I could have included this in my Disney Renaissance post, but I chose to give A Goofy Movie it’s own post — ranked directly ahead of the other Disney Renaissance movies.

It’s not because A Goofy Movie is BETTER than the other Disney movies. I can objectively accept that Beauty and the Beast has more artistry than A Goofy Movie, that Aladdin is funnier, etc.

But A Goofy Movie had to be here, had to have it’s own memorial. Few movies mean more to me. It’s a sentimental favorite for so, so many reasons. At the risk of going “Xanga” on you, I’m going to list those reasons here.

• AGM is the first movie I remember seeing in theaters. I was six years old, almost seven. I still remember the exact feeling — the scary sensation as the speakers turn on at the beginning of the movie, the slight numbness of my thighs as they are hit hard with AC, the sense of escape and immersion that can’t be replicated when watching something on a TV… Although some of that magic lingers when I go to see a movie in theaters nowadays, a lot of it has become less pronounced.
• I saw it in theaters with my dad when I was six years old — and it’s a perfect movie to watch with your “pops” before you enter your teenage years. One of the things I love about the movie is that it is moderately fair in showing both sides of the relationship between Max and Goofy — Max wants his freedom, and Goofy wants his son. It’s surprisingly nuanced and fleshed out. Both parents and children can benefit from the insights AGM holds. I’m going to make my kids watch it with me.
• As I mentioned, I first saw this movie when I was six. This is right about the age when crushes started to become a thing in my life. Thus Max and Roxanne were my prototypical school crush story throughout elementary and middle school. I still love it — Roxanne is tonally perfect as the kind of girl it’s easy to fall hard for, and Max’s desperation to win her over is pitch perfect. I always dreamed of staging some elaborate stunt like Max’s music video to impress some girl.
• Also, that move Max pulls when he kisses Roxanne as she puts her hand out for handshake… smooth as hell.
• The soundtrack. I adored this soundtrack when I was younger. The three “traditional” musical songs — “After Today,” “On the Open Road,” and “Nobody Else But You” — are excellent, right up there with the so-called Disney classics of the era. But the real reason I loved it were the two songs by Powerline (a Michael Jackson facsimile): “I 2 I” and “Stand Out” were some of my favorite pop songs of the era.
• Despite my love for the music, the only way I could listen to the music was watching Before it was (FINALLY) reprinted in 2007, the Goofy Movie soundtrack was my Holy Grail. I regularly checked CD sections of stores and yard sales, but never came upon an original printing (and if I was going to buy it on Amazon or Ebay, I’d have to drop $50+ to pick it up, which I seriously considered until I discovered the miracle of Limewire.
• 

  “Who’s your favorite possum?”

  One of the comic highlights of the film is the Possum Park song. (I would have been outraged if it had been left off of the soundtrack.) Those two minutes of chaos make me laugh every time — especially that little girl with the atonal singing. How can you not love a song that rhymes “yodel” with “goat’ll”?

• When I finally did get my (digital) hands on MP3s of the soundtrack, I became totally obsessed for a month or two. In high school, I made a list of my top 100 songs that I updated annually, and that year I placed “Stand Out” as my #4 favorite song ever. I got carried away, perhaps, but that lets you know how much I dug the album.
• My first article for Earn This? Yep, a review of A Goofy Movie — I wanted to open the site with a movie that I could confidently, effortlessly discuss, and AGM fit the bill. I also felt at the time like I was the ONLY person who loved this movie. I’ve since met others who share my feelings, so I know I’m not alone.
• 

  Best face in a movie full of great faces

  Most of my elementary school summers, and probably one or two of my middle school summers, included days where I watched this movie multiple times in one day. Ah, to be that carefree, unencumbered, and mind-numbingly bored.

• I had so much fun writing this post, I went and watched the movie again. So good. I laughed like 50 times.
• EVERYBODY MAMBO!