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This article is about the character from Winnie the Pooh. For the character from The Lion King, see Gopher (The Lion King).
Gopher is the only character in the original shorts that is an original character and not based on someone from the A.A. Milne books, a fact he notes in his first appearance when he says "I'm not in the book, you know!" Instead, he was initially developed by Disney as a replacement for Piglet. Apparently, the proposed character of Gopher was thought to have a more "folksy, all-American, grass-roots image" than Piglet. While American audiences loved the character, British audiences were less than pleased. Like most Pooh Bear characters, he's named after his own species.
Gopher is also known for his unique voice characterization. He tends to whistle his consonants, particularly his S's. This is lampshaded in his debut; when Pooh mimics Gopher while asking for honey, Gopher tells Pooh he should do something about his speech impediment.
Personality[]
Gopher has a very plain personality; he is rarely seen outside his burrow, so not much is known about him socially. He is generally a hard-worker, especially in his mine shafts (tunnels) and spends most of his time tediously working on them. Despite his low social life, Gopher is not a silent character, while talking to the other animals he has a habit of whistling out his sibilant consonants.
Gopher first appears in the featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. When Owl discovers that Pooh has become stuck in Rabbit's door, he asks Gopher, who is a self-proclaimed expert in excavation, to assist in removing Pooh. Gopher introduces himself, explaining that he "is not in the book." Gopher notes that the project is dangerous, and could take a few days. He offers to use dynamite but is refused, and so Gopher leaves, but falls down his own hole.
Later on that night, Gopher reappears, intent on eating his midnight snack. Gopher notes that he goes home for lunch, and produces his lunch box. He reveals that the contents include summer squash, salmon salad, succotash, spiced custard, and finally, honey. Pooh asks Gopher for a taste of the honey, to which Gopher agrees. But before Pooh can help himself, Rabbit interferes and confiscates the honey and places a sign on the ground that says, "Don't feed the bear." Gopher goes angry, and leaves in a huff, resulting in him falling down his own hole again.
When Pooh finally gets thin enough to be pulled out, Gopher joins all the other characters on helping to pull Pooh out by taking one of Roo's arms (who was in front of him), but he and Roo were pulling too hard, and cause Eeyore's tail (which Roo was pulling on) to fall off, resulting in Gopher falling down his own hole for the third time. He later emerges again, noting that Pooh, who was finally shot out from Rabbit's role, is about to fly out of the book, and urges the book to turn the page, which it does, resulting in Pooh landing in the Honey Tree's hole.
In Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Gopher makes a minor appearance at the beginning. He notes to Pooh that it is "Winds-Day", inspiring Pooh to go and wish all his friends a Happy Winds-Day. He appears again at the end, when the main characters are cheering for Pooh and Piglet by bouncing them up and down with a sheet, above Gopher's hole. Gopher pops out, wondering what the commotion was about, when Pooh and Piglet accidentally land on him, sending him down his hole (again).
In The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Gopher's character has a very prominent role, appearing in over half the episodes. He is shown to be a bit of a workaholic and is obsessed with dynamite. His various conflicts often Rabbit, as Gopher's various plans often take place underneath Rabbit's garden.
In the episode "Fish Out of Water", Gopher is forced to move in with Rabbit temporarily after a fish migration takes over his tunnels.
In the episode "Lights Out", Rabbit secretly borrows Gopher's helmet. Gopher becomes scared of the dark, and whenever someone says 'Dark', he freaks out, but he soon conquers his fear and helps Piglet find the others in the tunnel.
One of Gopher's most notable episodes was "Pooh Skies", in which Pooh has "broken" the sky. Pooh and the others move in with Gopher to protect themselves from the fallen sky. Gopher, unhappy with the idea, helps Pooh to go up to the sky and successfully "fix" it.
The episode "To Dream the Impossible Scheme" introduced Gopher's Grandpappy, who, unlike Gopher, prefers to dream about things rather than do them.
In the episode "Sham Pooh", Pooh lost his appetite and Owl thinks that Pooh is missing. So, Gopher switched places with Owl after Owl switches places with Pooh. Although, when he tries to fly, he ended up falling down.
In "Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too", Gopher helps Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore in choosing a Christmas Tree. He does so reluctantly, as he apparently hibernates during the winter (and so Tigger has to wake him up using a loud alarm clock).
In "A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving" special, Gopher is first seen peeking out of his home-hole to see Pooh sing his Thanksgiving song. He later is seen bringing a barrel of lemonade for Thanksgiving dinner along with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Owl. Gopher is also seen later on following Rabbit's "proper" plans for Thanksgiving dinner. He makes the pumpkin pie (utilizing dynamite).
Gopher, with a similar design to his portrayal in the New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, makes a cameo appearance in the episode "Terminal Pete". He plays a prominent role as a destructive pest that Pete's daughter, Pistol adopts as a pet. In this appearance, Gopher does not speak and only makes animal noises as an actual gopher does. The cameo appearance was subtly acknowledged by the writers as the character is referred to as "Gopher" throughout the episode.
He briefly cameos again in the episode "Bringin' on the Rain".
Gopher makes minor appearances in the 2002 Christmas special-feature A Very Merry Pooh Year. He only has three lines. To date, this is Gopher's last appearance in the Winnie the Pooh films and specials as he only appears in flashbacks in the was-coming movies (Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie).
Gopher has sometimes made cameo appearances as one of the guests at the club. He helps Mickey by stopping Goofy ruining Max's date in the episode "Max's Embarrassing Date". He digs underneath the club, so Goofy falls in it. Mickey jokingly says that there are probably termites in the club to which Gopher jokingly replies: "Well, I'm an awfully big termite."
Gopher is a resident of the 100 Acre Wood and a friend of Pooh. Though the 100 Acre Wood appears in previous games, Gopher does not appear until Kingdom Hearts II. This makes him one of only two Pooh characters in Kingdom Hearts II that do not appear in the first Kingdom Hearts game, the other being Kanga.
Gopher has a minor role in the 100 Acre Wood's storyline. He appears three times, the first at Piglet's House warning Pooh of "Windsday" (as he did in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day). His second appearance is at the Spooky Cave helping Sora search for Pooh. His final appearance is at Starry Hill saying goodbye to Sora.
He is also part of the Hunny Slider mini-game, serving as a buffer between Pooh and various obstacles.
Gopher returned in Kingdom Hearts III, where he helps Sora get Pooh some honey.
In Winnie the Pooh and Friends, too!,
Gopher appears popping out of his hole to warn Pooh of the blustery day ahead of him and his friends right before they go on an adventure.
Gopher appears as an audio-animatronic in the dark attraction. He can be seen during the Blustery Day section telling Pooh that it's Windsday. In the Magic Kingdom version, Gopher can be seen in Rabbit's garden popping out of his holes.
Gallery[]
Disney Fanon Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Gopher (Winnie the Pooh).
Trivia[]
Gopher is the only major animal character not once seen as a stuffed toy in Christopher Robin's room.
Gopher's lack of roles in future films such as the 2011 film could be due to Disney's intention to adapt A.A. Milne's stories more closely (Gopher was to appear in the stories but was turned down, hence his "I'm not in the book" comment in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree).
Kingdom Hearts III ended the 13-year-long absence of Gopher since Pooh's Heffalump Halloween. Notably, the character appears alongside Lumpy, marking the first time that the two have been seen together within the Pooh franchise.
Gopher's design is actually a modified Mr. Busy the beaver from Lady and the Tramp, and he even has the same accent. When Gopher talks about the possibility of using dynamite in Honey Tree, some animation of the Beaver is reused for this.
In My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Tigger asked Beaver (who was designed after both Gopher and Mr. Busy) to guess a password believing he wouldn't know. He guessed it correctly and Tigger responded by sadly saying, "I miss Gopher."
Although he didn't appear in the 2011 film or any appearances after Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie to date, he makes an appearance on one of the newly-made spell cards for Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and is seen in one of the re-dubbing series, The Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Strangely, Gopher isn't redubbed by his current voice actor, Michael Gough, similar to Kanga.
On Gopher's mailbox, his name is spelled GOFUR.
According to the Little Golden Book Winnie the Pooh Meets Gopher, his full name is Samuel J. Gopher. Also in the book, Gopher is colored brown rather than gray.
Gopher didn't make an appearance in Christopher Robin, despite being a sequel to the animated franchise. This could be due to his hard-working nature, which would be against the film's message of spending more time with family and friends instead of working, to stay more true to the books, or because gophers aren't native to England.
Welcome to Pooh Corner:Robert Rabbit • Happy The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh:Mrs. Robin • Birdzilla • Mama Heffalump • Junior Heffalump • Papa Heffalump • Crows • Kessie • Pygmy Piglets • Crud • Smudge • Stan and Heff • Wooster • Bruno • Ted, Pinky & Vacuum Head • Pack Rats • Nasty Jack • Nasty Jack's Gang • Bugs • Jagular • Rabbit's relatives • Long John Cottontail • Dexter • Skippy Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin:Skullasaurus • Butterflies • Tyrannosaurus Rex Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You:Winifred The Tigger Movie:Squirrel • Tigger's mom Pooh's Heffalump Movie:Lumpy • Mama Heffalump My Friends Tigger & Pooh:Darby • Buster • Beaver • Woodpecker • Opossum Twins Pooh's Super Sleuth Christmas Movie:Santa Claus • Holly Winnie the Pooh:Balloon • The Backson • Rabbit's Friends and Relations Christopher Robin:Evelyn Robin • Madeline Robin • Giles Winslow Jr.
Episodes
Welcome to Pooh Corner "You Need a Friend" • "Doing What I Do Best" • "The Pooh Scouts" • "Brighten Your Corner" • "Safety First" • "Rabbit Learns to Share" • "The Great Outdoors" • "Surprise, Surprise" • "Piglet Pride" • "Roo's Great Adventure" • "Eeyore Talks to Himself" • "Snow Falls on Pooh Corner" • "Hello, Hello There" • "Practice Makes Perfect" • "The Old Swimming Hole" • "Pooh Makes a Trade" • "A Bicycle Built for Five" • "My Echo and I" • "Pooh Learns to Remember" • "Wishing" • "Don't Quit" • "Holiday for Pooh Bear" • "Pooh Builds a Bee House" • "Piglet Lends a Helping Hand" • "Pooh Borrows Trouble" • "Clouds" • "The Fastest Rabbit in the Wood" • "When I Was Younger" • "Eeyore Joins the Band" • "Eeyore's Costume Party" • "A Swing for Eeyore" • "Do it Now" • "Carrots, Carrots, and More Carrots" • "Hi Neighbor" • "Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti" • "Rabbit's Cousin" • The Great Kite Race" • "Fine Feathered Friend" • "Piglet's Slumber Party" • "Piglet Learns to Swing" • "Handyman Tigger" • "Pooh Corner Singing Society" • "Pooh Cares for a Carrot" • "Tigger Finds a Hobby" • "Almost Perfect Picnic" • "The Iceboat Cometh" • "It Must Be Summer" • "Song of Eeyore" • "Tale of a Tail" • "Pooh Goes Boom"
The Book of Pooh Season One: "Best Wishes, Winnie the Pooh/Double Time" • "Are You Me?/Rabbit's Happy Birthday Party" • "Circumference Equals Pirate 'Arrr' Squared/Pooh's to Do" • "Pigletry/Dinosnores" • "I Could Have Laughed All Night/X Spots the Mark" • "My Gloomy Valentine/Mr. Narrator" • "Vegetable of Contents/A Welcome to Beat the Band With" • "Owl's Book/The Autobiography of Tigger" • "You Can Lead Eeyore to Books/The Spice of Life" • "The Words Are Out/Brain Drain" Season Two: "Please and Thank-You's/The Rumor Millstone" • "Over the Hill/Tigger's Replacement" • "The Wood Without Pooh/Friends of a Different Stripe" • "Mothers of Invention/Once Upon a Happy Ending" • "Piglet's Perfect Party/A Wood Divided" • "Bravehat/Scaredy Cat" • "Blue Ribbon Bunny/Under the Pig Top" • "The Book of Boo" • "Could it Be Magic?/Diary of a Mad Gardener" • "The Case of the Disappeared Donkey/The Littlest Dinosnore"
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree: "Winnie the Pooh" • "Up, Down, Touch the Ground" • "Rumbly in My Tumbly" • "Little Black Rain Cloud" • "Mind Over Matter" Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day: "A Rather Blustery Day" • "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" • "Heffalumps and Woozles" • "Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down" • "Hip-Hip-Hooray!" Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh: "I Am Not Afraid" • "I Wanna Scare Myself" Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin: "Forever & Ever" • "Adventure is a Wonderful Thing" • "If It Says So" • "Wherever You Are" • "Everything is Right" The Many Songs of Winnie the Pooh: "It Really Was a Woozle, Yes it Was" Sing a Song with Pooh Bear: "Kanga Roo Hop" • "You're the One and Only One" • "Harvest What You Grow" • "My Song" Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You: "Girls are Like Boys" • "When the Love Bug Bites" • "Places in the Heart" Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year: "Jingle Bells" • "Snow Snows" • "Merry Pooh Year" • "Hunny, Not for Me" • "Auld Lang Syne" The Tigger Movie: "Someone Like Me" • "Whoop-de-Dooper Bounce" • "Lull-a-Bee" • "Round My Family Tree" • "How to Be a Tigger" • "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" Piglet's Big Movie: "If I Wasn't So Small" • "A Mother's Intuition" • "With a Few Good Friends" • "Sing-Ho (For the Life of a Bear)" • "The More It Snows (Tiddely-Pom)" • "The More I Look Inside" • "Comforting to Know" Springtime With Roo: "We're Huntin' Eggs Today" • "Easter Day With You" • "The Way It Must Be Done" Pooh's Heffalump Movie: "Little Mr. Roo" • "The Horribly Hazardous Heffalumps" • "The Name Game" • "Shoulder to Shoulder" • "In the Name of the Hundred Acre Wood/What Do You Do?" Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie: "Trick 'R Treating With Our Friends" • "Brave Together" • "As Long As I'm Here With You" Learning Adventures: "A Word That Sounds Like Autumn" • "Letter Shapes and Sounds" • "Counting" • "Bouncerific" • "The Shape of Things" • "Big Small Wonderful Wood" • "Different as Night and Day" • "Honey Pot" Winnie the Pooh: "The Tummy Song" • "A Very Important Thing to Do" • "The Winner Song" • "The Backson Song" • "It's Gonna Be Great" • "Everything is Honey" • "Pooh's Finale" Christopher Robin: "Goodbye, Farewell" • "Busy Doing Nothing" • "Christopher Robin"
Television Songs Welcome to Pooh Corner: "Welcome to Pooh Corner Theme Song" • "Try a Little Something New" • "The Right Side" • "Yes, I Can" • "You're the Only You" • "I Hum to Myself" • "Please and Thank You" • "Responsible Persons" • "Welcome to Pooh Corner Ending Theme" The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: "Pooh Bear" • "'Cause It's Make Believe" • "The Floating Song" • "Nothing's Too Good for a Friend" • "Under the Bed" • "I Don't Have A Name" • "King of the Beasties" • "The End" • "Pirates is What We'll Be" • "Tigger, the Private Ear is Here" The Book of Pooh: "Everyone Knows He's Winnie the Pooh" • "Goodbye for Now" • "Your Best Wishes" • "On the Double" • "Who is Me" • "Think, Think, Think" • "What Piglets Are" • "I Watch for Signs" • "We're Making a Cake" • "If I Could Be Big" • "Isn't that Funny?" • "Find the X" • "Everyone Wants a Valentine" • "That's What We Do" • "Keep it Simple" • "Have You Got a Book For Me?" • "Give It a Try" • "On Your Way Back Home" • "The Birdbird Song" • "Nightmare Wranglers" • "Carry On" • "What's Your Name, River" • "Where Do Words Go?" • "Under a Spelling Bee's Spell" • "Adventure" • "Mental Altitude" • "I Want to Know Everything Now" • "Happy Tailiversary" • "Get Growin'" • "Tigger's Lullaby" • "Perfect Party" • "If We Were Talkin'" • "Someone New to Meet" • "My Hero" • "I Want To Be Scary" • "Broken Friendships" • "Do the Roo" • "Call Me Buck-a-Roo" • "At Chez Piglet" • "Nothing Ever Happens" • "Too Much Honey" • "Lost in a Book" My Friends Tigger and Pooh: "A Few Simple Rules" • "Bouncin'" • "The Grass is Greenier" • "The Password Song" • "Underneath the Same Sky" • "One Big Happy Family" • "Think, Think, Think" • "The Question Song" • "Floating in a Cloud" • "Different Can Be Good" • "The Little Things You Do" • "There's a Party" • "No More Fun In the Snow" • "Butterflies" • "What Makes a Pony a Pony" • "When We Work Together" • "Christmas Comes Tomorrow" • "Time to Go (On a Trek Through the Snow)" • "Snowman Song" Miscellaneous: "Luv-a-bye" • "Playtime Song" • "Learning Song" • "Friendship Song"
See Also
Winnie-the-Pooh and His Friends • Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons • The Disney Afternoon • The Many Songs of Winnie the Pooh • Sing a Song with Pooh Bear • Sing a Song with Tigger • Whoopty-Dooper-Loopty-Looper-Alley-Ooper bounce • "Into the Hundred Acre Wood!"
TV series and specials:Goof Troop (Video) • Goof Troop Christmas • The Making of A Goofy Movie Movies:A Goofy Movie (Video) • An Extremely Goofy Movie (Video) Books: "Great Egg-Spectations" • "Goin' Gold-Fishing" • Junior Graphic Novel • Goofy Gets Goofy • Me and My Dad Video games:Disney's Goof Troop • Disney's Extremely Goofy Skateboarding Comic series:Disney Adventures • The Disney Afternoon • Le Journal de Mickey
Entertainment:Max LIVE: Gettin’ Goofy With It • Mickey presents: "Happy Anniversary Disneyland Paris" Summer:Club Mouse Beat
Characters
Main Characters:Goofy • Max • Pete • P.J. • Peg • Pistol • Waffles • Chainsaw
Secondary Characters:Slick • Debbie • Duke • Duke's Girlfriend • Dutch Spackle • Uncle Bob • Leech • Ringmaster • Biff Fuddled • Spud and Wally • Miss Pennypacker • Rose Beckenbloom • Myron the Bulk • Frank Nutti • Mr. Sludge • Igor • Mr. Hammerhead • Magician's Hat Movie Characters:Bobby Zimuruski • Roxanne • Roxanne's Father • Principal Mazur • Stacey • Lisa and Chad • Nerdy Kids • Goth Girls • Possum Park Emcee • Lester the Possum • Bigfoot • Powerline • Treeny and Wendell • Sylvia Marpole • Beret Girl • Bradley Uppercrust III • Tank • Gammas • Goofy's Boss • Unemployment Lady Animals:Gopher • Female Bigfoot • Humphrey the Bear • Bubbles
Season One: "Forever Goof" • "Axed by Addition" • "Unreal Estate" • "You Camp Take It With You" • "Midnight Movie Madness" • "Counterfeit Goof" • "O, R-V, I N-V U" • "Meanwhile, Back at the Ramp" • "Close Encounters of the Weird Mime" • "Slightly Dinghy" • "Cabana Fever" • "When There's Smoke, There's Goof" • "Date with Destiny" • "Hot Air" • "Take Me Out of the Ball Game" • "Wrecks, Lies & Videotape" • "Max-imum Protection" • "Goofin' Hood and his Melancholy Men" • "Leader of the Pack" • "Inspector Goofy" • "Shake, Rattle & Goof" • "Terminal Pete" • "Fool's Gold" • "Cat's Entertainment" • "Waste Makes Haste" • "The Ungoofables" • "All the Goof That's Fit to Print" • "To Heir is Human" • "Hallow-Weenies" • "Tub Be or Not to Be" • "Major Goof" • "A Goof of the People" • "Goof Under My Roof" • "Lethal Goofin'" • "Frankengoof" • "E=MC Goof" • "Pete's Day at the Races" • "In Goof We Trust" • "And Baby Makes Three" • "The Incredible Bulk" • "Mrs. Spoonerville" • "For Pete's Sake" • "Big City Blues" • "Rally Round the Goof" • "Window Pains" • "Nightmare on Goof Street" • "Where There's a Will, There's a Goof" • "Winter Blunderland" • "Gymnauseum" • "Come Fly with Me" • "As Goof Would Have It" • "Calling All Goofs" • "Buddy Building" • "Dr. Horatio's Magic Orchestra" • "Goofs of a Feather" • "Goof Fellas" • "The Good, the Bad and the Goofy" • "Educating Goofy" • "Peg o' the Jungle" • "Partners in Grime" • "A Pizza the Action" • "To Catch a Goof" • "Gunfight at the Okie-Doke Corral"
Season Two: "Queasy Rider" • "Maximum Insecurity" • "Puppy Love" • "Great Egg-Spectations" • "Three Ring Bind" • "Pistolgeist" • "Bringin' on the Rain" • "Talent to the Max" • "Tee for Two" • "Goofin' Up the Social Ladder" • "Sherlock Goof" • "From Air to Eternity" • "Clan of the Cave Goof"
Songs
Goof Troop:Goof Troop Theme Song • Reindeer Rumba • Gotta Be Gettin' Goofy
A Goofy Movie:After Today • Stand Out • On the Open Road • Lester's Possum Park • Nobody Else But You • I2I An Extremely Goofy Movie:Nowhere to Run • Pressure Drop • Shake Your Groove Thing • You Make Me Feel Like Dancing • C'mon Get Happy • Knock on Wood • Right Back to Where We've Started From Deleted:Made in the Shade • Born to Be Bad
Season One: "The Stolen Cartoons" • "Big Bad Wolf Daddy" • "The Three Caballeros" • "Goofy's Valentine Date" • "Unplugged Club" • "Timon and Pumbaa" • "Gone Goofy" • "Jiminy Cricket" • "Rent Day" • "Donald's Lamp Trade" • "Donald's Pumbaa Prank" • "Thanks to Minnie" • "Pluto Saves the Day"
Season Two: "Daisy's Debut" • "Goofy for a Day" • "Clarabelle's Big Secret" • "The Mouse Who Came to Dinner" • "Max's New Car" • "Not So Goofy" • "Everybody Loves Mickey" • "Max's Embarrassing Date" • "Where's Minnie?" • "Super Goof" • "King Larry Swings In" • "Ladies' Night" • "Dennis the Duck" Season Three: "Suddenly Hades" • "Pete's One-Man Show" • "House of Crime" • "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation" • "Donald and the Aracuan Bird" • "Goofy's Menu Magic" • "Music Day" • "House of Scrooge" • "Donald Wants to Fly" • "Dining Goofy" • "Chip 'n' Dale" • "Humphrey in the House" • "Ask Von Drake" • "Salute to Sports" • "Pluto vs. Figaro" • "House of Magic" • "Mickey vs. Shelby" • "House of Turkey" • "Clarabelle's Christmas List" • "Pete's Christmas Caper" • "Snow Day" • "Pete's House of Villains" • "Halloween With Hades" • "House Ghosts" • "House of Genius" • "Mickey and the Culture Clash"
Original Worlds:Destiny Islands • Traverse Town • Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion • Disney Castle/Disney Town/Timeless River • Dive to the Heart • End of the World • Realm of Darkness • Twilight Town/Mysterious Tower • The World That Never Was • Castle That Never Was • Land of Departure/Castle Oblivion • Keyblade Graveyard • Daybreak Town/Scala ad Caelum