Goofy Gets an Italian Job in Goofy and the Gondola

Over the summer, my brother Nathan spent five weeks in Italy. He was in Florence, though, so gondolas weren’t a part of his experience. In Goofy and the Gondola: An Adventure in Italy, part of Disney’s Small World Library, Goofy is in Venice with Mickey, which means that he has plenty of opportunity to become familiar with the slender boats.

This story finds Mickey and Goofy enjoying the sights and sounds of Venice together as a part of their Italian vacation. The tale highlights sites such as St. Mark’s Cathedral and the Palace of the Doges, but its primary focus is on the different occupations that can be found in Italy. In real life, I’m pretty sure that no American could get off a cruise ship and immediately begin working in Venice without so much as a work Visa. But that’s easy to overlook here.

Goofy’s reason for wanting to get a job is that he wants to buy Mickey a particular souvenir that he saw in the toy shop, but he concludes that it’s much too expensive. He hopes to earn enough money to afford the toy gondola for which the story is named. Young Carlo’s father owns the toy store, and when he realizes how much Goofy wants to buy that toy gondola, Carlo offers to help Goofy find a job. There are lots of options in Venice, and Goofy tries his hand at several positions: gondolier, fisherman, gelato salesman. Unfortunately, his natural clumsiness always seems to get in his way. Will he ever find a way to earn the money to buy Mickey that gondola?

This story is sweet because everything Goofy does is motivated by his friendship with Mickey. The story also demonstrates the value of good customer service; Carlo is dedicated to helping those who come into his father’s shop, so they are more than happy to give him a hand when he asks for it.

The book is also educational, as it offers a glimpse into how various people in Venice spend their time. The illustrations do a great job of establishing the setting, even better than the text. At the end of the book are four pages filled with little facts about Venice. The book has these sprinkled in as well, but this is the part of the book to turn to if you’re looking for something purely factual. It discusses how many bridges there are in the city, what types of boats you might see along the canals that criss-cross Venice, what different types of pizza are made in Italy and several other pertinent topics. This is a good basic resource for a child interested in Italy and could be a doorway into a more intensive study.

Getting to go to Italy for the summer is a rare privilege, but children can live vicariously through their Disney pals with Goofy and the Gondola.