Motor Mania
Directed by:Jack Kinney
Producers: Animated by:John Sibley
Ed Aardal
Jack Boyd
Music by:Paul J. Smith
Layouts by:Al Zinnen
Backgrounds by: Studio: Release date:30/06/1950
Running time:7 min
Color process:Technicolor
Synopsis
In this Goofy cartoon from the 50’s, a Jekyll and Hyde dynamic illustrates how Mr. Walker, who is friendly and normally mild tempered turns into Mr. Wheeler, a crazed maniac who experiences road rage when behind the wheel of an automobile. An interesting reflection on the predominance of car culture at the time, Motor Mania subtly critiques the social attitudes held towards driving at the time, as well as illustrates how automobiles change a person’s psychology, rendering them into a Mr. Hyde-like state.
As soon as Mr. Wheeler steps out of the car, he changes back into the light hearted Mr. Walker once more, a pedestrian experiencing street life finding it to be chaotic and impossible amongst the automobile accidents. Subtly extending a moral parable on driving to the viewer, Motor Mania shows in one scene the front view of a car and likens this perspective to looking through the barrel of a gun, once again associating driving with a violent, crazed psychological state.
References:
IMDb. “Motor Mania.” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042750/.