A Goofy Movie (1995)

It is seriously the hottest day I have ever experienced. The highest temperature in the area I live in was....get this...115 degrees. No seriously. 106 degrees can scramble a large canine unconscious.

Therefore, there was no basis for me to convince myself that I would be able to muster any form of coherent thought into my studies. None. I will blame my lack of productivity on the heat. And the wonderful supply of ice cream and soda that I have stocked in the freezer.

I came home from work with sweat poring out of every pore in my body. Nursing my first of many glasses of ice cold coke, I weakly contemplated what movie in my collection I could watch.

The parameters of my selection were as follows:
1. must be a cartoon
2. must be old
3. must requiring only the minimal amount of synapses firing in my CNS
4. must have songs
5. must be Disney

And so I chose, " A Goofy Movie".

This is seriously one of my favorite Disney movies. Goofy is not my favorite Disney character but the movie is just plain amazing.

I also feel that I must defend this movie since some of my coworkers were quick to blanch when I mentioned this title.

As far as I am concerned, it has every element that makes a movie enjoyable. There is obviously silly humor, drama, romance, and excitement. I would even argue that is one of the most well rounded of the Disney movies. Even more surprising since it's star is Goofy.

As his name implies, Goofy is a goofy and ditzy character. He was always played to be a bit of an idiot but with a big heart. There is alot of history around Goofy since he was one of the originals so feel free to trudge through that.

What makes the Goofy movie so awesome was that it gave Goofy more depth and personality. In the movie, he plays a single father(once again the single parent syndrome in a Disney movie. Why?I have no clue).

He has a son named Max. Max is right at the stage of teen angst and romance. There is a huge disconnect between father and son when dealing with cultures ( as in musical tastes) and demeanor ( Goofy's goofiness and Max's awkardness).

Goofy is presented as more than a numb skull here. He is a single father who deeply cares for his son. No matter how alien that son is, he still loves him. Goofy just wants what's best for his son. I mean, wow! That is a different Goofy than what I've seen in other media outlets.

After Max puts on an elaborate stage show to impress his crush, Roxanne, he lands in trouble with the school. Easily impressionable after hearing the premonitions from the principal and even Goofy's friend Pete that Max will become a delinquent, Goofy hopes to prevent that by forcing a father/son road trip.

At the same time, Max is able to secure a date with the girl of his dreams only to feel resentment upon realization of the forced trip. In an attempt to make sure Roxanne will be focused on him, Max blurts out that the reason for the trip is to perform onstage with a huge pop star. So begins a tale of lies, trust, father/son relationships, and music.

Yup, there's alot of music and it's cool! I still find it cool all these years later. I still get really giddy whenever I hear the "Stand out" song. The musical score in this movie was so on par. Nothing was cheesy or strained. It was positive and had great messages all around.

I just realized that the time I watched this movie, I was the prime target audience. I grew up on Disney and I was a teen in the midst of making my raging hormones into typhoons. I could immediately relate to Max's character.

Any teen now can still relate to Max's character. It's that classic frustration that stems from trying to un-tether ourselves from our parents. The point where there starts to be a clear division between the me and the Parents. Where Parents become synonymous with jailors and stick-in-the-muds. It didn't matter that these people cared and loved us. At this point in teen development there will always be an explosion. An explosion that leaves resentment and frustration to taint the aftermath.

As I lounged on the sofa with my tongue lolling to the side of my mouth, I still felt the same tremors of enjoyment and excitement. There was not one moment that I did not enjoy.

As a small, geeky aside, I just realized the Wilhelm scream can be heard in this movie.