After three decades, Disney’s A Goofy Movie remains as heartfelt and, well, goofy, as ever. Directed by Kevin Lima, the animated feature film follows the adventures of Goofy (voiced by Disney Legend Bill Farmer) and his teenage son, Max (voiced by Jason Marsden), as they embark on the road trip of a lifetime — one neither of them could have ever imagined.
Disneytoon Studios produced A Goofy Movie predominantly in Paris, after character design, art direction, and storyboarding had been completed in Burbank. Since A Goofy Movie‘s release on April 7, 1995, the film’s slapstick humor, heartfelt moments, and infectious music have helped it develop a strong fanbase among millennials who watched it repeatedly on VHS. Today, some of those same millennials work in animation across The Walt Disney Company, such as Jeff Trammell, the showrunner behind Marvel Television’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, who called the movie “so ahead of its time.”
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of A Goofy Movie, we asked animation experts from Disney Television Animation, Marvel Animation, Pixar Animation Studios, and Walt Disney Animation Studios to share their standout moments from the film, including the showstopping finale that finds Goofy and Max performing “I2I” live in concert alongside Max’s idol, Powerline (voiced by Tevin Campbell), aka the “biggest rock star on the planet.”
They also reflected on how A Goofy Movie‘s inventive animation and bold storytelling inspired them as aspiring animators — and how the film continues to influence them today.
Standout Storytelling
“When I was an aspiring animator, it made you want to animate like [A Goofy Movie‘s animators did],” Andrew Feliciano, a Walt Disney Animation Studios animation supervisor whose credits span Big Hero 6 to Moana 2, said. “Today, I use it for inspiration if I want to get myself into a good mood. I’ll even play ‘I2I’ or ‘Stand Out‘ or the Powerline sequence. It just makes me happy.”
“I’ve watched A Goofy Movie many times in my life — not just in childhood,” Pixar Animation’s Domee Shi — the Academy Award®-winning director behind the short film Bao and the feature films Turning Red and Elio — said. “It’s affected me in unexpected ways, too. My storyboarding teacher in animation school, Nancy Beiman, worked on the movie; she’s been a big inspiration for me and is sort of the reason why I got into storyboarding. When I found out she worked on the movie, I totally fangirled.”
Shi continued, “It wasn’t until adulthood that I realized just how much this movie has influenced and inspired me. In fact, if you watch Turning Red, we also have a big, spectacular act three sequence that happens at a pop concert.”
Still, as a child, Shi was struck by the emotional core of the film. “I just really loved and identified with the relationship between Max and his dad,” she said. “When I first watched the movie, I was surprised by the depth of the characters. It’s Goofy. He has such a funny design, a funny voice, but when you see him genuinely worry about his son, or how sad he is when he realizes Max is embarrassed by him, that really sucker punches you with emotion — even though it’s kind of wrapped in this ’90s, candy, pop package.”
Beyond the Music
While A Goofy Movie means a great deal to many Disney animators — not to mention fans around the world — it holds a special place in the heart of Bert Klein, who worked as an in-between artist on the film before rising through the ranks at Walt Disney Animation Studios, recently becoming an animation supervisor for Zootopia+ and Once Upon a Studio, as well as the upcoming feature Zootopia 2.
“A Goofy Movie was my first job here, 30 years ago,” Klein said. “Essentially, the in-betweener does the poses in-between to make the smooth action. So, I would look at the drawings of Sergio Pablos — this amazing stuff he did with Pete and Goofy — and flip them.”
It was a transformative experience for Klein, who today is tickled whenever fans notice details he worked on — like the ooey, gooey cheese pizza P.J. (voiced by Rob Paulsen) eats. “You have no idea what’s going to be interesting years later,” he said with a laugh. “That was a little tricky to make it feel snappy, but I had some leeway to do something different.”
Not Just a Goof
From “totally tubular” Disney Store merchandise to D23’s Fork n’ Film anniversary screenings in select U.S. cities, to a dance party at Disney California Adventure theme park and many TikTok challenges, A Goofy Movie has never been more popular than it is today.
“A Goofy Movie is special in that it that features both animation that’s fun to watch and animation that affects people’s hearts and emotions in a really deep way,” Klein said.
Feliciano said he felt “nostalgic” when he recently rewatched the Powerline concert. “I gotta tell you, I go back and watch it a lot,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s dated at all. It still feels cool. For people who were introduced to it 30 years ago when they were young, if they’re like me, they’re entering their 40s now. They probably have kids of their own, and they’re very excited to show A Goofy Movie to their kids now — just like any other film they would’ve grown up on.”
Shane Houghton — who, along with his brother Chris, is behind Disney Television Animation’s Big City Greens — grew up watching a family VHS of A Goofy Movie, and agreed with that sentiment, saying, “I think it speaks to the timelessness of animation. Good animation done well lasts forever.”
