30 years ago, Walt Disney Animation Studios was in the middle of what is known asthe “Disney Renaissance,”a period from 1989 to 1999 where the studio was once again producing animated projects that put them back at the top of the game. After the mostly tumultuous 1980s, Disney blasted into the next decade with certified banger after certified banger, with films likeThe Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast,Aladdin,The Lion King, andTarzan. While in 1995,Disney releasedPocahontas, a film that was a moderate success but hasn’t aged well with its inaccuracies and questionable story choices, that’s not the film that Disney seems interested in celebrating in 2025. Instead, Disney has rightfully been celebrating the release of a scrappy animated film done by a variety of “lesser” studios, which did quite poorly at the box office compared to the other hits of the time and has become beloved by a much smaller, cult audience over three decades. That’s right, after all these years,A Goofy Movietruly stands out above the crowd, andit deserves a place as one of the great ‘90s Disney films after all these years.
‘A Goofy Movie’ Was Completely Different Than the Disney Animated Films of the 1990s
From the very beginning,A Goofy Moviewas an underdog, no pun intended. While Disney’s animated classics were made by Walt Disney Animation Studios,A Goofy Moviewas largely made by Walt Disney Television Animation, a much smaller team with more budgetary limitations, with the express purpose of letting Disney make animated films for cheaper. Despite the studios’ first attempt at theatrical movies,DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, not going so well, the studio made another attempt withA Goofy Movie. WithGoof Troopa modest recent success, this new movie would focus on Goofy (voiced byBill Farmer) and his son, Max (Jason Marsden).
A Goofy Moviewas immediately different from the other animated projects Disney was making at the time. For one,it was a film starring one of Disney’s central characters, which had never quite happened. Even to this day, Mickey has never been the star of his own theatrical movie, only appearing in parts ofFantasiaandFantasia 2000, and starring in the “Mickey and the Beanstalk” segment of the anthology film,Fun and Fancy Free. The closest one of these main Disney characters got to starring in a theatrical film was Donald Duck, again, appearing in anthology films likeSaludos AmigosandThe Three Caballeros. But considering Goofy was little more than a tool for gags and his various “How To” shorts, he seemed like an odd character to center an entire feature around.
Perhaps what madeA Goofy Moviestand out most was the fact thatit was a modern story, which Disney still struggles with in their animated space. Films likeOliver & CompanyandThe Rescuers Down Underhad recently attempted current stories, but the real successes for the studio still came from the fairy tale and fantasy stories that dominated the theaters. With much less on the line, directorKevin Limaand his team could tell a smaller-scale, modern story that focused more on the relationship between a father and his son rather than grand adventures of little mermaids, lion kings, and genies. Not to mention thatA Goofy Movieis one of the rare Disney films to constantly poke fun at itself, whether it’s parodying The Country Bears or cute references to the studio’s legacy. And between its self-mocking jokes and excellent comedic timing,A Goofy Movieis genuinely funny.
‘A Goofy Movie’ Is a Beautiful, Modern Take on Father and Son Relationships
Growing up in the ‘90s, I loved the Disney animated films of the time, butA Goofy Moviewas another beast entirely. Disney films didn’t try to be modern, they didn’t tell more grounded, realistic stories, and while I lovedThe Little Mermaid,Aladdin, andToy Story, which Pixar would also release in 1995, they didn’t have the emotional resonance thatA Goofy Moviehad. Even 30 years later,A Goofy Movieis one of the rare films that is a part of that specific period but doesn’t feel dated. And considering it’s a film that featuresPauly Shoreas a Cheez-Whiz-obsessed AV Club kid, that’s sayinga lot.
A Goofy Movietells the story of Max, a kid who has a crush on Roxanne (Kellie Martin), a girl he assumes will never pay him any attention. On the last day of school, Max and his friends Peter (Jim Cummings) and Bobby (Shore) decide to do a grand gesture: have Max interrupt a school presentation by doing a big dance/lip-sync number to a song by this world’s biggest pop star, Powerline. The big moment works, and Max and Roxanne make a date to watch Powerline’s upcoming concert at a friend’s party, but it also gets Max sent to the principal’s office. While Max is flying high off his victory, the school’s Principal Mazur (Wallace Shawn) calls Goofy and warns him that his son is a menace, even saying that if he keeps going down this path, he could end up in the electric chair.With Goofy scared about his son’s future, he decides to take Max on a fishing trip that Goofy and his dad used to go on, whether he likes it or not. As they make their way on this fishing trip, Max lies to Roxanne, telling her the reason he’s missing their date is to go to the Powerline concert in L.A., as Max and Goofy head on the open road.
Meet the Troops Behind ‘A Goofy Movie’ In Trailer for ‘Not Just a Goof’ Documentary
A Goofy Movieis a movie that shifts as you age along with it.As a kid, it’s easy to see Max’s point of view, and while he’s often a grumpy, irritated jerk, we understand what he’s missing, and how all this time hoping he could be with Roxanne has been pulled away by another one of his father’s strange whims. But as you grow older, it’s also hard not to sympathize with Goofy, a father who just wants what’s best for his son and longs to have a relationship with Max like he had with his own father. Yes, this is one of those stories that could likely be solved with a straightforward conversation, but what would be the fun in that?
Even compared to what the bigger Disney animation studios were doing at the time,A Goofy Moviehits on an unexpected emotional level that Disney still rarely pulls off. For example, in one scene, Max and Goofy are stuck in the car together for the night, and Goofy remembers how Max used to take alphabet soup and spell out things to his father like “Hi, Dad” or “I Love You.” It’s a legitimately emotional and heartbreaking moment for a character who is known as, well, a goof, and it grounds what is a fairly wacky story (hell, they’re stuck in the car together because of Bigfoot) into something surprisingly powerful.A Goofy Movieis a story about a son worried he’s becoming his father, a father worrying that he’s losing his son and the way that they both come together to love each other in a completely different way than they previously did. For a movie that’s less than 80 minutes,A Goofy Movieis ambitious in its lofty emotional goals, yet it knocks them out of the park.
In quite possibly the best decade ever for Disney music,A Goofy Moviestands as having some of the best Disney songs ever.The highlights of this soundtrack come from Powerline, a veryPrince-codedcharacter who has the songs to match,voiced byTevin Campbell. “Stand Out” is a great introduction to the artist, as it’s the song Max uses for his big dance at school, but it’sthe grand finale to “I 2 I” that makes it arguably one of the all-time Disney songs.An undeniably catchy track, “I 2 I” is a showstopper that also manages to hit all the film’s themes, without being heavy-handed.
‘A Goofy Movie’ Remains a Disney Cult Classic — It Deserves Better Than Just That
While it might sound odd to call a Disney animated film a “cult classic,” that’s been the case withA Goofy Movie. When it was released in 1995,A Goofy Movieonly made $35 million at the box office and received quite negative reviews. Compare that toPocahontas, released two months later, which made $139 million, orThe Lion King, which the previous year had made $295 million to become the biggest animated film ever at that time. But in the 30 years since its release,A Goofy Moviehas had a groundswell of popularity.In the new documentary,Not Just a Goof, the team behind the film talks about how at the 2015 D23 Expo,A Goofy Moviehad a reunion panel that had to turn away over a thousand people. Even a decade ago, Disney was still under-appreciating this film that people have flocked to.
ButDisney has now seen the error of its ways and has spent the last few years celebrating this underdog story.Max and Goofy have become mainstays for meet and greets at the theme parks for years. At their Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World, one of the major selling points recently has been the fact that visitors can see Max in his Powerline outfit, dancing along to “Stand Out.” Now,A Goofy Moviemerch is everywhere, especially in the lead-up to this 30th anniversary, in everything from Loungefly bags,Funko Pops, and references within the park’s rides.When Donald went on Hot Ones, he had to try a Powerline-themed hot sauce. Even one of the last episodes ofDonald Glover’sAtlantaseriescentered around a fake making-of documentary forA Goofy Movieentitled, “The Goof Who Sat By the Door," andAlana Haimhas sung the film’s praises many times. 30 years after its release,A Goofy Movie’s footprint has surprisingly grown, with a surge of popularity, merchandise, and love that rivals many of Disney’s animated classics.
Disney may have pushed forA Goofy Movieas a cheap way to keep releasing animated films in the ‘90s, but the film has absolutely taken on a life of its own. It’s a film that proves that bigger doesn’t always mean better and that focusing on the heart of a story is almost always the way to go. It’s a film that tried to be modern, and yet, 30 years later, it somehow doesn’t feel dated in any major way, proving that Disney’s animated films didn’t have to exist in a world of make-believe.It’s also a film that shows how an audience’s love for a movie can define its legacy, which then leads the people up top to realize what they have on their hands.A Goofy Moviewasn’t made to become a “Disney animated classic,” but over three decades, that’s exactly what it has become,A Goofy Movie, with its heart, excellent music, and relatable story, turned a goof into a success. After all these years and nearly a century of Disney films,A Goofy Moviestill manages to stand out above the crowd.
A Goofy Movieis available to stream in the U.S. on Disney+.
