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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the top 5 Disney movies and an almost perfect dvd., July 9, 2005
A Goofy Movie is one of my top 5 Disney animated movies of all time. Hands down. It's almost never mentioned by uppity film critics, a lot of people that like Disney usually forget it, and it isn't exactly a masterpiece like Snow White, but it definately holds its own. I watched it back when it came out, and I loved it. Remembering this, I saw it sitting on a shelf at the store and decided to give it another shot to see if it stood the test of time and my being 20 now. It did. If anything, it only got better. Before The Incredibles, there was another Disney film that brought families close together. And that, was A Goofy Movie, believe it or not. Go ahead and laugh, because I wouldn't believe it if someone told me that too. Goofy, bringing families closer together? Blasphemy! But it's not. Goofy is a great character for this kind of movie about a teenager growing distant from his dad. While it's a good one for families, it's even better if you're a single dad with a son. While I'm a month late in saying this, it's also a very good Father's Day movie if you two can sit back and enjoy "just" a cartoon.
We start out with Max, Goofy's son. He's dreaming about a girl he has a crush on, Roxanne. It's ruined before they kiss, when he starts to turn into his dad. Huge teeth, feet, hands, ears, everything. He wakes up, and panics once more- he's overslept and he's almost late for a little surprise at school. His dad busts in and embarasses him already, showing up with a towel wrapped around his body and one on his head too while Max is getting dressed. Not a good start for the last day of school. Max makes it and gets together with PJ and Bobby (a new character voiced by Pauly Shore. He acts just like him too). They throw together a huge stage performance where Max imitates Powerline, a pop star in the Goof world, and everyone in the school goes nuts. It comes to a halt when the principal interrupts, and the three friends get into big trouble. Unfortunately, he calls each of their parents at a bad time- Pete (PJ's dad) is giving Goofy a speech about how Max could join a gang or get into even worse trouble if Goofy doesn't start being a little harder on him. Goofy takes the call from the principal as a little wake up call, and makes plans to go on a trip to a fishing spot he and his dad went on ages ago. Well, Max had impressed Roxanne with that onstage risk, and they were going to go to an after-grad party together. The trip gets in the way, and he lies to her, saying he's going to see Powerline live since he knows him. Goofy and Max hit the road to what Goofy thinks is a fun fishing trip and time to bond with his son, but it's anything but. The two argue, stop talking to eachother for a period of time, get into huge danger in the woods and in a river, and more. I'm sure every parent with a teenager can relate to most of what goes on here.
Now, even just barely out of my teenage years, this movie really hits me. How Max treats his dad from time to time made me resent him, but also made me realize that we've all done something like that. Leaving in the middle of what's supposed to be a fun place because you think it's dumb...you can see the pain on Goofy's face when Max does this. And what makes it hurt the viewer is that it's Goofy- a character who's always upbeat and happy. Watching him get sad actually made me tear up. What's worse is when he and Max run into a mishap involving a waterfall. Eventhough I know how it's going to end, I wanted Goofy to be alright. See? This is just an animated character. But you get attatched to him after all he goes through. But now I'm making the movie sound depressing. Aside from a few moments like the ones I've mentioned, the movie's funny overall, and kids age 11+ will be sure to get a few laughs out of it. Bigfoot discovering disco music has to be one of these things.
The visual quality didn't get the best treatment here, but I'm hoping a Platinum Edition is in the works somewhere down the line. There's notable grain and smudges one the print, and it looks like a slightly cleaned up vhs version. But the movie was made in the mid-late 90's, so it still looks pretty good animation-wise. No jagged lines here. And the audio's nice and loud. The Powerline songs at the beginning and end are booming all over the place. Some sound effects are a tad quiet, like Goofy and Max stay at the underwater-themed hotel, but it's nothing you'll mind unless you're listening for things like this.
Here's the reason it gets four stars instead of five. While I was surprised when I went to the special features menu, and discovered some that were actually good, there weren't enough. I remember seeing some concept designs for Big Foot and a few other characters way back when, and it would've been nice to have had them here in some sort of gallery. Also, it would've been nice if Disney had given it as equally great extras as some other Gold Classic Classic discs. But what's here's still good. The first one I have to mention is an entire episode of the classic Disney Afternoon cartoon: Goof Troop. It's the "Calling All Goofs" episode in which a few of Goofy's relatives are having a reunion. Because Pete screws up Goofy's car, he can't go. So instead, Peg (Pete's sultry wife) has the reunion at their house. Of course, we all know how Pete is around Goofy. How will he handle more than one at the same time? It's pure chaos. Unfortunately, the transfer to dvd wasn't kind to the episode, and there are a lot of visual problems here and there (some images jump around instead of smoothly moving. Keep focused on a character when they're doing something, and you'll notice it). It's a funny episode still, and I was surprised to be laughing at it well over ten years after it first aired. It was nice seeing the whole crew, sans Chainsaw. Next, is the biggest extra of the batch- A Goofy Success Story, running over 40 minutes. It covers how Goofy became a household name. It goes well into his past, and is a must-see for classic Disney fans and animation fans in general. After this is the embarassing A Goofy Movie dvd Storybook. If you remember those books on tape...with books included of Disney movies from the 90's, that's what this is...only you watch it. There's the option of having it read to you, in which the narrator sounds like he's talking to kids with ADD. This is actually worth a laugh, if only for what pictures they chose for each page. The first 3 had me holding my sides (go ahead an' say I'm immature. I don't care). What's almost as bad is the Disney Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega. It's Mambo No. 5...but with some changes for a family audience and a Disney theme. What's somewhat sick is that he goes over pairings for characters. Like Mickey = Minnie, Donald = Daisy. But then he gets to Pluto, who in turn gets Huey, Louie and Dewy. Horrid. There's also a lame trivia game and the usual trailer to round things out.
That's all there is to it. Get A Goofy Movie. Don't even rent it, just buy it. We're never going to get another one like this. Not from Disney anyway at the rate they're going.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A teenager's review..., January 29, 2000
I watched "A Goofy Movie" tonight when I was babysitting. The kids loved it and I enjoyed it too. This movie contains enough of the little things to be appealing to children of all ages...including teens...like me. I don't think I've seen a better Disney movie. This one has to be my faveorite. The music was good for people of all ages and I have been searching the internet for the soundtrack. It's not every day that you see a teenager rave about PG movie. Excellent Job Disney!
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sustained Work of Goofy-Dom ..., March 28, 2005
The trick in most Goofy titles, is that the schtick needs to be paced. The cartoons allowed for a frenetic pace which was often offset by another characters style. Well, this movie succeeds in sustaining the style of Goofy, with a story that has a cast of many other funny characters.
For a Franco-American co-production, it does ( for me ) come as a surprise that this has been achieved. However, the answer lies in the traditional animation style, and a strong script.
Bill Farmer's voice work is totally awesome in this film, as in the Casper series, and he captures the reinvented Goofy that came to screens with the series developed around or after the success of DUCK TALES.
Stylistically, the Characters were re-done for the "modern" audience, and unfortunately were part of the Disney downgrade of the style of drawing that has led to the cessation of traditional animation methods. The problem I have with this is not the shift to a totally computer generated form, but that the style as evinced by people like the Masterful Carl Barks, but that for all the high tech gadgets that Disney has its command, it cannot do the simple thing of copy the classic style.
Fortunately, A GOOFY MOVIE maintains the high visual standards, but is one of a limited number of films that led up to dross like TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS.
The gags in this film are brilliant; case in point, Big Foots Dance sequence as the backdrop to a moving scene with Max and Goofy... its clearly a reference for Adults, since the music and the Dance sequence is so 70's. And the entire movie combines classic Goofy material together with contemporary references, in such a manner that the style of the Saturday Cartoon series that featured Goofy, Max , Pete, and etc, is emulated very well.
Totally worth it for the fan of Goofy and the cartoon series of the 90s.
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