An Extremely Goofy Movie

Disney released yet another direct-to-video sequel in 2000, this time, to A Goofy Movie. Starring everyone from the original film, plus Jeff Bennett, Vicki Lewis, Brad Garrett, and Bebe Neuwirth, An Extremely Goofy Movie is the only Disney direct-to-video sequel to rate higher than its predecessor on Rotten Tomatoes until 2006.

In the film, Max heads to college and looks to compete in the College X-Games. However, Goofy is fired from his job and must go back to college to finish his degree. He arrives at Max’s school, joins a rival team and befriends the librarian, who shares his love of 1970s nostalgia. Meanwhile, PJ falls in love with a poet.

As Rotten Tomatoes notes, this film is actually considerably better than its predecessor. The background animations don’t freeze like they did and the subject is much more interesting. It makes sense to have the film be centered on sports, as the X Games were hitting their peak in popularity at the time.

While it seems Max took a step backwards in characterization, it must be realized that he was excited to finally start his own life, but Goofy bounced back into it and started messing everything up. And Goofy was dealing with empty nest syndrome, of course he would want to come to the same school Max was in. Unlike the first film, the two do communicate, but this time it just leads to a falling out which is repaired in the eleventh hour.

Giving Goofy a love interest is actually a great idea, mainly because it gives him someone other than Max to have intimate interactions with. Besides, him and Sylvia tearing it up Disco Style is perfect. Same with PJ. Having him finally express himself and break away from being an neurotic mess helps to develop his character and make him finally be who he was meant to be.

The music was great as well, but I have a predisposition to music from the 70s. 

One thing though, there’s the suspicious absence of Roxanne. With Max doing everything he could to be with her in the first film, it seems odd that she wouldn’t show up. She wasn’t even mentioned.

#28