Now that I've done my devotional to Grandma Elliott, I'll be returning to my series looking at certain Disney films.
In this installment, I'll be taking a gander at the 1995 animated film 'A Goofy Movie.'
(Credit for this image goes to the user Valyrian Wildfire at the Disney wiki at https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/File:A_Goofy_Movie.png)
It acts as kind of an extension to the animated TV series 'Goof Troop' which was on the air around the same time, and features most of that show's voice cast reprising their roles.
In this movie, good old Goofy (Voice of Bill Farmer) is starting to get worried that his teenage son Max (Voice of Jason Marsden) may be at risk of becoming a juvenile delinquent. His worries in that regard increase tenfold after Max gets in trouble for disrupting a school assembly to impress his crush Roxanne.
Figuring that a little father- son bonding time could help him and his son reconnect and get Max on the right track, Goofy forces Max into accompanying him on a fishing- trip vacation to Lake Destiny, Idaho, where his own father had apparently taken him on vacation once. Max goes along VERY reluctantly, both because of how embarrassed he is of his dad and because he had been hoping to take Roxanne to a party in which the highlight would be watching a Pay Per View broadcast of a live concert by the hit musician PowerLine. In trying to break the news to Roxanne in a way that'll make her less hurt about breaking their date, Max ends up lying to the girl and telling her that he and his dad were in fact heading to Los Angeles to actually attend the PowerLine concert in person.
The road trip starts on a pretty rough note, between Goofy dragging Max to an incredibly cringe- worthy roadside attraction, and them then having a dangerous camping experience in which they run into Bigfoot. Still, the father and son do bond through the latter of the two experiences, and Goofy decides to make Max the navigator on the trip, entrusting him with the map of their trip and where to make their stops along the way. Max sadly abuses this trust, altering their route so they'll instead go to Los Angeles for the concert so Roxanne won't realize he lied to her. When they at one point stay at the same motel where Goofy's neighbor/ frienemy Pete and his own rather neurotic son PJ (Max's best friend) are staying, Pete discovers what Max is really doing and informs Goofy of this as a way to subtly imply that his own methods of parenting are superior to Goofy's. It all leads to a tense confrontation between Goofy and Max, them being put in a life- threatening situation which ultimately brings about a reconciliation between the two and causes them to finally understand each other, then at last arriving at the PowerLine concert and making a big splash there.
There were a couple problems with 'A Goofy Movie,' I must admit. I felt the scene early on when Goofy takes Max on a disastrous detour to the roadside attraction "Lester's Possum Park" could have been greatly shortened or outright cut. It's not a funny or entertaining scene, all it does is worsen the divide between Goofy and Max, which didn't really need to be done as it was already established that they were rather estranged. In contrast, I feel in the climax of the film, Goofy and Max's arrival in Los Angeles and sneaking backstage into the PowerLine concert were REALLY rushed, and more could have been done in that regard (i.e. Showing the father and son's initial impressions of the city, and their discovering how to sneak past security and into the concert arena). The encounter with Bigfoot also feels a little unresolved, it seems as though the beast eventually just loses interest in them and leaves or something.
All that being said, 'A Goofy Movie' was tons of fun. Plenty of laughs, of course (Mostly slapstick and Goofy's usual antics), but a decent amount of heart, as well.
The characters returning from "Goof Troop" are mostly portrayed the same as they were on that show, with most of the voice actors reprising their roles other than Max. Jason Marsden does a decent job as the new voice of Max, truly making him sound like a rather awkward teenager and conveying all the appropriate emotions in all the right scenes, especially when it comes to anger and embarrassment. The real standout among the voice cast, though, is definitely Bill Farmer as the voice of Goofy. He's been pretty much Disney's go- to voice actor for Goofy ever since the late 80's, but I'd say this is easily his best work with it. Not only does he do an awesome job for the scenes when Goofy's his usual happy and slightly clueless self (His rendition of Goofy's famous yell will never fail to put a grin on your face), but we also see him conveying a surprising amount of emotion for the more serious scenes in which Goofy is angry or sad, especially as the movie nears its climax.
In addition to the established characters in 'A Goofy Movie,' there are some fun new characters who come in, as well. Roxanne could have maybe gotten some more development, but still is a likable character, and a good love interest for Max in a nice- girl- next- door kind of way. What's more, Max's spray- cheese- loving, surfer buddy Bobby (Voice of Pauly Shore, in one of his few generally well- liked roles), and Roxanne's talkative, overachieving friend Stacey both make for some pretty funny moments. Even PowerLine, who we only see a little of, comes across as a friendly and rather down- to- earth guy who handles the interruption of his concert extremely well under the circumstances. Lastly, even though they were only background characters, there's a group of nuns that we see popping up at various points along the road trip (i.e. Driving alongside Goofy and Max and singing along to "On the Open Road," stopping for breakfast at the same diner that the two of them stop at, and so on), and learning of their own trip's ultimate destination will definitely have you laughing.
The music for 'A Goofy Movie' was really cool, too. The opening song "After Today," in which Max excitedly heads to his last day of school with the intent of impressing Roxanne, with him and his classmates happily singing about their plans for the summer, was really fun and catchy, a perfect way to get your energy pumped and get excited for how the movie will go from there. The driving song "On the Open Road" was better than I had remembered it being, mainly for how well it balances multiple viewpoints and musical styles. We hear Goofy's optimism about the trip, Max's pessimism about it, and as other passing motorists join in, they each bring their own style to the song. The most memorable songs in the movie, though, are definitely the two PowerLine songs, "Stand Out" and especially "Eye to Eye." They each have a great Michael Jackson/ Prince feel to them, and practically scream 1990's, though not really in a dated sort of way (In fact, on a Youtube video for "Eye to Eye," one commenter got a LOT of upvotes for her comment "Attention 80's and 90's kids, please stand up for the National Anthem."). You'll definitely be humming "Eye to Eye" for a while afterwards.
So, while 'A Goofy Movie' is definitely not one of Disney's greatest masterpieces, it's still a very fun movie that kids and adults could both really like.
I can think of a couple Scriptural lessons that can be taken from 'A Goofy Movie.' The first concerns effective parenting, which is one of the main focal points of the movie in general. In the movie, we see two heavily contrasting philosophies on parenting through Goofy and Pete's respective treatment of their sons. Goofy is generally laidback and permissive of Max, while Pete is incredibly strict and demanding towards his own son PJ. Pete tries to encourage Goofy to be much harsher with Max, at one point telling him while bowling, "If you keep him under your thumb, he won't roll in the gutter." To emphasize this point, when his ball then knocks down all but one of the pins, Pete bellows for PJ to come up and knock over the final pin so it could be considered a strike. Goofy tries this approach a little with Max, but it doesn't work well. He and Max connect the most when he gives Max freedom and trust, even if Max does ultimately abuse that trust by altering the map.
The two contrasting views in parenting are especially prominent when Pete learns of Max's altering the map and tells Goofy about it in a motel hot tub. Refusing to believe it, Goofy says, "You know, maybe Max isn't all the things you think a son should be, but he loves me." Pete rather coldly responds, "MY son RESPECTS me."
The funny thing about this exchange is, even though Pete was shown to have won this little argument, that particular line of his was 100% wrong. He fails to realize that there is a BIG difference between respect and fear. PJ is shown to clearly be terrified of Pete and his temper, immediately obeying his every word not out of a son's healthy respect for his father, but purely out of fear of how Pete will react if anything goes wrong. If Pete carries on with this approach to parenting, PJ would likely grow up to be the kind of adult who deeply resents and distances himself from his father for this treatment. It definitely brings to mind Ephesians 3:21, which says "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." Godly parents are to provide guidance and at times discipline to their children and make sure they don't go astray, but not to let it cross the line from assertive discipline to sheer tyranny the way Pete does. Setting limits is an important part of parenting, but so are providing kids with enough freedom to grow, and making sure that kids know they are loved.
Unlike Pete, Goofy DOES learn how to become a better father; He takes a much more active interest in his son's life and does all he can to be there for Max and help him grow into a good, responsible adult. Max starts taking Goofy's various suggestions and bits of advice more to heart through this approach, and their previously fragile relationship becomes a strong bond because of it. It ties into Proverbs 22:6, which says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
I think another key theological message to be found in 'A Goofy Movie' relates to the themes of honesty and openness. Most of the conflicts that come about between Goofy and Max over the course of the movie are because of them not being open to each other. They don't reveal to each other their true motivations for what they do (Goofy bringing Max on the trip out of his fear of Max possibly becoming a delinquent who might end up in jail, and Max wanting to go to the party because he had a date lined up for it with a girl he was genuinely fond of and had been trying to impress for months) until near the end of the film, skirting around these issues and causing all kinds of problems for both of them in the process. If they had shared their respective concerns with each other early on, they would likely have avoided nearly all the troubles they faced over the course of the film. Psalm 119:130 sums this up well: "The unfolding of your words gives light; It imparts understanding to the simple."
These themes of honesty and openness are also shown through what unfolds with Max and Roxanne. Max's initial lie to Roxanne ended up putting him in a bad position in which his only options would be to either alter the map so they'd go to Los Angeles (Thereby betraying his father's trust), or admit to Roxanne that he lied to her (In which case she'd hate him and the rest of their friends likely would as well). Indeed, dishonesty and avoiding issues can similarly put all of us into similarly bad positions and lose- lose scenarios.
Colossians 3:9 puts it plainly, "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices." Max ends up demonstrating this principle in the film's final scene, as even though he and his father were clearly seen on TV at the concert, he still tells Roxanne the whole truth about what happened, including confessing the lie he told her earlier.
So, that about wraps up 'A Goofy Movie,' a fun little ride of a movie that imparts wonderful theological lessons about what good parenting looks like and the importance of honesty and understanding in our relationships.
These messages are summed up well by the the refrain to the movie's song "Eye to Eye":
"If we listen to each other's hearts,
we'll find we're never too far apart;
and maybe love is the reason why,
for the first time ever, we're seeing it eye to eye."
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. There are still two more entries to go in my look at Disney films, so keep your eyes peeled for them. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!
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