Goofy wants some!!
There are few movies in this universe I cherish more than A Goofy Movie, so it would be easy to see how I could come into An Extremely Goofy Movie on one of two poles: either ardent support for keeping the Goofy spirit alive, or revulsion that a such a perfect and specific film could be milked for a direct-to-video sequel. Smart money would wager on the latter. And yet, I land somewhere in the middle, tilting positive; An Extremely Goofy Movie has no reason to exist, and it has a few major bugs, but it’s ultimately a pleasant diversion that does more to expand and reinforce the power of the original than it does to undercut it.
Some of what I love about An Extremely Goofy Movie is that it has such a strange pitch. Showing Max in a college comedy is perhaps the most natural extension of the original, though even that sounds a bit like fan fiction. But what really stands out are two particular flavors driving An Extremely Goofy Movie: first, the X Games focus, which was all the rage in 2000 and offers Disney-ESPN brand synergy. The second is a heavy dollop of ‘70s nostalgia and imagery, courtesy Goofy and his romantic subplot. Between Animal House, skateboarding, and mood rings, there’s never a lack of flavor here.
The film opens with Max (Jason Marsden) heading off to college excited for his independence. P.J. (Rob Paulsen) and Bobby (Pauly Shore), who has been promoted from cheese-guzzling AV club weirdo to BFF, join Max. A preppy frat called the Gammas, led by the gloriously named Bradley Uppercrust III (Jeff Bennett), quickly emerges as the campus rivals.
Before long, Goofy finds himself in a mid-life crisis and enrolls in college to get his career back on track, with the bonus of spending more time with Max. This is exactly the opposite of what Max wants, of course. Goofy gets entangled in both academia and a sweet romance with the school librarian Sylvia Marpole (Bebe Neuwirth).
(Multiple observers through the years have pointed out narrative similarities between this and the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back to School, which I’ve never seen, but based on the synopsis, it seems to fit.)
I’m very fond of the Goofy and Sylvia romance subplot. It’s rare that Disney movies grant their adult protagonists emotional depth, and yet that’s just what A Goofy Movie and now its sequel have done. Goofy is not just a dad stumbling through everyday parenting — he’s a deuteragonist with inner life. And not to be weird about a dog-lady, but Sylvia can get it. (One joy of your 30s is realizing that the moms and other romantic interests of parent characters are as lovingly rendered as the teen counterparts you fixated on 15 years ago.) Their romance culminates in the film’s most visually ambitious moment: a disco club dance floor invasion, a real ambitious and exciting music video-style sequence. It is genuinely great and lovingly-crafted animation. I guess it’s a rule that every Goofy outing must include a John Travolta homage.
The emotional tension between Max and Goofy remains the series’ bedrock. There are some heart-tugging early scenes showing Goofy breaking down as his son leaves the nest, which goes a long way towards putting us in Goofy’s (comically large) shoes. But the film also smartly offers sympathy to Max, who just wants some space. Their fallout is predictable, but nicely played, and the eventual reconciliation is not quite the all-timer moment of the original, but is still moving.
The X Games plot offers a narrative backbone for the film. The story gets a little silly and heightened here, but that’s the spirit of college competition stories. The climax includes Gamma sabotage with pocket mirrors, rocket-powered skateboards, and a flaming wreckage set piece (the latter of which was cut from TV airings of the film in the wake of 9/11). All this mayhem provides the film the sort of high-energy climax that you expect in a kids movie, though I think it could have used a bit more style: The “extremeness” is a bit corporatized and sanitized as compared to the zealous ‘90s flavor of the original.
The supporting cast gives the movie its extra zest. An unnamed “Beret Girl” (Vicki Lewis) who works in a hip coffee shop is an inspired addition — a beatnik who becomes P.J.’s love interest and steals all of her scenes. Her dialogue is a stream of clever beat poetry pastiche well-delivered by Lewis. On the other side, the Gammas are deliciously douchey, led by Bradley Uppercrust III (you gotta use the full character name every time) whose homoerotic-tinted obsession with getting Max to join the Gammas borders on a seduction. Tank (Brad Garrett), the Gamma muscle, even gets a full character arc.
Visually, the film is flatter than its predecessor. The animation is clean but lacks the dynamic energy and color of A Goofy Movie, which had a small budget compared to other Disney movies of the ‘90s, but still had theatrical release polish. There are a few sequences in An Extremely Goofy Movie that punch above their weight: the aforementioned disco sequence is the peak, but Goofy’s acid trip montage during exams is the runner-up. The film never fully escapes its direct-to-video limitations, but it never looks bad or distractingly cheap. The texture of the college setting is inviting.
What makes the movie tick is Scott Gorden’s screenplay, which is zippy and well-structured. It is dense with gags, but more importantly, does right by the characters, offering several little pockets of emotional weight. The pacing never drags in its 80 minutes. It doesn’t reach the depth of the parent-child relationship or comic genius of A Goofy Movie, but it has enough sincerity and style to be a worthy companion piece.
The movie is not absent problem. The most glaring is the fact that this is not a real musical. It has no musical numbers; nobody breaks out into original songs. The soundtrack of the original is one of the all-time greats in my book; those songs slap and carry serious emotional heft. An Extremely Goofy Movie swaps those out for wall-to-wall disco and pop-punk needle drops in the background — fine on their own and offering flavor, but nowhere near as impactful. This film’s script also makes the curious choice to completely ignore Roxanne, Max’s love interest in the first movie. Max appears to be single. I don’t think it’s a dealbreaker, but even a passing reference would have helped maintain continuity for those of us who became invested in that ship. Let the man whine to his long-distance girlfriend about his dad showing up at college or something!
An Extremely Goofy Movie isn’t a revelation, and it has a certain featherweight feeling that goes along with being a direct to video Disney sequel, but it’s better than it has any right to be. It takes a bizarre premise and combo of flavors, and spins it into a charmingly weird little sequel. It doesn’t elevate the original, but it doesn’t tarnish it either, and that’s a major win.
Is It Good?
Good (5/8)
Dan is the founder and head critic of The Goods. Follow Dan on Letterboxd. Join the Discord for updates and discussion.