30 Years Later: A Goofy Movie

So I just watched the documentary, ‘Not Just A Goof’ and it just made me fall more in love with this movie. A Goofy Movie was released April 7th, 1995 and made $37.6 million on a budget of $18 million and was considered a box office failure which was panned by critics. This is one of my favorite movies to watch YouTube movie reactors watch.

From watching the documentary the only reason this film wasn't a box office smash like previous Disney films such as: Lion King and Aladdin is because Disney didn't have faith in this film. Lack of promotion, hardly any merchandise on sale, negative reviews and this film came out the same weekend as Will Smith/Martin Lawrence Bad Boys. After the firing of Jeffrey Katzenberg the film almost wasn't even released. It seemed like Disney only put this film out as an obligation to the creators of the film.

A Goofy Movie is one of the most beloved films among the black community. The soundtrack is obviously influenced by a lot of popular R&B/Pop artist at the time like Michael Jackson, Prince & Bobby Brown. With classics like ‘Stand Out’ which is about overcoming white supremacy and not adhering to racial stereotypes that still stand the test of time. Even the principal of the school labeled Max as a future, “gang member” only because he disrupted a pep rally.

If this film would have came out today I think it would look completely different. With the proper marketing, a different release date and actual merchandise this would have been a smash hit out of the gate. The only reason critics soured on this film at the time is because they got a lighthearted father/son road trip film when they wanted a straight up comedy. Despite, that A Goofy Movie will always remain a classic in my eyes. Happy 30 year anniversary to one of the best Disney films.