Magoo
Mr. Magoo, whose full name is J. Quincy Magoo, is a fictional American animated character depicting an elderly, wealthy, and extremely nearsighted retiree whose poor vision repeatedly precipitates absurd and perilous misunderstandings that he navigates with unwitting confidence and bombast.[1][2]Created by screenwriter Millard Kaufman and animator John Hubley at United Productions of America (UPA), the character debuted in the theatrical short Ragtime Bear on September 29, 1949, in which Magoo mistakes an escaped bear for his nephew Waldo during a visit to a remote lodge.[1][3] Voiced throughout most of his run by actor Jim Backus, Magoo embodied UPA's innovative limited-animation style, which emphasized stylized designs and exaggerated personality over fluid realism, influencing the transition from wartime Disney-inspired cartoons to more modernist postwar animation.[1][4]
Over the 1950s, Magoo starred in more than 50 theatrical shorts released by Columbia Pictures, establishing him as UPA's flagship figure and earning several Academy Award nominations for animated shorts, including for Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956) and When Magoo Flew (1957).[1] The character's tenure extended to television with Mister Magoo (1960–1962), a series of brief vignettes adapting literary classics, and later specials like the holiday perennial Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), which recast him as Ebenezer Scrooge.[3][5] Defining Magoo's appeal was his indomitable self-assurance amid chaos—often declaring "Oh, Magoo, you've done it again!"—which masked the inherent dangers of his obliviousness, though early concepts envisioned a more irascible, ranting persona before settling on the affable bungler.[2] A 1997 live-action adaptation starring Leslie Nielsen as Magoo received widespread critical derision for diluting the source material's visual gags into broad farce, grossing modestly but failing to revive the franchise.[6][7]