What is Goofy?

So there's this part in Rob Reiner's Stand by Me (always a fave of mine) where they discuss what animal Goofy is. The kids are baffled by the fact that though Goofy is a dog, he wears clothes, drives a car and does other anthropomorphic things, making him more human than dog. I accepted this discussion and never really figured out my take on it.

I've done some thinking and decided this is one of the dumbest conversations ever (even given that I think they were stoned). It is not strange that Goofy is anthropomorphic, tons of characters are: Donald Duck, Micky Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Yogi, Pooh etc. What is strange is that though there are tons of human-like ducks, bunnies, mice, there are very few dogs.

Pluto, Odie, Astro, Scooby Doo, even Snoopy, who can type - all more dog than human.

I did some serious brain work and had a hard time coming up with anthropomorphic cartoon dogs other than Goofy. Here's what I got*:

Auggie Doggy and Daddy Doggie - a father and son team that look like dogs but carry on life as if completely human. It is clear that they understand morals and emotion.

Underdog - a Superman spoof who speaks in rhyme, something more advanced than mere talking, which if alone, does not make an animal completely anthropomorphic.

Brian Griffin - taking language a step further, Brian employs sarcasm, something only those with high functioning brains that understand irony can do. He is also a drunk atheist who graduated from Brown and held many jobs.


Dogbert - complete megalomaniac with the ultimate goal of conquering the world and enslaving humans. He also gives advice and dabbles in business consulting.

Can you think of any others? Speech alone is not enough; they must actually act like a human.

*I didn't cheat and search Google - this is what I got from my head, something it seems people rely on very little these days.