All Goofed Up

There was a slice of my life where I was into Disney, as all children are at one point or another. Certain films, like Aladdin and The Lion King were top of my charts for a while, and there were a couple of Disney shows I liked as well, such Duck Tails and Darkwing Duck, at least for a couple of seasons. But I was at just the right age that when the Disney Renaissance was starting to wane I pretty well ducked out. I didn’t like Pocahontas or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I took that as my excuse to find other stuff to watch, which meant that a lot of Disney television shows also passed me by.

When I talk with friends about it (such as on the podcast) they always act shocked that I’d never seen A Goofy Movie. What was a formative film for them, one that many of them went to the theater to see, was a film I skipped primarily because I hadn’t bothered seeing Goof Troop on TV so why would I bother watching its theatrical spin-off. I knew plenty of people liked it but I had no attachment to the characters so watching it (or its direct-to-video sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie) wasn’t something I bothered with. There’s a lot out there to watch, why watch this film?

My wife, however, knows the movie and really enjoyed it growing up. Hearing, once again, that I hadn’t seen A Goofy Movie, she sat me down so I could finally watch it. And, well, it’s fine. I don’t honestly see what all the hype was about. It’s a cute film with some amusing moments but, as I expected before, my lack of attachment to the characters really dulled how much I could invest in the film. Viewing it as someone that didn’t know this version of Goofy or Pete, let alone their children Max and P.J., I really wasn’t sure why I should like these characters, especially when they act truly shitty towards each other.

The film opens with Max (Jason Marsden, who apparently replaced Dana Hill as the voice of Max for the film) hoping to impress all the kids at his high school. During an assembly, Max, assisted by his friends P.J. (Rob Paulsen) and Bobby (Pauly Shore), dresses up like the popstar Powerline (Tevin Campbell) and puts on a performance for the students. As this was an unsanctioned prank it pisses off Principal Mazur (Wallace Shawn), who drags Max back to the office. There he calls Goofy (Bill Farmer) and reads him the riot act about Max, implying that Max is a gang member and is likely to have a life of crime before dying in the electric chair. It’s a lot.

Max, though, thinks that his luck has finally turned. Due to his performance, the girl he likes, Roxanne (Kellie Martin), finally decides to ask him to go with her to a party that weekend. However, when he gets home he finds his dad packing for a long camping trip that would take all summer. A Father-son bonding road trip, starting that afternoon. Max tries to tell his dad what’s up, but neither really communicate well with the other. In the end he ends up telling Roxanne he can’t make it, and she decides to go with someone else to the party. He only talks her out of it by saying he’s going on a trip to Los Angeles to see the Powerline concert in person, and that’s because his dad knows Powerline and they’re going to perform on stage. Roxanne is impressed and decides not to date anyone else. Now, somehow, Max has to change the direction of the trip, convince his dad to go to L.A., and somehow get on stage during the Powerline performance. Totally easy, right?

I have to be honest here: I really hated everyone in this film. Max annoys me from second one. He takes over the stage at an assembly, which is amusing, but then acts shocked when he gets in trouble for it. He gets upset when his dad punishes him (in the mildest way possible by taking him on vacation), and then lies to the girl he likes in the most absurd and over-the-top fashion possible. At every step in the process, even while on the trip, he acts shitty and entitled, and he derails the trip his dad wants to take without ever explaining once what’s going on. His side of the story could easily be solved with some basic communication, but the fact is that him getting into some kind of trouble (and even missing the party because of that) should have been an expected outcome considering the shit he started at the beginning of the movie.

Goofy isn’t blameless, either. Sure, he decides to plan the camping trip because his friend, Pete (Jim Cummings) talks him into it (so Pete also sucks), but if he had explained to Max what was going on and if he had given Max a day or two to prepare, there’s a solid chance Max would have been on board. Neither of them talk to each other, not really, for most of the trip, and we’re supposed to feel bad for Goofy because the trip doesn’t go the way he wants. But that’s a guilt trip he pulls when he decides to yank his son away for a Summer trip without ever talking to him about it first. Max is a teenager with a life, uprooting him like that is pretty rude. Thinking you know better than him about everything is also pretty rude, and that’s how Goofy acts for most of the trip.

Thing is, they both eventually start to bond and have fun, which illustrates the trip itself wasn’t a bad idea, just that how it was thrown together wasn’t smart. Most of the events in A Goofy Movie could have been resolved if the two main characters, Goofy and Max, could communicate with each other at all. One Summer trip isn’t going to fix (what I assume is) a lifetime of not properly talking to each other. This is my only exposure to the Goof Troop crew, so maybe they’re better at communicating on the show than in the film, but if that’s the case then I’d be annoyed that the film throws all that aside to create fake conflict for no reason. It’s bad no matter how you view it.

And then we get to the climax (and spoilers for a thirty year old movie). Max and Goofy, having fought and finally resolved all their issues together, travel to L.A. so that they can find a way to get Max on stage at the Powerline concert. In any other film this would be an elaborate last act, almost like a heist film, with Max and Goofy planning and executing a way to get into the concert, get backstage, and then get on stage, all past the watchful eye of security. This is the big moment for Max, where he redeems himself and gets what he wants because he finally learned to communicate with his dad. It has to be epic.

Nope. Five seconds after they resolve to get Max to the concert they’re already backstage and sneaking their way to the front. It takes no effort for them to get in and get on with their plan, and they easily luck into getting on stage and performing with Powerline. Hell, Powerline isn’t even annoyed by it, happily dancing with them moments after they come on, as if it didn’t spontaneously ruin weeks of planning and days of learning choreography for these two interlopers to wander on and perform. It all works out in the end without any thought. That’s just stupid.

I will credit the film that it doesn’t look bad and it’s acted decently. It was made on a budget of $18 Mil, which was far below what Disney was spending for their main theatrical animated productions, and so it doesn’t look as good as Aladdin or The Lion King. It looks like an episode of a TV show set up on the big screen, and if you were a fan of the show you probably didn’t mind. It’s a fine bit of franchise extension, and it looks suitably the part. Not great but not bad.

Still, I do not understand why this film is so beloved now. I get that the series had fans, the movie has fans, and it’s a part of certain people’s youth. Sure. But this movie is talked about like it wasn’t a $37.6 marginal success at the Box Office. People love Max, and Goofy, and Powerline and I don’t get it. The film was marginal at best, and annoying in many places. It’s not something that makes me think I missed a hidden gem in Goof Troop, and I really don’t want to go and watch the sequel (my wife doesn’t like the second one, so I think I’m safe there). A Goofy Movie is a disposable piece of media that fails to get me interested in seeing more. It just exists and, if I’m lucky, I won’t need to watch it again.