The nearsighted Mr. McGoo goes shopping for a dog as a pet, and enters the pet store just as it is being robbed by a crook wearing a fur coat. McGoo puts a leash on him and heads for home as the crook thinks this will afford him a safe escape. But a policeman puts the collar on the thief and takes him to jail. McGoo, still wanting a dog, goes shopping for a replacement but ends up in a record store. He exits dragging a s statue of a dog, the 'His Master's Voice' trademark of a record company

Mr. Magoo is depressed over the constant rainy weather. Well, actually, it isn't raining; he's just left the sprinkler running. Fed up, he plans to venture to California in search of sunny weather. Even though he never actually leaves town, the trip is a long one with Magoo driving through city parks and water fountains. Finally believing himself to be on the home stretch when going through a car wash, he is convinced he has finally made it to California when he crashes into a billboard advertisement for Florida.

When Rodney, a friend of the nearsighted Mr. Magoo, goes to the hospital, Mr. Magoo decides to visit him and to take along some of his cure-all, homemade elixir. But he makes a wrong turn and ends up on a docked-ship visiting a stranger wearing a turban, thanking he is Rodney, and gives him some of the elixir. He returns home and gets a telephone call from Rodney who is waiting for his visit. He thinks Rodney is delirious and ventures forth for another visit carrying a giant-size bottle of his elixir.

Mr. Magoo, intent on going to the beach, winds up in the desert instead. Thinking himself to be at the beach, he tries fishing (he hooks a turtle which he mistakes for a crab) and swimming. Meanwhile, a desert wanderer and his horse are lost beyond hope when suddenly they lay eyes on Magoo's set up. Thinking the whole thing to be a mirage, they decide to make the best of it by devouring Magoo's picnic lunch and refreshments despite Magoo's protests. After the hearty meal, the man wants to thank Magoo before he "fades away" by giving him the only gold nugget he found while trekking the desert. Magoo thinks the gold is a sea-shell and plans to give it to Waldo to add to his collection!

At a used car lot, Mr. Magoo is intent on buying a car for his nephew Waldo. He is slick talked into buying an old clunker thanks to a shifty salesman but he drives it off anyway. Unfortunately, the myopic Magoo drives off a pier and under the ocean where he mistakes the various aquatic surroundings such as fish, sunken boats, and seals for other cars, dilapidated mansions, and a horn happy driver respectively.

The near-sighted one decides to take a hunting-and-fishing trip, and hires an Indian guide. He quickly grows impatient with the guide and takes over leading the way. He winds up in a big city and in a park lake, trail-blazing his way over park benches, statutes and through the zoo, releasing a lion along the way.

The near-sighted Mr. Magoo returns from a trip and mistakes a ramshackle shack, near his home, for his palatial home. There, he finds evidence of all manner of crimes, ranging from murder down to counterfeiting, and jumps to the conclusion that his nephew Waldo is responsible. He gets Waldo and runs away seeking a hideout until he can straighten things out. Following Magoo's fugitive-directions, they wind up in the city jail.

Mr. Magoo brings in his mail opening up a flyer for a store's "83rd Anniversary Sale". Magoo thinks that the flyer is a letter from his mother about her "83rd birthday" and begins to worry that maybe he hasn't spent enough time with his mother lately. He goes to pay his mother a visit to make up for lost time but upon arriving, Mother Magoo doesn't quite appreciate Magoo's attempts at being helpful such as baking a feather duster thinking it to be a turkey dinner. So she uses psychology to eventually persuade him to go back home (at least until next year).