In 1934, MGM produced ten shorts in the "Goofy Movies" series. This is the second. It's a burlesque of newsreels, with a cut down movie from the 1910s, with Pete Smith offering a commentary in his snarky style. Your enjoyment of it will depend on your appreciation of 1930s humor, and of Pete Smith.

I enjoy Smith a lot. He entered the movie business as a writer for movie magazines, then went to work for Paramount as a publicity man. He worked for Marshall Neilan for a while, but by 1925, he was head of publicity for MGM. With the coming of sound, he switched to narrating MGM shorts and producing them for the company. He picked up two Oscars for best short subjects through his retirement in 1954. He died in 1979, 86 years old.

The greater part of each GOOFY MOVIE consisted of the movie cutdown, in which Pete's comments offered a silly plot for the goings-on and he pointed out the actual foolishness of the movie. Unlike similar efforts from Warner Brothers, his points are accurate and his voicing offers a lot of humor in itself.

The satire subgenre uses humor, irony, exaggeration, and parody to critique and comment on various aspects of society, culture, politics, institutions, and human behavior. Satires aim to provoke thought, highlight absurdities, and expose hypocrisy by presenting familiar situations in a distorted or exaggerated manner. They entertain while also providing social commentary and encouraging viewers to reflect on the subjects being criticized.

Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

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Will Ferrell, Angela Grillo, and Lap-Gei Cheung in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

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A satire on movie newsreels combines with humorous narration of silent screen footage in this one reel comedy short.

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Goofy Movies Number Two

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