My Review of "A Goofy Movie"

A Goofy Movie is an animated Disney movie that came out back in 1995. This movie was probably geared towards me when it first came out but I never went out to watch it. Decades have passed and countless friends have told me to watch it and I still never got to it. The pandemic hit and I still didn't watch it. Finally in 2023 I told myself I would sit down and finally watch this movie. How bad could it be?

Well, surprisingly it's not a bad movie. In fact I can see the appeal to this movie. There are a lot of things that they did really well in this movie, though it was not the movie I expected. First of all there are a number of song sequences. I should have known that there would be a few song sequences seeing as it's an older Disney movie but it kind of took me for surprise for some reason.

The movie starts off with an introduction of the ever popular Disney character Goofy and his son Max. It's the last day of school and Max is a teenager I guess? Goofy is hoping to reconnect with his son because the two of them haven't really been seeing each other that often anymore.

Moreover, Max gets caught doing some sort of school stunt to get the attention of his crush Roxanne. There's a very real element behind the outlandish scenario he gets himself into. You can see actual teenagers doing something in a much smaller scale for the same reasons.

Goofy understandably gets worried and decides to take Max on this cross country road trip against Max's wishes. What we get is a teen full of angst and a concerned parent trying to reconnect with them. It's a very relatable story and I have a sense that some of the scenarios are based off of real life from the makers of the movie.

Of course being a Disney cartoon we have very wild and outlandish things happen on their journey across the country. It's all done quite colorfully and very well animated. There's a sense of love between the two of these characters that really shine through and captures the audience as we continue through the story.

There are some lapses in pacing issues but for the most part it's paced pretty well. I have to also commend them in keeping the runtime at a decent time. It's not too long or short. They get their point across and in a clear concise manner.

I liked how there are easter eggs thrown all over the movie. If you're an old school Disney fan you'll notice a lot of older Disney character references throughout the movie. I also liked how they had Pete who always plays Goofy's arch nemesis play the bad guy. He's not really the big villain in this he just exacerbates issues out of his own petty jealousy. The real villain is within each of the characters. They have to realize that they are ruining their own relationships because of their lack of communication.

In some ways this movie is well ahead of its time as they bring up some issues that movies and shows are still trying to tell today. They even try to use this movie as a template to storyboard their storytelling.

Overall, this was a fun experience and I was glad I finally got to see it. It was a lot more sing song than I expected but I should have expected it because it's Disney. If you're looking for a nice wholesome family movie this is a good one. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. I think a lot of families will have fun with this.