As per writing, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of A Goofy Movie. It’s one of those films that triggers 2 different questions from 2 different generations, depending on whose point of view. The dad or the son’s perspective? Directed by Kevin Lima (Tarzan 1999, Enchanted 2007) This Disney original is a classic and has one of the best soundtracks ever made. A story about family and coming of age for Max. It’s very relatable, specially for teens, and the quality stands up even to this day.

The story revolves around a father and son. Unfortunately, Max, the son, is in his rebellious and cool stage of his life, while Goofy yearns for Max’s attention, just like when Max was young and needed his father the most. Together they embark on a journey which none of them saw how it will turn out.

Characters

Voice acting was superb, and I won’t be pointing anything out with regards to that. Rather let’s talk about the characters and personalities involved.

• Goofy and Max was of course, great. Their interests were complete opposites, Max was into those cool skateboard vibe, and Goofy was… well… being a dad. Loves fishing, hiking, and going on adventures, but above all, he loves being with Max. Their personalities and interests might clash, but that makes them all the more relatable characters.
• Max’s friends, if you look at them from the outside, they don’t look like they contribute anything to the story. But their character adds life to the movie. It adds that extra zest and at times provides that effective comic relief. Characters very well made.
• Roxanne was very charming, even for a cartoon character, she was lovely. Her role was monumental and essentially what drove Max to do all the things he did in the movie.
• Powerline (voiced by Tevin Campbell) was the most memorable character int he whole movie, even if its about Goofy and Max, Powerline have cemented its name as one of the top fictional artists ever.

Music

Music was electric! Even to this day, I still listen to Powerline’s Eye to Eye song. And still I’m hoping they’d release a real soundtrack album, I’d definitely buy that, regardless of what medium, compact CD, cassette tape, mp3, I’ll even download that off of LimeWire (90s babies know what I’m talking about). The character of Powerline was heavily inspired by real-life pop stars, including Michael Jackson, Prince, and Bobby Brown. R&B artist Tevin Campbell provided the singing voice for Powerline, recording the songs “Stand Out” and “I 2 I“.

Animation

The animation was phenomenal and I loved every minute of it. Hand-drawn animation will always be top tier in my opinion. No matter how much AI tries to replicate it, hand-drawn will always come out on top.
For the concert and the dancing part, they hired professional dancers and choreographers as basis for those scenes.

Conclusion

A Goofy Movie will always be on my top 10 list of Disney films. This is my childhood right here, watched it on our VCR around 1997 and that music stuck with me to this day. It’s such a 90s vibe with everything they show on here. Highly recommended to watch with the whole family. Even if they say its lame and they’re grown up already, pull them onto the couch and make them watch it! They’d thank you for it. Enjoy!

Oh and the 2 questions? Well, if you’re a teenager watching this, you’d think “Hey Goofy, why can’t you just get off his back?!”
If you’re a father, like me, we’d go “Hey Max, why don’t you want to spend more time with Goofy? He misses you.”

A movie that will definitely transcend time and remain relatable to everyone. Since then, The Wild Robot (2024) was another recent film that really moved me emotionally.