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Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to.
So why is this a thing now?
Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy 1995's A Goofy Movie fine.
But somewhere in the past 5 or 10 years, it's gone from that cute little movie to Disney cult status,
garnering fanart, merchandise, reenactments, and too many cosplays to count.
I stayed away from reviewing this movie for a while because I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about.
But my fascination over this fascination has finally gotten the best of me.
What is it about this film that has left such an impact on so many people?
Well, I'm finally gonna take a closer look to find out.
Let's time travel back to the 90's with A Goofy Movie.
The opening credits start off standard enough, almost too standard.
NC: I'm not gonna lie, a part of me really wonders what just A Movie would be.
Boy meets girl, nothing happens for 2 hours, roll credits.
I didn't say it'd be good, but it'd be A Movie.
It starts off rather beautiful with our main character Max dreaming about a girl he has a crush on named Roxanne.
Eh, to be fair, this fantasy is kinder than the fantasies the Internet has had about her.
Oh, no, he's turning into Disney's real nightmare:
Oswald Rabbit!
Get over it, Disney! You got him back in Epic Mickey!
Goofy: HYUH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HOH!
NC: Wow, I don't know how you make Goofy's laugh scary, but you found a way.
Goofy: HA-HA-HA-HOH!
NC: It's all just a dream, though, as Max answers his landline in-joke telling his friend PJ to get ready for the big day.
Goofy: Morning, son!
Max: Dad!
NC: His father Goofy, of course, embarrasses him every moment possible.
But Max says after today, he'll be the coolest kid on the block.
High Schoolers: ♫ After today, my brains will be snoozing! ♫
Max: ♫ If I don't faint, I'll be fine! ♫
NC: As catchy as this song is, I have to ask...
Do all of the dogs just live in one neighborhood?
They're the only animals I see in this town.
Is there a class system?
Are they the Lion King hyenas evolved years later?
Film Theory that shit!
It has to make more sense than how a bus full of kids turns into a bus full of cheerleaders and then back into a bus full of kids.
Bus Driver: ♫ I'm gonna sit on my butt. ♫
NC: If you film it while complaining about movies, you could make a very good living that way.
Sadly, we discover this movie's been infected by a Pauly Shore.
Bobby: Cheddar! Awoo! Cheddar Whizzy!
NC: I was a thing!
He helps Max and PJ set up a prank during the school's last prep rally as-
Wait a minute, this is the 90's.
Cue the adult authority figure who just doesn't understand.
Principal Mazur: Principal Mazur, what can we do to not waste our summer vacation?
NC: Like never dealing with a Cecilian when death is on the line.
Principal Mazur: How about science slumber parties?
NC: OK, am I the only one who wants to see that happen?
What would Neil deGrasse Tyson's pajamas look like?
But they ambush the rally with Max dressed as their favorite pop star, Powerline.
Max: ♫ To stand out! ♫
Bobby: A little smokeage! Awooooooo!
NC: That should annoy me, but I'm just wondering what it means when a dog makes a dog sound.
Remember when Goofy owned a cat?
Is that like slavery?
Max also takes the opportunity to hit on Roxanne.
Max: ♫ There's nothing that I wouldn't do ♫
♫ If it was getting you to notice ♫
♫ I'm alive! ♫
NC: You know, is it possible to make something so dated, it's actually timeless?
This movie is really trying to say yes.
He's finally caught, though, resulting in him getting detention.
Bobby: Max, look.
It's the Leaning Tower of Cheese-a.
NC: He's not in this long.
Roxanne stumbles across Max, though, in the principal's office.
Roxanne: I liked your dance.
Max: Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah, it's from Powerline's new video.
Roxanne: I know. He's totally a genius.
Max: Yeah, he's doing a concert next week in LA.
Roxanne: Oh, yeah.
NC: Aw, it's puppy love.
Audience: BOOOOO!
NC: Don't act like you wouldn't have said it! Your hands are just as dirty!
It is nice that Roxanne isn't just a bland, popular knockout.
She's shy, nervous, has some geeky friends, and is just as awkward as Max, making for honestly some adorable flirting.
Max: Gosh, I'm sorry.
Roxanne: It's OK, really.
NC: I've never touched an ungloved hand before.
He get a date with her, though, to watch the Powerline concert on TV as Goofy blissfully works his job as a baby photographer.
Interested in not sleeping tonight? Pause this movie when that kid's eyes go red.
You're welcome.
His coworker Pete tries to show off what a much better parent he is with his son.
Pete: Well, for all you know, he's running around with some gang and stealing stuff and causing riots!
Something's wrong when a kid won't spend time with his parents.
NC: Just ask Norman Bates.
But Goofy gets a call about the trouble Max is in.
Principal Mazur: Dressed like a gang member...
Goofy: Gang member?
Principal Mazur: Your son caused the entire student body to break into a riotous frenzy!
NC: Why, this wordage is eerily similar to my coworker's verbalization of my fears.
Principal Mazur: I'd seriously reevaluate the way you're raising your child
before he ends up in the electric chair!
NC: Because Goofy cartoons should always suggest that imagery.
Goofy thinks he's been too hard on Max, though, so he decides to take him on a fishing trip, ruining his date with Roxanne.
Goofy: It's a vacation with me and my best buddy.
Max: Oh, Donald Duck?
NC: Naw, he's gone all angular and weird.
I'm kinda afraid of him now.
Max: We're going fishing?!
Goofy: Yup, just like my dad and me did.
We're using the same map me and my dad used.
NC: Huh, I don't see Dippy Dawg's name on that map.
Google it. You'll get a giggle.
Max convinces Goofy to drop by Roxanne's house, though, to tell her the bad news.
Max: Is Roxanne home?
Roxanne: It's OK, Daddy. Max is a friend from school.
NC: Please call off your dad dog.
Afraid she might find someone else, he makes up a lie saying he's gonna be onstage at the Powerline concert because his dad knows him personally.
Of course, he has no idea how to make this possible.
Goofy: You think of a name and I'll try and guess who it is.
Man or woman?
Max: Man.
Goofy: Walt Disney.
Max: Right.
NC: Ahyuck!
Did we just implode our universe for a minute?
Oh, well.
To try and make Max feel better, Goofy tries singing a little song.
Goofy: ♫ Do you need a break from modern living? ♫
♫ Do you long to shed your weary load? ♫
Mickey: ♫ And it's Califor-ni-a or- ♫
NC: Wait, Mickey Mouse is on a phone, yet he still has to hitchhike?
And he's with Donald who Goofy said he's really good friends with?
Dude, Max, you should ask, maybe your dad does know Powerline. These are some weird connections.
Drivers, Passengers, Etc.: ♫ A new zip code! ♫
♫ And the cares we had are gone for good ♫
NC: OK, has anyone put together how potentially disturbing this song sequence is?
You have country singers stuffed in a piano, a hostage in the trunk of a car, and the dead literally coming back to life!
This is a friggin' morbid interstate!
So they drop by a possum children's attraction along the way because apparently, that exists in this world too.
Little Kid: No, Mommy, I don't wanna go!
NC: That's every kid that was dropped off at The Nut Job.
Lester: ♫ Come hoot and howl and holler from the heart! ♫
♫ Yodel here in Lester's Po- ♫
NC: Yet another creepy child in this movie.
Can we just keep the camera off them for the remainder of the film?
Goofy: I'll be right back, my little possum pal!
Max: My life's a living-
Lester: Hello, little buddy!
NC: OK, G film, you were this close to getting a P put in front of you.
Also, why is anyone dressed like a giant animal? They're all giant animals.
There is no novelty.
Max: Dad, stop, please!
Dad, look, this is embarrassing!
NC: OK, Goofy Movie surprisingly has a lot of nightmare fuel.
Feeling embarrassed, Goofy tries to make Max feel better by showing him how to fish.
Goofy: Lemme show you a little family secret handed down through about 12 or 13 Goof generations.
The Perfect Cast.
Max: What?
Goofy: The Perfect Cast.
NC: You know, something Suicide Squad didn't have.
But they come across Bigfoot.
Yeah, that happens.
Max: C'mon, hurry up!
NC: Not gonna lie, this is kinda a weird direction.
I surprisingly expected a little less goofiness out of A Goofy Movie.
They get trapped in the car as Bigfoot looks through their belongings.
[Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees]
I know I should be laughing, but now I'm just wondering what the Bee Gees as dog people look like.
Max and Goofy start to bond over making food, though, as Goofy reminds Max of when he used to spell "Hi Dad" in his alphabet soup.
Goofy: You used to spell things out using the letters like...uh...
Max: "Ambidextrous"?
Goofy: Little words like...
Max: "Hasta la vista"?
Goofy: Like "Bye bye"...
Max: Or "I pledge allegiance"-
Goofy: Or "I love you".
NC: When you realize, "Shit, this movie's kinda working."
Followed by-
[GASP]
Goofy: Night, Maxy.
NC: Excuse me, I've got something in my eye.
There we go. Where was I?
Oh, yeah, this scene.
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NC: Max starts to write to Roxanne, admitting he lied, but then realizes he can change the map to go to the concert.
Because every kid needs their first "Oh, I get it."
Unaware the map's been altered, they both compromise and visit the places the other wants to see.
Ahyuh! I committed abstract murder.
They end up at what I can only describe as the Little Mermaid's love shack.
Ew, those fish gotta stare at Goofy's junk all night!
Are there fish people in this world? I need to know how to judge this!
As Pete and PJ happen to be staying at the exact same place.
Pete overhears about Max changing the map and decides to tell Goof.
Pete: I just hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...
Well, I heard the little mutant telling PJ that he changed the map, so...
You're headed straight to LA, pal.
NC: On a side note, do we really not even take off our gloves in the hot tub?
Our world is weird, Goof.
Funny enough, this moment gets surprisingly uncomfortable.
Goofy: You know, maybe Max isn't all the things that you think a son should be, but he loves me.
Pete: Hey, my son respects me.
Goofy: Yeah.
I'm starting to think Pete's hiding an abusive family story we're not aware of.
Where did the wife and daughter go?
Goofy does check the map, though, and realizes Pete was right,
leading to a great scene where Goofy gives Max a chance to redeem himself by telling him the right direction.
Goofy: Left or right?
Max: Uh...
Goofy: C'mon, Max!
Max: LEFT!
NC: Most Disney movies would have this be the time where Max does the right thing.
But they make it a bit more interesting by still having him lie.
After Goofy gets fed up in one of the few quiet moments of the film, they finally open up and share their feelings.
In the most cartoony way possible.
Goofy: Well, you ruined the vacation!
Max: I never
wanted to go-
NC: On the one hand, I'm kinda wishing they talked about their feelings at the top, utilizing that quiet moment some more.
But on the other hand, talking about your feelings while tumbling down a canyon and driving through rapids feels like the way A Goofy Movie should handle this.
Max: I've got my own life now!
Goofy: I know that!
I just wanted to be part of it!
NC: They blow up at each other and sit in silence while-
Well, there's no other way to say it.
They're in a car...
Matt Foley: Down by the river!
NC: They do open up slowly, though, via song.
Goofy and Max: ♫ Nobody else but you. ♫
♫ It's just our luck. ♫
♫ We're stuck together. ♫
NC: Really, we should be singing about how our car would've drowned by now and we should both be dead, but this is cool, too.
Speaking of death...
Goofy: WATERFALL?!
NC: Max remembers the Perfect Cast, though, and uses it to save his dad.
As a way to say thanks for getting them in that situation in the first place,
Goofy helps Max partake in breaking, entering, and forgetting he has a serious girlfriend for a minute.
Goofy even has a little bit of a creeper moment, too.
I don't wanna know the other times Goofy has made that face.
Through a series of mess-ups, both Max and Goofy make their way in front of the crowd with Powerline,
who, of course, just rolls with the dangerous strangers who rush the stage.
And Brittney Spears asked if her intruder had a gun.
She should've just danced with him!
Powerline: ♫ If we listen to each other's heart ♫
NC: So everyone watching, of course, sees Max and Goofy on TV.
Bobby: Yeah, Max is on the tube! That's Max! I know him!
NC: He's dancing with Prince Devo Jackson!
Max returns home and tells Roxanne the truth.
But she, of course, understands and it leads to more adorkable chemistry.
Roxanne: You wanna do something tonight?
Max: I'm kinda doing something with my dad.
Honest!
How about tomorrow?
Roxanne: Deal.
Max: Hyuh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh!
NC: I wanna bundle you both up in a cute ball and put you in a cute box of cute.
Goofy, of course, embarrasses him again, but this time, Max decides to roll with and just accept who he is.
Max: Roxanne, I'd like you to meet my dad.
Goofy: Enchante, mademoiselle.
NC: Ahyuh! I killed a mime.
And that was A Goofy Movie. Is it as good as people have built it up over the years?
Honestly, I will admit the more I watch it, the better it gets.
It's silly, of course. That's to be expected.
But it also captures a lot of the excitement, insecurities, and angers of being a teen as well as being a parent.
Their disconnect is very believable and neither side is necessarily wrong.
It's an identifiable connection that allows for a fair amount of laughs as well as a fair amount of drama.
Even the serious moments from Goofy, from friggin' Goofy, are surprisingly kinda touching.
Sure, it's a product of its times, but it seems dated in the right ways and it seems timeless in the right ways,
making it enjoyably retro but also sympathetically heartfelt.
Add in a touch of a cynical edge, beautifully flowing animation, and artistically pleasing backdrops,
and you have a movie that tried a lot harder than it needed to,
resulting in an experience that's surprisingly still pretty damn good.
I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to.