Gumshoe Goose - A Vincent Alexander Cartoon

Hey, everybody! I wanted to fill you in on a project I’m working on entitled Gumshoe Goose. It’s an animated film noir parody about a fowl detective who solves mysteries in an absurdist cartoon universe.

Gumshoe Goose is a hard-boiled, tough-as-nails type who uses bluster to mask his own incompetence. He also plays straight man to the antics of his braindead sidekick Disembodied Foot. And he receives assistance from his routinely lazy and exhausted human secretary Myrtle, who is helpful in that she can pull assorted props out of her mouth. Gumshoe Goose is oftentimes hassled by the Police Chief, a talking pretzel who views Goose as a loose cannon.

Here are some character designs I drew up:

This idea was partially inspired by a stop-motion cartoon I made as an undergraduate, entitled The Great Caper of Gumshoe Gus. I liked the blend of cool mystery atmosphere and wacky cartoon comedy, but I decided to change the title character to an anthropomorphic animal to make the cartoon’s appeal more universal.