Look, I’m going to be straight with you: A Goofy Movie is one of my all time favorite Disney animated films. I find it to be perfect in nearly every way, except for it’s disregard for physics. No way that fishing line was strong enough to pull Goofy up while Max is using a sheet as a parachute.
The depiction shown of a father/son relationship is fantastic. I find it to be incredibly accurate, as it reminds me of the relationship that my younger brother has with our father. Max and Goofy do not see eye to eye (ha) but there’s love there. In Max’s eyes, they’re two very different people, which is why his worst fear, at least in the beginning, is becoming his father. And, Goofy just wants to do right by his kid.
This film, although released in 1995, is not in the count of the 10 films released in the 90s for their Renaissance period. The making of A Goofy Movie was a way to put interest back into the original characters, ultimately all being a marketing ploy. This was all a plan set in motion when Disney was nearly bankrupt and torn apart. And, honestly, I don’t care if the making of this film was to re-interest the public in the classic characters. I love the hell out of this film.
A Goofy Movie is a weird mix of a film. It’s a cross between what Disney was doing with their animated films, with the songs strewn throughout sung by the characters, but it also starts to resemble where the company would ultimately take their films, ala Lilo and Stitch. Some songs were done in the Broadway style, while some were done as pop music. For this film, it really worked.
This film is one that I rewatch over and over and over again. I’m so happy that, within the last year, Disney began releasing A Goofy Movie, which I own all of. Anytime somebody tells me that they have never seen A Goofy Movie, it’s not long before we are sitting down watching the film because I just want everybody to love it as much as I do.
Also, kudos to Disney for poking fun at The Country Bears Jamboree in this film and also for animating the best looking pizza I have ever seen.
