'Not Just a Goof' Review: A Goofy Movie's legacy given the respect it deserves
Three decades later, A Goofy Movie finally basks in the renaissance it nearly missed out on, and Not Just a Goof captures the zeitgeist with competent charisma
Like most millennials, I spent my early years living on a steady diet of Disney-produced entertainment–and really, who would blame me? The Disney Renaissance, spanning 1989 to 1999, was an absolute smorgasbord of top-notch entertainment, taking audiences of all ages everywhere from under the sea to the vast plains of the Serengeti. The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), among many others became instant classics that are still talked about today.
Regardless of these successes, however, there are some films that fall through the cracks of the Renaissance’s legacy. The Rescuers Down Under (1990) is a seismic improvement over the original in both scale and brevity. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), despite some minor issues, is a massive achievement in its own right, especially as a child-friendly adaptation of Victor Hugo’s domineering source material. And, like those films, A Goofy Movie (1995) has its own place in the Disney canon, despite being deemed underwhelming by critics and failing to impress at the box office.
For those unaware, A Goofy Movie was the big screen adaptation of Goof Troop, the Disney Afternoon show centering around father Goofy and his son Max. On the last day of school, Max (Jason Marsden) devises a plan to win the respect of his classmates, as well as the heart of his high school crush Roxanne (Kellie Martin). The plan impresses the school, all except for Principal Mazur (Wallace Shawn), who angrily calls single father Goofy (Bill Farmer) to warn Goofy about Max’s potentially disastrous future. Startled and desperate to cling to his distant son, Goofy schedules a last minute fishing trip to take with his son. To Max’s demise, the fishing trip (outside of wanting space from his embarrassing father) conflicts with a date he made with Roxanne to watch a pay-per-view concert of Powerline (an uncredited Tevin Campbell)–a Michael Jackson/Prince incarnate, so naturally, he’s the biggest pop star on Planet Earth. To keep his chances with Roxanne alive, Max tells her that his Dad is taking him to the Powerline concert in Los Angeles.
It’s a sweet, sincere look at both father/son bonding and teenage love, all set against a backdrop of a comically zany animation style. What other Disney animated classic takes you to the dilapidated backwoods of Lester’s Possum Park, down a waterfall in a minivan, or face to face with Bigfoot himself? While not to the standards of poignant all-timers like The Lion King or The Little Mermaid, the film still deserves its place in the pantheon of Disney’s renaissance as a minor success. Even though A Goofy Movie wasn’t a smash hit at the box office or warmly received by critics, slowly but surely the film found an audience, which is exactly what Not Just a Goof (2025) is here to examine.
Stitched together from archival footage, new interviews, and never-before-seen making-of footage, Not Just a Goof acts as a masterclass in how to make the most of a retrospective documentary. The film is directed by Christopher Ninness and Eric Kimelton in their feature-length debut, but you’d think they’ve been doing this for years, given the effortless way they’re able to piece together their narrative. While nothing revolutionary, per se, Not Just a Goof covers a lot of ground in just under 90 minutes, exploring A Goofy Movie’s tumultuous production history, consistent notes from former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, and in-depth looks at some of the film’s most memorable sequences.
Not only that, but Not Just a Goof never dwells on a single sequence or plot point too long, nor does it derive sympathy from its initial failures. It’s far too interested in presenting to its audience exactly what it wants them to see, reaching all the way to the film’s massive resurgence and eventual cult status. The stars of the film are all here, from Farmer to Marsden, but the real star of the film is the archival footage, all pulled from the archives of A Goofy Movie director Kevin Lima’s personal stash. This footage serves as the perfect outlet to bring together the missing puzzle pieces, showing all of us how the film not only came to exist, but to eventually thrive.
It’s this kind of forthright filmmaking that gives Not Just a Goof a huge leg up over the many passively produced filler documentaries featured on Disney+ that simply act as advertising for its theme parks and properties. Again, it’s nothing that will knock your socks off or change the way you look at documentary filmmaking. It does, however, act as an excellent encapsulation of a Disney classic that almost wasn’t. For the first time in a while, it’s nice to say that I used my Disney+ account as more than just a Simpsons machine.
B+
Feature image credit to Disney via IMDB
