A Goofy Movie is a 1995 animated musical comedy film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and released in theaters on April 7, 1995. The film features characters from Kids' WB television series Goof Troop; the film itself acts as a sequel to the TV show. Directed by Kevin Lima, the film's plot revolves around the father-son relationship between Goofy and Max as Goofy believes that he's losing Max. The film was dedicated to Pat Buttram, who died during production. A direct-to-video sequel called An Extremely Goofy Movie was released in 2000.
Plot[]
Goofy is the single father of his teenage boy named Max Goof, though the two have a tense relationship. On the last day of school before summer vacation, Max and his best friends P.J. and Robert "Bobby" Zimuruski hijack the auditorium stage in the middle of Principal Mazur's speech, creating a small concert where Max performs, while costumed as the pop singer Powerline. The performance succeeds in making Max a school celebrity and impressing his love interest, Roxanne; but he, P.J. and Bobby are sent to Mazur's office. Roxanne speaks with Max and agrees to go with him to a party where Powerline's concert will be aired live. However, Mazur exaggerates these events to Goofy and forewarns him that Max's actions may result in him facing capital punishment.
Goofy decides to take Max on a cross-country fishing trip to Lake Destiny, Idaho, following a map route he and his father took years ago. However, he is oblivious to what Max is planning to do with Roxanne. Max stops by Roxanne's house to call off their date, but when Roxanne says she will just have to go with someone else, Max instead fabricates a story about his father knowing Powerline; he tells her he will be on stage at the concert.
Despite his son's objections, Goofy plans his own trip, with initially disastrous results. Max hurts his father's feelings after his father humiliates him at a roadside possum-based theme park. While camping, Pete and P.J. join them. Following Pete's advice to keep Max under control, Goofy takes his son fishing and performs the Perfect Cast fishing technique, accidentally luring the legendary Bigfoot to their camp. Pete and P.J. flee, leaving Goofy and Max to spend the night with Bigfoot. At night, while Goofy sleeps, Max alters the map route to Los Angeles, where the concert is to be held.
The next morning, Goofy decides to make Max the navigator of the trip. The two go to several locations that satisfy both of them. They stop by a motel where they meet Pete and P.J. again. When Pete overhears a conversation between Max and P.J., he tells Goofy that Max has been manipulating him into traveling to Los Angeles. The next day, Goofy and Max come to a junction: One route leading to Idaho, the other to California. Max chooses the route to California, making Goofy stop the car and storm off in anger. With the brake loose, the car rolls off on its own down an incline; Goofy and Max chase after it and end up at a river. Goofy reveals that no matter how old Max gets, he will always be his son and the two reconcile with each other. Learning of Max's promise to Roxanne that he would be onstage at the Powerline concert, Goofy decides to help get Max to Los Angeles. The two nearly plummet down a waterfall to their deaths, but Max fortunately saves Goofy, using the Perfect Cast technique.
Goofy and Max make it to the concert and end up onstage and dance with Powerline, watched by Pete, P.J. and Roxanne on separate televisions. Goofy and Max later return to Roxanne's house in their damaged car. Max tells the truth to Roxanne, though she accepts it and admits she always had feelings for him, ever since she first heard his "Ahyuck!" laugh; thus, a relationship starts between them. Goofy's car suddenly explodes from the damage it sustained at the waterfall and Goofy is sent flying through the air, but safely falls through the porch roof of Roxanne's house, and he is introduced to her by Max.
Voice cast[]
- Bill Farmer as Goofy
- Jason Marsden as Max Goof (singing voice by Aaron Lohr)
- Rob Paulsen as P.J. Pete
- Jim Cummings as Peter Pete
- Kellie Martin as Roxanne
- Pauly Shore (uncredited) as Robert "Bobby" Zimuruski
- Wallace Shawn as Principal Mazur
- Frank Welker as Bigfoot
- Jenna von Oy as Stacey
- Julie Brown as Lisa
- Kevin Lima as Lester
- Tevin Campbell as Powerline
- Florence Stanley as Waitress
- Jo Anne Worley as Miss Maples
- Joey Lawrence as Chad
- Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse
- Pat Buttram as Possum Park Emcee
- Herschel Sparber as Security guard
- Pat Carroll as Restaurant waiter
- Corey Burton as Wendell
- Brittney Alyse Smith as Photo Studio Girl
Production[]
A Goofy Movie was the directorial debut for Disney crewmember Kevin Lima, who went on to direct the Disney films Tarzan (1999), 102 Dalmatians (2000), and Enchanted (2007). In 1995, Lima said that "Instead of just keeping Goofy one-dimensional as he's been in the past, we wanted to give an emotional side that would add to the emotional arc of the story. We wanted the audience to see his feelings instead of just his antics."
The main characters of this film, specifically Goofy, Max Goof, Pete and PJ, are based on their incarnations in the Goof Troop television show, albeit slightly older: Max and PJ are high-school aged rather than middle-schoolers. However, other characters that had been established in Goof Troop do not appear in this film, such as Pete's wife Peg, his daughter Pistol, and pets Waffles and Chainsaw. Goofy and Pete retain their classic looks from the 1940s cartoons as opposed to the looks that they had in the 1950s cartoons and Goof Troop.
Pre-production was done at the main WDFA studio in Burbank, California, starting as early as mid-1993. The animation work was done at Walt Disney Animation France in Paris, France supervised by Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi, with additional scenes animated at Disney's studio in Sydney, Australia under the direction of Steve Moore, and clean-up work done at the main Burbank studio. Additional clean-up/animation was done by Phoenix Animation Studios in Canada, and digital ink and paint by the Pixibox studio in France.