the 100 to 1 shot, wins the race just by being persistent, being the only one that Snapshot III didn't trip up. Snapshot only loses because he couldn't resist posing for the photo finish. Ironically, Snapshot is literally a dark and almost wins.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Though not a villainous competitor, Snapshot stops during the home stretch to trip the other horses, except Old Moe, who dodges him.
- The Ditz: The bumpkin wearing a yellow suit who bets on Old Moe. He is obviously unaware that Ole Moe is the 100 to 1 shot. At the end, after Old Moe wins, for some odd reason, this man burns his winnings with a cigar.
- Downer Ending: The wealthy Goofy-like fellow wearing a top hat bets a lot of money (presumably all his cash) on Snapshot. With Snapshot losing to Old Moe, the wealthy man tears up his tickets and his clothes are tattered, implying that he is now broke.
- Foreshadowing: There are hints that Snapshot won’t win the race.
- Notice that Snapshot is number 5 as shown on the racing form and his saddle pad. 5 (like 13) is considered an unlucky number.
- During the race, Snapshot stops before a camera posing for a picture. Guess how he loses to Old Moe.
- Meaningful Name: Snapshot III is well-named by his camera hog tendencies. He’ll posed for a photo any time he sees a camera.
- Money to Burn: At the end, the guy who bet on Old Moe uses his winnings to light a cigar.
- Narrator: As a typical Goofy cartoon, most of it is narrated. The narrator even acts as the announcer when the horses are racing. The only two characters who speak are the bumpkin who places his bet on Old Moe and one of the horses.
- Perpetual Smiler: The bumpkin wearing the yellow suit smiles throughout the entire cartoon, except when burning his winnings with a cigar at the very end.
- Recycled Animation: When Goofy is calculating the race odds, he has visions of horses running around, which include unicorns and pegasi from the "Pastoral Symphony" segment of Fantasia.
- Visual Pun: A few horse-related visual puns, this being a horse racing cartoon.
- When discussing some of the systems gamblers use to pick which horses to bet on, the narrator states “Some get their dope straight from the feedbag.” A spectator literally eats hay from a feedbag.
- At “Others right from the horse’s mouth,” a horse literally speaks to another spectator.
- During the race, a horse literally runs on the rail.
