- “Call me a goof, but one thing's clear
Your melodious moo is music to my ears!” - ―Goofy[src]
Clarabelle Cow is a character created by Walt Disney in cooperation with Ub Iwerks. She is a cow and the best friend of Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. In early cartoons, Clarabelle was the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar. In more contemporary appearanes, she has been depicted as Goofy's girlfriend.
Background
Personality
- “Wow! She must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle!”
- ―Mickey regarding Clarabelle's gossiping
Clarabelle means well, but at times can be rather pompous and absent-minded. She enjoys gossip and scandals, making her a nuisance to the privacy of her friends. This is seen throughout the House of Mouse animated series, which also portrays her as snazzy and modern, especially compared to the old-fashioned nature of Mickey and Minnie. She tends to speak in the vain of a prideful businesswoman and carries herself with a similar flair. However, she can also be rather ditzy and clumsy—specifically due to how tall she is compared to a majority of her co-stars—matching wits with her contemporary significant other, Goofy.
Unlike other classic Disney characters, Clarabelle's species plays a significant role in her overall character. She tends to wear cowbells as an accessory akin to jewelry, and regularly uses cow-related puns (i.e. placing the phrase "Moo" into the word "move") in her casual speech. In Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers, she confesses great pride in her moo and became extremely flattered by Goofy's compliments regarding the sound.
Relatives
In the Disney comics, several of Clarabelle's family members have been introduced. Her little cousin Bertie made his first appearance in Horse Play, a 1940 one-pager. Clarabelle's rich aunt Miss Bovina visited her in the 1939 Mickey Mouse comic Mickey Gets the Drift, while Clarabelle's unlucky cousin Boniface didn't appear in the comics until 1986, in the Brazillian story Boinifácio, Muito Praz(e/a)r!.
Clarabelle's parents were introduced separately; her father Beeble, mayor of Clarabelle's hometown, could be seen living with young Clarabelle in the Goofy comic Two Gun Sheriff (1953). Clarabelle's mother, originally named 'Moe Koe' (Dutch for 'Maw Cow'), has been used in Disney one-pagers and short comics since 2007, which have been mainly published in Europe.
History
Clarabelle in The Shindig.
Clarabelle debuted in the cartoon Plane Crazy released on May 15, 1928, but her character was not established until The Shindig in 1930. Her name was first given in the Mickey Mouse comic strip on April 2, 1930, as part of the storyline Mickey Mouse in Death Valley. Throughout the Mickey Mouse series, Clarabelle would regularly appear as a supporting character, usually with a non-speaking role. Her last appearance in the original shorts was in Mickey's Birthday Party.
For a number of years, Clarabelle would not appear again. She made her soft animation comeback in Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983. Here, she makes a non-speaking cameo appearance as one of the guests at Mr. Fezziewig's party, dancing with Horace Horsecollar. In 1990, she played her first speaking role since the forgone years in The Prince and the Pauper, where she is a peasant and is being robbed by the guards by order of the captain, Pete. The prince, in disguise as a peasant named Mickey Mouse, battled off the guards and provides Clarabelle with the food she and the hungry folks deserves.
In later years, beginning in the 2000s, Clarabelle returned as a major character in the Mickey Mouse franchise, appearing in many films, television series, video games, and a continuing character in comic stories around the world. She also began to make regular appearances in the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts around the world, alongside Horace Horsecollar. It was around this time that Clarabelle was established as a love interest of the character Goofy, who was previously without a recurring romantic interest (unlike Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck). This reinvigoration of the character gave her heightened prominence in material featuring the Mickey Mouse cast.
Clarabelle's first voice actress was Elvia Allman. Most of Clarabelle's roles prior to the 2000s were non-speaking. When the character was given prominence once again, April Winchell was given the role, and has since voiced the character in all appearances.
Films and television
Mickey Mouse Works
Clarabelle in Mickey Mouse Works.
Clarabelle appears as a recurring character in Mickey Mouse Works. Clarabelle is seen as a close friend to Minnie and Daisy and makes dozens of cameos.
In the Goofy cartoon How to Be a Spy, Goofy believes his neighbor, revealed at the end to be Clarabelle, is watching and decides to find out why, as a spy. In the end, it turns out Clarabelle tried to get Goofy's attention and the two fall in love.
In another short, Mickey's Big Break, Mickey and Donald disguise themselves as Minnie and Daisy. Clarabelle is the only character that noticed the disguises.
She also makes a cameo in the Goofy short How to Haunt a House as one of the contestants up to take on a haunted house.
House of Mouse
Clarabelle in House of Mouse.
Clarabelle appears as a recurring member of the House of Mouse staff. Clarabelle provides the club with exciting gossip of many Disney characters, such as Chernabog or the White Rabbit. Clarabelle's gossip tends to get annoying. Clarabelle is shown to be the love interest of Goofy in the series as well.
In the episode "Super Goof", Goofy transforms into Super Goof to impress Clarabelle, and succeeds. However, when he asks her out as Super Goof, she rejects the offer, stating, "I have a date with Goofy."
The episode "Thanks to Minnie" is probably the best example of how her gossip can cause trouble and she unintentionally spreads hurtful rumors. Clarabelle mistakenly believes Mickey feels the show would run better without Minnie, having Minnie feel unimportant and prompted to quit. However, this is simply out of context.
Clarabelle also plays a central role in "Clarabelle's Big Secret", where guests express their annoyance with Clarabelle's gossip stories, prompting Clarabelle (out of desperation) to claim she has a major scoop.
In "Clarabelle's Christmas List", Clarabelle claims to have access to the "Naughty or Nice" list of Santa Claus and announces that she plans to read the list to the audience at the end of the show.
Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers
Clarabelle in Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers.
Clarabelle is the villainous, and sadistic former assistant to the evil Captain Pete. He is secretly plotting against Princess Minnie to take over France. He recruits Mickey, Donald and Goofy as musketeer bodyguards believing they'll be terrible, thus leaving the princess unknowingly defenseless. Surprisingly, the trio soon prove themselves worthy of the musketeer mantle, forcing Pete to step up his game. To make sure he wins, he kidnaps Mickey, while the Beagle Boys kidnap Donald and Clarabelle kidnaps Goofy. Her mission was to throw him off a bridge into a river to his death, and judging by the number of human skeletons already in the river, one can tell that it's not her first time. Ironically, Goofy falls in love with Clarabelle and the two sing a ballad. Clarabelle tries to resist, but eventually falls for Goofy, in turn, reforming. She then warns Goofy of Pete's plan, allowing him and Donald to rescue Mickey and restore the trio. After the captain is defeated, Clarabelle and Goofy proclaim their love once more, and she is last seen attending the ceremony (dressed in an elegant gown) dubbing Goofy, Mickey, and Donald royal musketeers.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Clarabelle as she appears in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Clarabelle is seen along with most Mickey and Friends characters in a recurring role in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Clarabelle owns her own shop called The Moo Mart and hosts many events. In the series, she is once again featured as Goofy's girlfriend, and has a puppy named Bella.
In the episode "The Go-Getters", Clarabelle became the heroine Captain Clarabelle and joined forces with the already established Detective Minnie and Secret Spy Daisy. Clarabelle also appears in the spin-off series Mickey Mousekersize.
She also plays a supporting role in Minnie's Bow-Toons. She was seen in the debut episode "Leaky Pipes" as an engineer for Minnie and Daisy's shop. Clarabelle was also the focus of the episode "Dance Lessons" where Minnie, Daisy, Millie and Melody teach Clarabelle how to dance for an upcoming Christmas party.
Mickey Mouse
Clarabelle with Minnie and Daisy in Mickey Mouse.
In the new Mickey Mouse short series, Clarabelle appears in the background in her traditional 1920s/30s form in "Third Wheel" and also makes a cameo appearance in "The Adorable Couple" as part of a band conducted by Goofy. She also appears at Goofy's "wedding" in the episode "Goofy's First Love" and appears in "¡Feliz Cumpleaños!".
Clarabelle has her first major role in No Reservation. She attends a dinner reservation with Minnie and Daisy, but the maitre d' refuses to let them dine in the restaurant despite Minnie's protests. The trio tries several attempts to enter the restaurant but get caught and thrown out every time. When they find an opening at the top, Clarabelle gets stuck in it when she tries to move through, and squirts milk below the diners as the girls try to pull her out, causing the guests to panic. In the commotion, the girls fall down into the restaurant and finally get to dine at the restaurant, starting with the maitre d' who denied them earlier.
Mickey and the Roadster Racers
Clarabelle regularly appears in the series as the Grand Marshall for Mickey and friends' races. She also takes part as the host of other ceromines as well, such as a dance competition in Madrid.
Cameos
In The Mickey Mouse Club intro sequence, Clarabelle is featured in the opening theme song as a cheerleader.
In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Clarabelle makes a cameo early on lining up for an audition at Maroon Cartoons, alongside other toon bovines. Later, she can be spotted with all the other toons during the final scene of the film. Despite her current appearance being fully realized in Mickey's Christmas Carol, Clarabelle retains her classic black and white look in the film.
Along with Horace, Clarabelle makes a cameo appearance in the Bonkers episode "Casabonkers". She also appears in the episode "Stork Exchange".
Clarabelle had a cameo in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas in Mickey and Minnie's segment, Gift of the Magi. During Mickey's performance in the park, Clarabelle is seen in the crowd, next to Horace.
Video games
Mickey's Racing Adventure
Clarabell serves as the ticket vendor for the Casey Junior train in the game. Pricing for each character is different.
Kingdom Hearts II
Clarabelle Cow makes a minor appearance in Kingdom Hearts II, where she resides in the world of Timeless River, which is notably set in the past. She can be seen wandering around the hub of the world along with Horace and Clara Cluck, though she doesn't speak (her interactions are given through dialogue bubbles).
Disney Th!nk Fast
Clarabelle is an unlockable, playable character in the game.
Epic Mickey
In Epic Mickey, Mickey meets Clarabelle in OsTown, where she is tending to her garden. Saddened at Mickey not recognizing her at first, Clarabelle eventually requests Mickey to help her with baking a present for Horace. If Mickey is able to get her some ice cream, she'll make an Ice Cream Cake, and if not, she will give you a pie to deliver to Horace instead, though she'd prefer to do something other than that for Horace's birthday. For a quest in Ventureland, she can be asked to assist Mickey with a bouquet of flowers to give to Damien Salt for his efforts to ask out Henrietta.
Toontown Online
Players were able to call Clarabelle from the Cattlelog from their homes for purchases.
Disney Parks
Clarabelle posing for a photo at Disneyland.
Disneyland Resort
Clarabelle has appeared in several Disneyland parades and shows over the years, including The World According to Goofy, Light Magic, Parade of the Stars, Fantasmic!, and A Christmas Fantasy Parade.
Clarabelle Cow was also chosen to meet and greet for Character Fan Days at Disneyland. She was accompanied by Horace Horsecollar, making it his first public meet-and-greet appearances in Anaheim
Clarabelle also has a food shop named after her in Mickey's Toontown, which sells salads, sandwiches, and ice cream treats.
Walt Disney World
From September 2006 to September 2008, Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar appeared together for meet-and-greets in Town Square at the Magic Kingdom. She also appears during Mickey's Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, and the occasional special event. Currently, she can be found at the Frontierland Hoedown in the Magic Kingdom.
On November 7, 2016, she was given a new alternate costume appearance, and played a prominent role in Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration where she sings "All I Want for Christmas is You".
Tokyo Disney Resort
Clarabelle and Horace come out for meet-and-greets and appear in parades and shows on a regular basis at Tokyo Disneyland as well. In 2009, Clarabelle played a leading character in the New Year's Greeting at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.
Relationships
Horace Horsecollar
Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle were featured as a couple in the early shorts and the Mickey Mouse comic strip. They would often tag along with Mickey and Minnie on double dates. In 1931, Clarabelle and Horace even got engaged in the storyline "Clarabelle's Boarding House", but this development was forgotten by the end of the following storyline "The Great Orphanage Robbery". In the 2017 Mickey and the Roadster Racers episode "Running with the Roadsters", Clarabelle was seen swooning over Horace's Spanish alter-ego, El Horace Horsecollar.
Goofy
In some of her more recent appearances, in addition to some comic books from the late 1960s, she's been portrayed as the girlfriend of Goofy. The two were shown as a couple in Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Mickey Mouse Works, House of Mouse and Minnie's Bow-Toons. They also appeared together along with many other Disney couples in the closing of the 1994 Walt Disney's World on Ice adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as well as some theme park entertainment. Goofy and Clarabelle's relationship is still somewhat strong as a picture of Clarabelle in Goofy's home for the cartoon How to Hook Up Your Home Theater. They were seen flirting with each other in the early Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band Concert.
Filmography
- Main article: Clarabelle Cow Filmography
Trivia
- Clarabelle makes a cameo appearance in the Roger Rabbit cartoon Roller Coaster Rabbit.
- Concept art for Clarabelle's appearance in Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is seen on the film's DVD bonus features, but Clarabelle never appeared in the final film, for some reason.
Gallery
External links
Template:Mickey and Friends
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