Not Just a Goof Review

If you were to ask any Millennial who grew up watching A Goofy Movie on VHS or on Disney Channel, how will they respond? Most likely they’d say something like what I’m about to say.

“A Goofy Movie is a Disney classic, and all those critics who said otherwise about it didn’t know what they were talking about.”

As fun as it is to bash critics for being wrong, I dont think anyone outside of A Goofy Movie’s intended audience expected it to be as big as it’s gotten. Disney didn’t give it as much time or resources as they did their other films; they had so little faith in it. Flash-forward to the film’s 30th anniversary, and not only does Disney admit it was wrong, but they even helped make a documentary about it. That documentary, Not Just a Goof, is now out on Disney+, and…it’s as amazing as the film its about.

The Untold Story of A Goofy Movie

Directed by Christopher Ninness and Eric Kimelton, Not Just a Goof is a look at the uphill battle A Goofy Movie faced from its inception to becoming the hit it is today. Told through a combination of interviews with those who worked on it, never-before-seen footage made during the film’a production, and animation in the style of the movie, this documentary really shows just how much went into making this gem of a film. We get to hear how Kevin Lima’s entire life from the moment he first saw The Jungle Book had led him to this movie. The film’s cast, primarily Bill Farmer (Goofy) and Jason Marsden (Max Goof), open up on what they experienced making it. Some of the footage that ends up being shown has to be seen to be believed.

For example, for the big song-and-dance number, they show how A Goofy Movie a group of professional dancers choreograph everything in real life. Getting to see them perform the moves for “I2I,” a moment that I’ve seen so many times its burned into my memory, is incredible. Kevin Lima and the people who worked on the movie really put everything they had into that movie. Yet, even that was written off as almost not enough.

Disney Really Dropped the Ball With this Movie

Its no secret that Disney didn’t give A Goofy Movie the love and support it deserved. You hear Kevin and the others talk about how they were given so little funding and attention, and the odds were stacked against them. In a rather humourous moment, they discuss how their boss, Jeffrey Katzenberg, almost wrecked the film by wanting Steve Martin to voice Goofy. With his normal voice. To prove that was a bad decision, they had Bill Farmer record Goofy’s lines talking completely normal, and that made Jeffrey see the light.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Speaking of Jeffrey, the future co-founder of Dreamworks never shows up in the documentary. However, Not Just a Goof has his prescience loom large, as he was ultimately the guy that decided the movie’s fate.  His importance is made all the more apparent when Katzenberg’s eventually departure hurt the film even more. Though, like A Goofy Movie, Katzenberg would have the last laugh in the form of Shrek. Not only did that film turn Disney’s cherished fairytale formula on its head, but rumor has it that Lord Farquaad was based on Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

Proving the Critics Wrong

Like many of the Millenials who we see sing the film’s praises in a montage, I grew up with A Goofy Movie. One of my earliest memories was me watching and rewatching the movie on VHS. I might have been too young to fully understand things, but I loved it because it had Goofy. Many of the scenes lived in my head for years until I rewatched it. I still love to listen to “Stand Out” and “I2I” and rank them as some of Disney’s best music. So, getting to see this movie that remained underappreciated for so long get enough love to have a documentary about it means a lot to me. Its well-written, well-structured, and makes me want to go watch this touching story about a father and son again. This documentary is the ultimate validation that A Goofy Movie was not just a goof. It managed to have just as much of an impact as the rest of the Disney Renaissance films with nowhere near the resources.

So, to all those critics who were wrong about A Goofy Movie, go the way of Principal Mazur.

I Give “Not Just a Goof” a 4.5/5. Points lost because we didn’t get Jeffrey Katzenberg’s opinions

And I Give “A Goofy Movie” a 4.5/5, too.