No Smoking (1951) User Reviews

"No Smoking" (1951) is a short all about cigarettes and their addictive

[kristinaa · 8/10 · 27 May 2006]

"No Smoking" (1951) is a short all about cigarettes and their addictive nature. It begins with a short history of smoking with the various characters being played by "Goofy people". It begins with Christopher Columbus first encountering cigarettes in America with the Native Americans. It then continues to show modern day Goofy and his fight to quit smoking. It shows Goofy and all the temptations he faces to continue smoking. The ending is interesting, but I won't give it away.

I'm sure that anyone who smokes can identify with Goofy's struggle. This is a great short as it is still relevant today. Recommended as are All classic Disney cartoon shorts.

Smoke up?

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 6 February 2014]

In the politically correct America we live in today, it's so easy to look at a Disney short like No Smoking and have our eyes widen a bit. Just when you thought a ten-minute educational short on how the menstrual cycle works is enough, herein lies another short by the enormous and ubiquitous empire that is Disney that focuses on their popular character Goofy having a huge nicotine dependency. In one desperate, nearly-crazed attempt to score something he can smoke after quitting cold turkey, Goofy demands a man for "a cig, a fag, a cigar" and even weed. In 1951, this didn't bother anyone, but try showing Jack Kinney's No Smoking before a Disney film today and watch how fast a lawsuit or a heap of potboiling controversy would result.

However, No Smoking doesn't promote tobacco products nor does it really have much of an opinion about them other than showcasing how out of control and potentially implosive one can get if they quit a long-standing habit. Goofy is a chain-smoking addict who smokes while doing every conceivable event before upping the courageous and the will to quit one day by throwing everything he has cigarette-related away. It takes all but six seconds for nicotine-dependent tendencies to kick in before Goofy becomes practically a lunatic going through withdrawal, searching every sidewalk crack and vacant area outside in desperate hopes to find a cigarette butt he can smoke. Despite the subject matter, which could've been darker and more eerie in the blink of an eye, this is a tame short that, again, is worth more of a mention in a discussion of Disney or how the times have changed more-so than the lasting value or present entertainment value one gets while viewing such a short. Not to mention, the short was extremely subversive for its time since the war on tobacco had yet to begin, and Television and film during the time still portrayed smoking as somewhat glamorous.

Directed by: Jack Kinney.

Thank you for smoking! Or prank you?

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 28 December 2017]

"No Smoking" is an American cartoon from 1951, so this one is already over 65 years old and if you know a bit about old cartoons and read the names of the Kinneys and especially voice actor Pinto Colvig, then you may know already that this is another little Disney movie starring Goofy as Everyday Joe. At under 6.5 minutes, it is definitely not the longest of the bunch, but the way it goes for quality over quantity is pretty impressive. This was a really fast and creative watch. It's not about Goofy showing us his (lack of) talent when it comes to any particular sport, but this one's content-wise more similar to his take on fathership for example as it is about smoking and cigarettes. It starts with a very brief, but very entertaining animated summary on how cigarettes got to the American mainland, before the movie moves away from history into the now as we see a man/dog in desperate need of his nicotine. If you have seen Mad Men for example, you will know how smoking was perceived as something entirely different back then compared to what it is today and this does not only refer to the scientific progress and knowledge we got today. Anyway, back to this one here, I enjoyed it a lot, but maybe I am a bit biased too because I like most of these Goofy cartoons. The narration that is not as frequent here as in other Goofy shorts is spot on and adds some nice comedy in the audio parts that even elevate the video parts. And the film's title has a bit of a tendency to be way ahead of its time. Not every joke here is a winner, and maybe it's not as good on rewatch as it is on first watch, but it is still witty, funny and creative enough for me to call it a contender for best cartoon from 1951 and if you know how amazingly strong and high-quality cartoons were during that time, then you know that this is a very prestigious title. A must-see for everybody who loves old cartoons. Highly recommended.

Insightful, Though Heavy Handed View of the Habit

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 15 January 2019]

We are introduced to Goofy's big time habit of smoking. We see him every moment of the day puffing away, in a cloud of cigarette smoke. At some point he tries to quit, but in a smoking culture it is easier said than done. This is a fast paced little cartoon that is probably designed for children, to show them the evils of smoking. Colorful and well-done.

"And the little man wins a big cigar!"

[wile_E2005 · 10/10 · 28 April 2007]

But Goofy isn't that little man.

Turns out, Goofy, whom is a chain-smoker, has tried to quit but now wants to smoke again. He is doing anything for a cigar, cigarette, pipe, etc. with hilarious results.

This cartoon is probably banned from TV by now, and it's too bad, because this Disney cartoon is extremely funny! It seems to try and show how bad smoking could be, but here they don't show how it blackens your lungs or gives you cancer. That would make it funnier! The real fun begins at Goofy's office, where Goofy (called "George" here) is smoking tons of cigarettes as he chugs on them like a train. He decides to quit after having irritated eyes and tickling throats, but everyone else in his office still smokes. One guy even does the old tradition of passing out cigars in honor of being a father, but does not give one to Goofy! Then comes the race to try and get any tobacco-related product for him to light up. Many funny things occur, including Goofy fighting with a hobo to get a cigarette lying on the street, and he even grabs what LOOKS like a cigar but is really a pen, and even grabs a white pipe that's really part of a carnival shooting gallery (with the white ducks and pipes).

Then comes the funny part where Goofy/George asks an old banker for something to smoke, asking for "a cig, a f*g, a pipe, nail, weed, rope or chaw or cigar..." and gets an exploding cigar, which he still enjoys.

I think the Disney animators really made this short in order to get Walt Disney himself to quit smoking! But to no avail, since Disney continued smoking and died of lung cancer in 1966. But overall, I recommend this 100%, although some of it might gross you out.

Authorities swear that at least 96 million Americans . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 19 April 2022]

. . . have succumbed to slow agonizing torturous demises inflicted by the coffin nails made fun of during NO SMOKING. This is more than triple the combined death toll from War, Famine, Murder and Suicide since 1492. Both the producer and lead voice actor of this animated short would soon croak from the effects of chain-smoking the original demon weed. However, these clueless dudes had developed, nurtured and promoted such a weird, perverse and anti-social ilk of "humor" that they frequently tried to crack funny while trespassing through graveyards. Often class clowns grow up to be serial killers, but seldom on the scale of the nefarious Dizzy mob. That bozo Mr. G. over in Chicago got the needle, but he only had three dozen or so corpses in his cellar. Try to imagine how a just Hereafter treats someone arriving with the blood of 96 million or so once-living souls marking them as red-handed.

Very good and in my mind still relevant today

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 13 February 2011]

No Smoking is not a favourite of mine really. However, I still thought it was very good and in my mind nowadays it is relevant. No Smoking is funny, there are some good writing and sight gags, but it made me think too even as a child. I am not a smoker, I never have been and I doubt I ever will be, but I still found this cartoon relevant. The cartoon ends on an interesting note too.

The animation is good mostly, it looks solid, has some good visual ideas and Goofy looks good. The music and story are also solid and Pinto Colvig does a great job as the voice of Goofy.

All in all, No Smoking is very good. Whether you smoke or not, it should be a fun and interesting watch, without feeling you are being preached to. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Good view on how smoking addicts feel.

[Animany94 · 7/10 · 4 June 2018]

And that's much about it, because that's the only point of it to show us.

If it really was an anti smoke short, it was ruined by the ending. It pretty much had the whole point of stopping smoking left unanswered. But it illustrated the frustration by stopping pretty well.

The animation was good, I will give it that.

I never thought I'd hear Goofy beg for weed...

[MissSimonetta · 8/10 · 10 March 2016]

With shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and all the merchandise for kiddies in the Disney theme parks, one is usually shocked by some of the risqué material in earlier Disney cartoons. In the 1920s, Mickey Mouse smoked, drank, and snapped Minnie Mouse's bloomers. In the 1930s, Clarabelle Cow lounges in her room reading erotic novels of the day like Elinor Glyn's infamous Three Weeks and Pete often has decidedly inappropriate designs on Minnie Mouse. But none of that shocked me as much as No Smoking (1951), which features Goofy as a borderline insane nicotine addict and ends with him unable to kick the habit.

It's a funny short, full of clever sight gags and a breathless pace people tend to associate more with Warner Brothers than Disney. Goofy is not as, well, goofy as we're used to seeing him, but he's still a lot of fun here. For a modern viewer, the biggest laughs will come from the more adult moments, such as when Goofy begs a passerby for anything to smoke, including weed!

More Goofy narrating...

[OllieSuave-007 · 5/10 · 19 November 2017]

A narrator tells the story of a Goofy lookalike named George Geef, who is an avid smoker, but attempted to quit. After stopping smoking for, like, a few minutes, he had that sudden urge to take a puff again. So, he goes through highs and lows to get that cigar or cigarette.

The message in this cartoon would obviously be that smoking is bad for you; however, it wasn't really construed appropriately here. The ending was left pretty ambiguous as to what George was telling you - smoke or not to smoke.

Like much of other Goofy cartoons, this was has a lot of narrating (and smoking, in this case). Not much of a laughable cartoon here.

Grade D+