Q: I have two questions. The first is… today I was playing Kinect Disneyland and, this is going to sound kind of stupid, but I overheard one of the guests ask his father, “Goofy’s a dog, right?” I couldn’t help but wonder what Goofy really is. Is he a dog, or something else? My other question is what was Sleeping Beauty Castle called before Sleeping Beauty was released? Seeing as the film Sleeping Beauty was released in 1959, and Disneyland was opened four years prior.
Katy, Sherwood, Oregon
A: Goofy is portrayed as a human character with doglike features; his original name was Dippy Dawg. Sleeping Beauty Castle has always had that name, as the film was in production when the park opened, and Walt obviously wanted to promote his upcoming animated feature. (Before the park was built, Walt did once mistakenly refer to the castle as Snow White’s Castle on a television show, but that was never its name.)
Dave Smith