If there is one Disney film from the 90’s that is criminally underrated by the critics, it is ‘A Goofy Movie’. Why this was never considered as part of Disney’s ‘Disney Animated Classics’ collection is beyond me. Maybe it wasn’t as advertised and in your face as a lot of the other theatrical released Disney animated films were at the time but ‘A Goofy Movie’ has become a classic in its own right.
As one who grew up on reruns of ‘Goof Troop’ (which I didn't know they were until many years later), this was a must watch for me when I heard about it when it first came out many years ago. Of course, I ended up getting the VHS tape of it…and loved every minute of it, including the film’s memorable soundtrack, made iconic by R&B legend Tevin Campbell. More on him later.
The 90’s were a memorable and favorable decade for Disney. Due to the popularity of so many of their animated films at the time, the 90’s era of Disney is now often fondly referred to as the “Renascence Era”, which sadly ended in the early 2000’s when Disney went downhill once again.
The story starts off with Goofy's son Max having a dream about his high school crush Roxanne...which quickly turns into a nightmare as Max's greatest fear is that Roxanne will reject him because he is very much like Goofy.
Max wakes up with a start and is suddenly distracted by a phone call from his best friend PJ. Until now, Max hasn't realized that he has overslept; he was supposed to be at school an hour ago. Max immediately dives out of bed and is quickly throwing clothes on, just as soon as Goofy opens the door. He is about to ask Max if he's got any dirty clothes but stops when he sees the piles of clothes littering the room. "Max; I thought we'd talked about this?" he says but Max is too busy getting dressed as Goofy makes a start on the hovering.
He is about to head out the door when Goofy accidentally nearly hovers up a cardboard stand of Powerline; the latest and "biggest rock star on the planet".
Soon Max is hurrying as fast as he can to school whilst the song "After Today" is being played. Why Max is in such a hurry to get to school soon becomes clear; he and his friends are trying to hatch a plan to impress Roxanne on the last day of school.
What follows is a series of events that try- and succeed- in bringing Max and Goofy's relationship closer together.
When it came out, 'A Goofy Movie' was met with mixed to not very favourable reviews from critics. However, kids and Disney fans alike loved it. Despite that, it has never been included in any of Disney's 'Disney Animated Classics Collection' lists. Because of how poorly this film was received Disney had cancelled the 'Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers' animated film that they had considered in doing at the time.
The film was so hugely popular amongst Disney fans and kids alike that a few years later, they did a direct to DVD sequel 'An Extremely Goofy Movie'. The film wasn't as memorable or as iconic as the original but it was one of the very few Disney animated sequels to NOT suck.
The soundtrack was also hugely popular with R&B legend Tevin Campbell providing the voice of Powerline (a character who was loosely based on the late pop legend Prince and the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson). Tevin sings two songs in the film 'I2I' and 'Stand Out'. I still have the soundtrack on CD...and somewhere I think I might still have the movie storybook tie-in to the film.
Overall, the film is hugely enjoyable and funny with a fun and memorable soundtrack. Shame on Disney for not having the film as a classic!
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