Western Animation / A Goofy Movie

It's hard to be cool when your dad is Goofy.

"If we listen to each other's heart
We'll find we're never too far apart
And maybe love is the reason why
For the first time ever we're seeing it eye to eye..."

—"I2I" by Powerline (Tevin Campbell)

A Goofy Movie is a 1995 animated film from Disney, starring, of course, Goofy. It's a loose Spin-Off of Goof Troop, making it the only other feature film spin-off of a show from The Disney Afternoon after DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. It's also, to date, the only theatrically-released, single-narrative feature film to star a character from the Classic Disney Shorts.

After his son Max gets into trouble on the last day of school, single father Goofy becomes worried that they haven't been spending enough time together and decides to take him on an impromptu father-son road trip. Unfortunately, not only does Max want nothing to do with his amazingly embarrassing father but their trip interferes with his plans to go to a party with his crush Roxanne. Not wanting Roxanne to think he's rejecting her, he lies that Goofy is friends with Powerline, a Michael Jackson-esque pop superstar whose concert she'll be watching on pay-per-view at said party, and that the reason he won't be at the party is because they're going to Los Angeles to join him on stage. Hilarity Ensues.

The film is best remembered for giving Goofy a significant amount of Character Development from a broad slapstick joke character to a loving Bumbling Dad, with plenty of touching father-son bonding moments throughout, all without sacrificing any of the comedy. Though not a part of the Disney Animated Canon (its animation was farmed out to Disney's branch studios in Australia, Canada and France, who had animated Goof Troop and later assisted on some of the studio's late '90s features), its popularity among fans of '90s Disney animation is comparable to that of the films which were and is certainly greater than that of the show it was spun off from.

The film was directed by Kevin Lima, who would go on to direct Disney's Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians and Enchanted. The film was a modest box office success, enough to earn a Direct to Video sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie, in 2000.

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Some Goofy Tropes:

• The '90s: A nice little time capsule of the early- to mid-point of the decade. There's plenty of flannel and baggy clothing, Pauly Shore playing one of many variations of his "Weasel" character (and just Pauly Shore being in the movie at all) and a pop superstar character who's an amalgam of Prince, Michael Jackson and Bobby Brown and who's voiced by the then-moderately popular Tevin Campbell.
• Abusive Parents: PJ seems deeply terrified of disappointing his father, given his many quips about what Pete would do when Principal Mazur tells him about the assembly. Later on, Pete has PJ at his beck and call.
• AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: By Goofy in "Nobody Else But You" to pull off a rhyme.
  Who deserves a hero's trophy / as we face each cata-STRO-PHE?
• Accidental Dance Craze:
  • Max gets a possum in his pants at Lester's Possum Park, and everybody claps along and dances with him.
  • The "perfect cast" turns into a dance craze at the end when Goofy, Max, and Powerline all perform it onstage at Powerline's concert.
• Accidental Pervert: When looking for Max at the concert, Goofy accidentally stumbles upon the back-up singer's dressing room (when she's in her underwear), at which point she screams and punches him out of the room.
• Advertised Extra: Despite being in only five scenes, four of which in the first act and three of those are the only ones of his with any bearing on the plot while the first is wordless and the fifth is a minor appearance in the finale, Bobby has more screentime in the original trailer than Roxanne, Pete and especially PJ, mostly to cash in on the then-immense popularity of Pauly Shore, who plays him and is the only big-name actor in the cast (ironically, he received no screen credit, but Disney was clearly counting on gen-xers recognizing his voice and the fact that the character was basically his animated avatar).
• The Alleged Car: Goofy's much-abused car (essentially a thinly veiled cartoon version of the AMC Pacer, a real-life alleged car).
• All Part of the Show: The crowd goes wild when first Goofy and then Max end up on stage with Powerline. Powerline himself is understandably confused at first, but goes along with it when he sees what a great dancer Goofy is.
• Alpha Bitch: The blonde, busty, popular student named Lisa seems to be one of these. During the "After Today" music sequence she seems to view Max as a nobody who is beneath her. But after Max's stunt at the assembly turns him into the most popular guy in school, Lisa becomes very flirty toward him.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Well, Max's dad is Goofy, literally and figuratively, and though a loving and devoted father, Goofy won't stop babying his son, who wants nothing more than to be respected as a mature person.
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: As in Goof Troop, there is never a mention of Max's mother. The mothers of Max's friends are not seen or mentioned, either (including the removed Peg) - only their fathers are seen (Pete and Roxanne's growling father). Even more with Bobby, whose parents are never seen.
• Ambiguously Brown: Most of the canon foreigners are implied to have dogfaces, but lack the black fur that the previously established ones (Goofy, Max, Pete and PJ) clearly have, and just look like the have normal human skin tones. Jordan Calhoun even mentioned in his article for Black Nerd Problems that this is at least partially why the film has a dedicated African-American following, as this design choice makes many of the characters (Roxanne in particular) look like fair-skinned African-Americans.
• Ambiguous Situation: Seeing as they both make a cameo in the film and Max makes a quick comment about it, it is unknown if Goofy is friends with Mickey and Donald in this particular continuity.
• AM/FM Characterization: At the start of the road trip, Max turns on a rock radio station to help him ignore his father. Goofy, thinking Max wants to sing a song together, puts on an eight-track of "High Hopes," resulting in the two of them having a brief back-and-forth as they rapidly switch between the two until the radio short-circuits and the tape breaks. It perfectly illustrates both their individual personalities and their generational gap.
• Angry Animalistic Growl: This is the only way Roxanne's father communicates in the film.
• Animated Musical: Animated movie with six musical numbers.
• Animation Bump: While the whole film is pretty fluid, the dance scenes are noticeably moreso.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Goofy delivers one after Max fails his Secret Test of Character.
  Max: Dad, listen, about my directions...
  (Goofy turns his back to Max)
  Max: Will you listen to me!? I gotta tell you something, Dad!
  Goofy: Why bother? I'm probably too stupid to understand anyway, right?
  Max: Aw, forget it!
• Armor-Piercing Response: During the climactic argument between Max and Goofy, Max yells at Goofy that "I've got my own life now!" after putting up with Goofy the whole trip. Goofy's response is "I know that! I just wanted to be part of it!" which causes Max to realize just how badly he's messed things up with his dad, and finally just tell Goofy why he's been so upset the whole time.
• Art Evolution: Not only are Pete and Goofy reverted to their "classic" designs of black, furry bodies with flesh-colored faces (as opposed to Goof Troop, where they're mostly flesh-colored), they also look noticeably older, presumably to both sell the idea that they're both the fathers of teenagers. These newer designs carried over into most of their other appearances in Disney media.
• Asinine Alternate Activity: The central conflict is that Goofy wants to take Max on a family road trip doing stereotypical childish family things Max is completely uninterested in when Max wants to go to a concert.
• Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: The entire plot of the film. Max wants nothing more than for his dad to leave him alone and let him be his own person. Goofy, meanwhile, is afraid that he and Max are growing apart and, after getting some poor advice from both Pete and Principal Mazur, worries that Max might get himself in serious trouble if he isn't more attentive. The solution? A wholesome father-son fishing trip! Max is less than thrilled, especially since it forces him to cancel his first date with his crush.
• Bathos: The climax of the movie darts between drama and comedy. It comes with typical slapstick set pieces common to Goofy's cartoons, including Goofy riding on a skateboard and getting cartoonishly pelted with debris. But it also shows life-threatening danger and interpersonal drama between Goofy and Max as they have a rather intense argument about the vacation while all this silly slapstick is happening.
• Bat Scare: Goofy and Max inadvertently cause this while snapping photos inside Carl's Butt Caverns.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Goofy of all people becomes genuinely angry (and not even in his past George Geef persona kind) when he finds out Max lied to him and changed his map route. Goofy gives Max one more chance with a Secret Test of Character, but after Max fails, Goofy gets truly upset at his son.
• Be Yourself: Max tells a Celebrity Lie to Roxanne to get her to like him, but when he confesses that it was a lie and why he told it, Roxanne informs him that she already liked him ever since she first heard his laugh.
• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Bigfoot appears when Max and Goofy are at the campground. He chases them into their car and messes with their stuff.
• Birds of a Feather: Max and Roxanne. They're both dorky and painfully shy, awkward, and tend to stutter and babble when nervous.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: Lester's Possum Park is a Crappy Carnival expy of Disney's Country Bear Jamboree. Max also refers to it as a "stupid rat show." Disney's mascot is, of course, a rodent.
• Blatant Lies: Pete saying to Goofy, "I just hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...".
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The three cowgirls who burst out of the piano in 'On the Open Road'.
• Body Horror: Max turning into Goofy; thankfully, it was all just a nightmare.
• Body Wipe: When Pete is bowling and makes PJ knock down one pin. Pete is cheering, "WOOHOO! STRIKE-OLA!" and he jumps into the camera filling up the screen and then jumping right out. And also when Goofy takes a tire out of his trunk, the camera zooms out of his mouth and he and Max are seen riding a rollercoaster.
• Book Ends: The film opens with a pan down from a blue background to the sky in Max's opening nightmare. At the very end, we pan up to the sky. There's also how the film's plot started with Max hijacking a stage to impress Roxanne, then ends with hijacking Powerline's concert to do the same, except this one went well because Powerline was okay with it. It also begins and ends with Goofy's scream.
• The Bore: Principal Mazur manages to suck the life out of an entire auditorium of high school students by proposing ways they can be "productive" during the summer, which basically include coming back to school and learning when they could be relaxing. He managed to put half the assembly to sleep in less then a minute when Max hijacked it to impress Roxanne.
• Both Sides Have a Point:
  • The conflict of Max and Goofy's relationship is this. While Goofy is a good father who just wants to spend time with his son and has good intentions, he does tend to baby Max and he did drag Max on the vacation without letting him explain himself and ignored Max's feelings for most of the movie. While Max can be rather harsh to Goofy and was wrong in changing the map, he does have a point in being upset at Goofy for dragging him on a vacation that he specifically didn't want to go on and also blaming Max for ruining everything.
  • A subtle one between Goofy and Pete at the Neptune after the latter reveals to the former Max's deceit but doesn't believe it. Goofy states that while Max may not be Pete's ideal image of a son, he knows Max loves him. Pete quickly retorts that his son respects him. Both are right — while it's wonderful Max loves Goofy despite the tension, the former doesn't really respect his father and often shows it; on the other hand, while discipline is key in parenting, Pete is an emotionally abusive parent and Control Freak to his son, with P.J. preferring Goofy over Pete.
• Bowdlerize: The 2019 Blu-ray and Disney+ transfer edits four shots for content.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Roxanne's father seems to speak primarily in grunts, growls and glares, particularly after he finds out that Max is there to speak to his daughter.
• Brake Angrily: After Max fails his Secret Test of Character by making them take the exit to LA instead of Idaho, a brooding Goofy angrily veers onto the shoulder of the road, stops the car and stomps out.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Pete is tasked with taking a picture of a little girl who kicks him in the shins and won't sit still until he velcros her to the seat (and even then she eventually runs away leaving her diaper behind). Her mother looks understandably exhausted.
• Broad Strokes: While ostensibly taking place in the same universe as Goof Troop, a number of details are changed, altered, or removed to work for this movie. For one, Max and PJ are both teenagers in high school as opposed to pre-teens. Also, Pete's wife Peg and daughter Pistol are entirely absent, with no mention at all as to where they are. Finally, Pete is presented less as an antagonist and more as a guy who's trying to help out his buddy, but by giving terrible advice.
• Broken Lever of Doom: While Goofy and Max try to stop their runaway car, arguing all the while, Goofy accidentally pulls out the gearshift when he tries to stop it.
  Max: You should have put the brake on!
  Goofy: Why don't you just put it on yourself?!
  [he pulls on the shift and removes it]
  Max: See? You ruin everything.
• Brutal Honesty: Rather than dance around the subject or even try to lie to him, Pete flat out tells Goofy that Max is deceiving him. It marks one of the rare moments of honesty for Pete.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Max's friend Bobby is quite quirky and accepts payment in the form of spray-on cheese (which he eats raw) but no one else has the expertise to rig the school AV system to pull the stunt Max does.
• Busman's Holiday: A literal example. A joke in "After Today" is that the school bus driver will spend his summer vacation "sitting on his butt", which is his job anyway.
• The Cameo:
  • Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck appear for a line or two as hitch-hikers during a musical number. Later Mickey can be seen for a second among the audience during the movie's Concert Climax^note Mickey did say he was headed for California in the song. As if that wasn't enough already, Max has a Mickey phone on his nightstand.
  • Bambi and Mufasa appear as stuffed animals at Goofy's workplace.
  • The two chipmunks in the fishing scene are Chip and Dale.
  • A nightlight in the cheesy motel the crew stays at bears a striking resemblance to Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989). She can also be seen on a placard on stage (perhaps remnants of a school musical?) when Max sings "Stand Out".
• Captain Ersatz: The nerds are dressed up in what appear to be Star Trek uniforms, but their insignia is upside-down.
• Captain Oblivious: Goofy, which gets on Max's nerves. Despite overwhelming evidence, Goofy can't seem to grasp that Max is not enjoying himself on their trip in the slightest. He also was too dumb to realize people are laughing AT him, not with him. The biggest example was the Possum Park scene where he embarrassed himself and Max, despite the latter begging him to stop.
• Car Radio Dispute: Max listens to the car radio, which is playing heavy rock music, until Goofy puts in an 8-track tape with the song "High Hopes" on it. The two then switch the music back and forth over and over until the radio/cassette player breaks.
• Catapult Nightmare: Max after the Dream Intro. He even double-checks himself to make sure that he isn't Goofy.
• Celebrity Lie: Max telling Roxanne he'll be at the Powerline concert.
• Celebrity Paradox: A rather strange example. Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are both clearly shown to exist in this universe (the two of them briefly appear as hitchhikers on the side of the road) and the former is apparently good friends with Goofy, but Max has Mickey merchandise in his room and he sarcastically guesses Walt Disney as one of the answers when playing 20 Questions with his father.
• Cement Shoes: On the open road, a car drives by with a guy tied up in the trunk with cement shoes, though he is not actually shown being killed.
• Chekhov's Gunman: A number of background characters seen in "On the Open Road" turn up at the Concert Climax. (The Tiny Guy, Huge Girl, Mickey Mouse, the four nuns...) Guess they were driving clear across the country to attend the concert, too.
• Chekhov's Skill: The Perfect Cast. First used by Goofy as a means to kick off the Bigfoot subplot, later used during the climax by Max, to rescue his dad from falling to his death. This also becomes a Chekhov's Boomerang in the Concert Climax.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Peg and Pistol (Pete's wife and daughter), as well as family pets Chainsaw and Waffles from Goof Troop, are inexplicably absent from this film.
• Clark Kenting: Somehow, nobody in school can tell who the person in the Powerline costume is... until the mirror-shades come off, at which point he's immediately recognized as Max.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: Goofy walks in on Max as his trouser fall down to reveal his underwear. He also walks in on the backup singer at the Powerline concert, changing in her dressing room, revealing a lacy one-piece undergarment.
• Comic Trio: Max, PJ, and Bobby act as this during the production of the "Stand Out" stunt. Max, who came up with the stunt plan, is the schemer; Bobby, whose technological expertise was required for the stunt, is the follower; and PJ, who was the only one willing (or able) to voice that the plan might be a bad idea, is the powerless. However, Played With in that it took more to get Bobby involved than it did for PJ (an actual "fee" vs. just talking him into it again).
• Comically Missing the Point: This exchange happens when Goofy and Max first encounter Bigfoot:
  Max: Uh, D-D-D-Dad? It's BIGFOOT!!
  Goofy: (holding a video camera) Could you back up a bit, Mr. Foot? You're out of focus.
• Company Cross References:
  • An Aladdin soundtrack is seen in the record store window during "After Today."
  • When Pete meets up with Goofy at the campsite, he refers to the occasion as a serendipity-doo-dah.
  • Two were featured back to back in "On the Open Road".
    Goofy: I got no strings on me. I'm feelin' fancy free.
  • During the montage of Max and Goofy's pit stops one of the places they visit looks suspiciously like Main Street USA from the Magic Kingdom.
  • The Neptune Inn has a similar layout and design as the Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World. Additionally, the night light in the room is of a mermaid that resembles Ariel.
  • Goofy's car keys have the Disney "D" on them.
  • Two of the stuffed animals at Goofy and Pete's job are Bambi and Simba.
• Concert Climax: During "I 2 I", Max gets onstage at the Powerline concert and his relationship with Goofy is repaired.
• Conjunction Interruption: When Max is objecting to going on vacation, Goofy uses this against him, insisting he knows best.
• Conspicuously Light Patch: Most noticeable when dealing with Max's hat at Lester's Possum Park, which changes art style when thrown out the window.
• Cool Car: Although the car ends up The Alleged Car, it floats and survives all the way back home. And then explodes in the movie's final scene.
• Counterpoint Duet: "On the Open Road" starts out as one of these before becoming a Crowd Song. Goofy sings one upbeat verse, then Max sings a sarcastic one, and then they each sing one on top of the other in the same tones as before.
• Covers Always Lie: The poster features Goofy in his Goof Troop design when the actual film uses an updated version closer to his classic design.
• Crappy Carnival: Lester's Possum Park, which seems to mainly consist of a malfunctioning animatronics show, one guy in a costume (who harasses Max until he hits him), and flash photography taken with live possums who aren't even contained.
• Creator Cameo: Caricatures of director Kevin Lima and Brian Pimental appear in the opening number
• Creepy Child: The little girl at Lester's Possum Park, particularly her big toothy grin and the fact that she keeps staring at Max.
• Crowd Song: "On the Open Road", sung by all the various people in traffic, and "After Today", sung by many of the students.
• Crying Wolf: Goofy believes Pete's habitual lies and misleading comments which result in him hurting his relationship with Max. Goofy finally stands up to Pete and tells him that he doesn't believe him when he says Max changed the map. Unfortunately, that was the one time he really should have listened to Pete.
• Cultural Translation:
  • In many non-English versions of the opening song "After Today", many subjects were changed. For example, the French dub changes a girl's Algebra test to History and Math classes, while two twin girls anticipate to end French lessions instead of Home Economics.
  • Bigfoot had his name changed to Yeti in this version. This was because the local production team at the time thought Yeti was a more popular reference to French people than Bigfoot.
  • In the European Spanish version of "On The Open Road", Max wishes that he would rather study. In the original version, Max wishes he went to Beverly Hills, California 90210.
• Curse Cut Short: "My life's a living-" "HELL-o little buddy!"
• Darker and Edgier: While not a "dark" film by any means, it definitely is more serious than the TV series at points. Goofy's and Max's father-son relationship was never in such turmoil in the TV show.
• Dean Bitterman: In addition to making Max's end-of-year stunt sound like a gang fight and implying he should be executed for it, the principal of Max's high school is apparently out to ruin his students' summer by planning events that involve coming to school and learning.
  Mazur: How about - science slumber parties?!
• Death Glare:
  • When Bobby says, "Hey, that Goof kid ain't there!" during the Concert Climax, Stacey gives him a big one.
  • Roxanne's dad gives a couple of these to Max when he comes over to see Roxanne.
  • Goofy gives one as part of his Tranquil Fury toward Max's failing his Secret Test of Character. And another one when Max tells him he "ruin[s] everything" following Goofy accidentally breaking the brakes.
• Deep South: It's unknown where Lester's Possum Park is exactly located; however, it plays up a lot of Southern and hillbilly stereotypes.
• Delayed "Oh, Crap!": It takes Goofy a couple seconds to realize that he should be afraid that he and Max are steadily approaching a waterfall.
  Goofy: Ah-hyuk! A waterfall! (Beat) WATERFALL?!?!
• Demoted to Extra: Despite Goof Troop being about the Goof and Pete families, and Max, PJ, Goofy and Pete getting equal attention, this film is all about Max and Goofy.
• Description Cut:
  • When Pete tells Goofy that if Max isn't spending time with him, he might be doing bad things. Goofy says that Max would never get mixed up in anything like that. The scene cuts to Max in the principal's office awaiting punishment for his school disruption.
  • When Pete walks out of the RV, Max asks him if PJ is with him. Pete answers that PJ's "loafing around in there somewhere." The scene cuts to show PJ buffing the floors and dusting the trophies while singing and dancing.
  • When they meet at the Neptune Inn, Pete tells Goofy that the RV's extension cord is tiny and unnoticeable before ordering PJ to carry it in. When PJ enters the room, he visibly strains under the weight of a gigantic tube.
• Dodgy Toupee: Principal Mazur's hairpiece, which flies off of his head when Max slides down the banister next to him in "After Today."
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: To some viewers, Principal Mazur's unfounded comments about Max being "dressed as a gang member" and heading for the electric chair ring disturbingly familiar.
• Doting Parent: Goofy goes out of his way to give Max lots of attention. Makes sense, seeing as how Goofy's wife is gone and he's the only one taking care of his son.
• Double In-Law Marriage: The "After Today" musical number scene features twin boys kissing twin girls.
• Double-Meaning Title: Refers to the fact that it’s a movie centered around Goofy and that the tone of the film itself is mostly goofy.
• Dramatic Irony: From the time that Max changes Goofy's map to go to Los Angeles instead of Lake Destiny to the hot tub conversation between Pete and Goofy, the audience knows that Max has already betrayed his dad's trust. However, Goofy remains oblivious, even throughout a Good-Times Montage where Max shows Character Development with the two opening up to each other.
• Dream Intro: The movie begins with Max on a field with Roxanne, when suddenly he transforms into his father. Max then wakes up and bolts up from his bed.
• Easter Egg: The building behind Goofy and Max as they watch, and accidentally crush, a mime, is based on the studio the Disney Paris unit worked out of during the film's production.
• Eat the Camera: The backup singer during "I2I", which transitions out of Powerline's mouth.
• Eating the Eye Candy: When Powerline's two girl dancers walk off-camera, Max's eyes can be seen looking downward.
• Empathic Environment:
  • After Max is publicly humiliated by Goofy at the Possum Park and Max angrily storms off to get away from him, a downpour starts and thunder can be heard a few times. Makes perfect sense to convey Max's furious mood, especially when he reaches his Rage Breaking Point after getting back in the car.
  • Played with during the climax of the movie. As Max and Goofy are arguing about the vacation after they both hit a Rage Breaking Point, the apex of their argument occurs as they float down some river rapids. After the argument starts dying down, the waters become much calmer until Max and Goofy are floating along in relatively-still waters.
• Everyone Hates Mimes: Goofy at one point mimes along with a mime, then cuts an invisible rope the mime is pulling... and a real piano falls on the mime. Goofy and Max walk away whistling as if nothing happened.
• Exact Eavesdropping: Pete just happens to open the door to the hotel room right when PJ is berating Max for his lack of foresight in changing the map, complete with repeating Max's action in Pete's earshot.
• Eye Cam: Max, recovering from the news that Dad's dragging him on a vacation.
• Faint in Shock: Max passes out when he realizes that Goofy is going to take him on vacation.
• Fair-Weather Friend: During "I2I", Bobby shouts the impersonal "Hey, that Goof kid ain't there!" when Max is not onstage. When Max is onstage, he changes his tune very quickly to "That's Max! I know him!"
• Fan Disservice:
  • Pete wearing nothing but a pink Speedo.
  • The back-up singer Goofy walks in on as she's changing.
• Fanservice Extra: Lisa, the scantily clad high school student, the three buxom cowgirls looking for Nashville during "On the Open Road", and Powerline's backup dancers, whom Max happily admired In-Universe.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Roxanne pulls this on Max at the end when she suspects him of pulling out of their date again.
• Flat "What": Goofy says this in response to Pete telling him that Max changed their road map so that they are heading to Los Angeles. During the same conversation, Pete responds with a normally-inflected "what?" when Goofy refuses to believe him.
  Pete: Your kid's dupin' ya.
  Goofy: What do you mean?
  Pete: Well, I heard the little mutant telling PJ that he changed the map so... you're headin' straight to L.A., pal.
  Goofy: What.
  Pete: Oh, you tried, Goof. He's just a bad kid, that's all.
  Goofy: I don't believe you.
  Pete: What?
  Goofy: I don't believe you, Pete.
  Pete: Well, hey, don't take my word for it. Check your map.
• Food Porn:
  • The pizza Max and PJ eat looks delicious and is animated perfectly.
  • The pancakes Goofy eats.
• Forcibly Formed Physique: A Goofy Movie has Goofy and Max sneak backstage during a Powerline concert, hidden inside instrument cases. Max emerges from a bass drum case with ease. Goofy opens the lid to his bass fiddle case, and stares ahead stultified. Goofy had been folded into a preposterous yoga position to fit, causing his limbs to go numb. Ultimately, he simply falls out of the case onto the floor.
• Four-Fingered Hands: All the characters in the film, but strangely, Lisa averts this since she is clearly shown with five fingers, unlike the rest of the cast.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • The first time Goofy opens the map, pause the video, and you'll see the Goof family has misspelled their family name three times, other humorous misspellings, and a "go back for tent".
  • If you freeze frame at the right time during the first photo session at Goofy's work, you can see red eyes during a camera flash. If you do the same during Goofy's photo session at Lester's Possum Park, you can catch it again.
  • When Goofy is changing Max into his fishing gear if you freeze frame at the right moment you can see Max's bare ass.
  • A heart balloon and a Mickey ears balloon appear during the final verse of "On the Open Road".
  • During "I 2 I", if you freeze frame the crowd shot after the security guard gets knocked into the screen, you can see Mickey Mouse, a viking, an unimpressed-looking Max lookalike, and a non-anthropomorphic goat in the crowd.
  • When Max pulls the opossum out of his trousers, there's another brief shot of his underwear.
  • Throughout the "Lester's Possum Park" song, the Mordecai animatronic, the one whose hat explodes, does not fully come out of his hole, but after the emcee hits the stage during the Broken Record part, he finally comes out playing the jug.
• Frothy Mugs of Water: Averted. Pete is quite obviously drinking beer.
• Funny Background Event:
  • "On the Open Road" shows, among other things, a person floating away on a crowd of balloons, a dancing corpse, and a guy tied up in a trunk during the last verse.
  • During an otherwise heartwarming scene of Max and Goofy spending the night locked in the car, Bigfoot suddenly disco dances across the background.
• Funny Photo Phrase: While at Lester's Possum Park, Goofy is told to say, "Sassafras" while having his photo taken with two possums.
  "Sassy-fras!"
• Fun with Alphabet Soup: While Goofy and Max are stuck in the car as the Bigfoot is rummaging though their items, and what they have salvaged so far is a can of alphabet soup, Goofy and Max reminisce about the time when Max was younger, he would arrange the letters in the alphabet soup such as "Hi Dad", which he did again in the car, and Goofy was heartwarmingly touched.
• Gesundheit: Said by Max during "Nobody Else But You" after Goofy's line "And your values may be, so to speak, askew."
• Girl Next Door: Roxanne. She even lives just a block away from Max's house.
• Giving Them the Strip: While trying to get a toddler he's trying to photograph to sit still, Pete velcroes the girl to where she's sitting. This doesn't work, as the tot manages to wriggle out of her diaper when Pete isn't looking.
• Good Parents: Goofy is an exceptionally caring and supportive parent, if a little doting and bumbling.
• Good-Times Montage: The stops between the diner and the Neptune Inn are shown this way. These stops include an amusement park, a monster truck rally, a baseball game, waterskiing, watching a mime, bat caves, and a giant ball of yarn, as well as several car maintenance stops.
• Goofy Buckteeth:
  • Exaggerated and Played for Horror during teenage Max's Nightmare Sequence at the start of the film, where his existing buckteeth become larger than his head and he turns into Goofy in front of Roxanne, who runs away screaming. He consciously checks his teeth when he wakes up to make sure it was just a dream.
  • Played for drama in the rest of the film. Max, despite generally subverting the trope, also struggles to be taken seriously at school in part due to his resemblance to his dad, including the teeth, and distances himself from his Amazingly Embarrassing Parent because of this. This hurts Goofy's feelings, especially when he discovers Max lied to him, subverting the trope with a Beware the Silly Ones moment.
• Goofy Suit: Max runs into a man in a Lester suit at Lester's Possum Park, and after said costumed man successfully invades Max's personal space, he smacks his mask backwards after which a group of kids pile on top of him and drag him off-screen.
• Growing Up Sucks: It's something of a theme in this movie, as it focuses on the "growing pains" in family life; early-to-mid adolescence specifically. There are also more subtle signs of the trope, most notably the already mentioned instances of Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
• Growling Gut: When Goofy and Max are hiding in the car from Bigfoot, Max's stomach begins rumbling, causing Goofy to quip, "Was that Bigfoot or your stomach?!"
• Heel Realization: When Max and Goofy are arguing with each other after the car falls into the river, Max angrily exclaims that he's not a kid anymore and that he has his own life. Goofy retorts that he knows Max has his own life, he just wants to be a part of it. He also adds that no matter how old Max gets, he'll always be his son. Max has no response to this, and can only hang his head in shame when he realizes how poorly he's been treating his dad.
• Helicopter Parents: Goofy, as his desire to bond with his son is what drives the plot. However, he softens up as the film progresses. Exaggerated and justified in Goofy's case, as his first indicator that Max isn't as well-behaved as he thought was having the Principal call him up, yelling about how Max's behavior is leading him to a cell in juvenile hall. Goofy had no clue that it was the Principal overreacting due to having been publicly humiliated.
• Heroic BSoD: Goofy shuts down for a while after he learns Max has changed the route on the road map.
• Hero of Another Story: During "On The Open Road", Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are trying to hitch a ride to California, apparently on their own cross-country trip.
• Hidden Depths: Who would have ever thought a group of nuns traveling cross-country would be huge Powerline fans? Or that a Tiny Guy, Huge Girl on "the odd romantic getaway" would turn out to be a backup singer and roadie for Powerline?
  • When Goofy finally meets Roxanne, he is the Perfect Gentleman and even kisses her on the hand.
• Hilarity Ensues: Well, this is A Goofy Movie.
• Hooked Up Afterwards: Done with the pals of the Official Couple. Max's Pauly Shore-voiced friend Bobby has such a hook-up with Roxanne's valley-girl best friend Stacey, when they both reach for Bobby's can of cheez whiz that he dropped. Bobby lifts his dark sunglasses and smiles at her, and Stacey gives him a brace-filled smile back. It's a cute/quirky moment, but there is absolutely no lead-up to it whatsoever.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Goofy has somehow gotten the idea that Pete is "good with kids" and believes everything he tells him—which helps him believe Principal Mazur's exaggerated account about Max that turns him into an overprotective dad up to eleven, and briefly take to heart Pete's parenting advice which is to keep your kid "under your thumb", which unsurprisingly upsets Max even further. Later on, Goofy does seem to realize his folly... unfortunately, by that point Pete is actually telling the truth.
  Goofy: You know, maybe Max isn't everything you expect a son to be, but... he loves me.
  Pete: (irritably) Hey! My son respects me!
  Goofy: (derisive) Yeah... (storms off)
• Hydrant Geyser: Goofy hits a hydrant causing it to burst on the way to Roxanne's house at the start.
• Hypocritical Humor: The irony of Max refusing to do the mambo with Goofy out of embarrassment that someone would see them is that he later does the exact same thing to the secretary in the principal's office right after scoring a date.
• Imagine Spot: Goofy has one during "On The Open Road". When he and Max pull alongside a prison wagon containing a convict on his way to prison in striped jumpsuit and shackles, Goofy turns to look at Max and sees him in an identical jumpsuit and shackles, before abruptly speeding up to get away from the wagon.
• Inevitable Waterfall: Played for drama. While floating down a river, Goofy and Max almost go over a waterfall. The climax of the film is the two of them trying to avoid going over.
  Goofy: Ah-hyuck. A waterfall. (Beat) WATERFALL?!?!
• Ink-Suit Actor: Downplayed with Bobby, who doesn't visually resemble Pauly Shore but is basically an animated version of Shore's then-popular "Weasel" character (if anything, he looks more like an actual weasel!).
• Innocently Insensitive: Pete spills the beans about Max's scheme to Goofy after the latter innocentally informs him trying his parenting methods just made everything worse, visibly offending him. Played with, since when the conversation gets more heated, Goofy restrains himself from getting passive aggressive about Pete's own parenting skills, implying he maybe was being more critical than he let on.
• Ironic Echo: When Goofy and Max go on the road the first time, Goofy tries to entertain Max by playing 20 questions and even though Max is disinterested, he guesses Walt Disney which Max says is right. Later, after Goofy discovers that Max changed the map and Max chooses the wrong direction, infuriating Goofy, Max tries (and fails) to break the tension by playing the exact same game in reverse.
• iSophagus: Goofy accidentally swallows a squeaker when trying to get baby Kimmy to smile, resulting in him making squeaking noises instead of talking and laughing until Pete knocks the squeaker out of his throat.
• "I Want" Song: "After Today"; Max wants two things: to win Roxanne's heart and to turn his reputation around. He achieves both goals by the end of "Stand Out", although he thinks he hasn't finished the first one.
• Jerkass:
  • Pete. Not just to his own son PJ by forcing him into hard labor and deliberately disappointing him just because he feels like it, but to Max as well. He deviously listened in to Max's confession to PJ about him changing the directions on Goofy's map, then goes and tells this to Goofy with false sympathy. Though the way he went about telling him was more out of being an ass than as a "concerned friend".
  • Principal Mazur also counts as he practically started the plot by over-exaggerating what Max actually did in the school auditorium, making it sound worse than it really was.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While Goofy doesn't want to believe that Max doesn't respect him, Pete keeps insisting that Max is going to go behind Goofy's back. Plus, Goofy tacitly admits that Pete isn't exactly wrong when he says that Max's behavior needs to be corrected; indeed, that's why Goofy decided on the camping trip in the first place. While dismissive at first, Goofy does eventually investigate when he can't shake the feeling that something's up. Pete turns out to be right when Goofy finds out that Max changed the map, which even further cements Pete's ideas in Goofy's head that a domineering, confrontational way of parenting is the only "right" way.
• Kick the Dog: Most of what Pete does to PJ, while unkind, serves some selfish purpose. However, when he offers to give him a high-five, takes it back, and then laughs at him for falling for it (which visibly upsets him), it serves no purpose other than to demonstrate that Goofy shouldn't trust Pete's advice.
• "Last Day of School" Plot: The first act takes place on the final day of school with a song number "After Today" about the kids excited for summer and Max planning to tell Roxanne how he feels. Afterward, Max puts on an impromptu concert as the superstar of the time, Powerline. Though ends up getting caught, which prompts his principal to phone Goofy and give an over-exaggerated speech about Max turning into a criminal. Which prompts Goofy to do the road trip that drives the plot.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Max describes Goofy as "highly animated" in "Nobody Else But You." An appropriate description of one of the most famous cartoon characters ever and one who's characteristically eccentric.
• Limited Animation: Some background characters are subject to this, particularly in the concert scenes. At Stacey's party, no one but Stacey, Roxanne, and Bobby move at all.
• Limited Wardrobe:
  • Goofy and Max didn't pack a change of clothes, it seems.
  • Roxanne wears the exact same outfit on the last day of school, at a party, and at home at the end of the movie, several weeks apart.
• Living MacGuffin: Roxanne is the reason Max decides to change the destination from Lake Destiny to Hollywood.
• Living Photo: In An Extremely Goofy Movie, after Max leaves for college, a depressed Goofy looks at an old photo of Max taped to his work locker and saying hi to him.
• Logo Joke: A minor one, but a notable one nonetheless; the opening Walt Disney Pictures logo fades away from the background instead of to black, which leads to the film's opening title and scene.
• Loser Son of Loser Dad: Max fears this is his eventual fate: To be a carbon copy of his father, "Just a Goof". He eventually learns to accept Goofy's quirks and stops considering him a loser.
• Lots of Luggage: Pete's idea of camping is parking his state-of-the-art RV in the middle of the woods. When parked, the RV expands into a home away from home, with a kitchen, living room with a big screen TV, a bowling alley on the roof, and a bunch of other modern devices. Pete also barely spends any time out in the actual outdoors, but still considers it camping. Goofy also has a gigantic sack strapped to the roof of his car.
• Male Gaze:
  • When Max is seeing the concert on a giant screen, it shows closeups of both of the dancers' butts.
  • During "Open Road", both Goofy and Max smile at the busty cowgirl singers.
• Match Cut: After Goofy discovers Max's altered road map, he goes to lay on the bed in his motel apartment, with a closeup shown of his glum face. The camera slowly tilts and fades to him and Max back on the road, with Goofy still wearing the same expression on his face.
• Meet Cute:
  • Happens between Max and Roxanne in two steps. First she talks to him after he falls down the bleachers and he chokes up and runs. Later in the principal's office, Roxanne wants to talk to Max so she taps him, startles him, and ends up dropping all her books and papers on the floors, only to find her hands touching his when they go to pick them up.
  • Stacey and Bobby have a similar moment later in the movie when Bobby accidentally drops his cheese spray and Stacey goes to pick it up at the same time he does.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • From a nice father-son bonding moment... to falling off of a waterfall.
  • And before that, when Bigfoot initially appears, he's a generally comical character, but menacingly chases Max and Goofy in a very tense, but short chase, then he goes right back to being comical as soon as he finds the Goofs stuff and messes around with it and again goes back to being menacing when Goofy and Max try to get Alphabet Soup, and then back to comical.
  • The principal's office scene follows up Bobby's "Leaning Tower of Cheesa" pun and related Plucky Comic Relief antics with a visibly and audibly terrified PJ dreading an inevitable harsh punishment, and then back to Bobby being silly... until he's called into the office where he's serious briefly, and then back to silly again. At this point in the movie, even the score has severe Mood Whiplash, flipping between casually happy-sounding music and dramatic music every couple of lines.
  • Right after Max changes the map in a tense, dramatic scene, Goofy wakes up to ask "How many cups of sugar does it take to get to the moon?"
  • Lester's Possum Park, a scene full of Biting-the-Hand Humor, is immediately followed by Max meeting his Rage Breaking Point and lashing out at Goofy.
• Moonwalk Dance:
  • Max does this briefly during "Stand Out".
  • Goofy also does a brief one when he's onstage with Powerline.
• Morton's Fork: Discussed. While stuck in the car, Max starts writing a postcard to Roxanne, telling her "we're only days away from LA", but then starts writing that he lied. Max then laments "I'm dead no matter what I do", since whether he admits he lied or not, it will still lead to Roxanne finding out he lied, since Max won't be at the concert. Or so he thinks, as Max ultimately manages to get onstage at just the right moment. Even so, at the time, Max had no way of knowing it would work out for him.
• Mundane MacGuffin Person: Roxanne is the reason Max is traveling. He wants to show off to her at a place opposed to his father's destination.
• The Musical: Interestingly, of the six songs performed in the movie, only three of them are of the classic "spontaneously bursting into song" variety. The other three all have in-universe justifications for being there.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Goofy announces the road trip with his "best buddy", Max asks if he means Donald Duck. Goofy says, "No, silly! With you!"
  • When the car starts sliding down the Grand Canyon, several scenes strongly resemble the old cartoon Mickey's Trailer. Also, the car bouncing across multiple canyon columns and toppling them one by one is likely a shout-out to the Pluto cartoon The Legend of Coyote Rock.
• Never My Fault: When their car starts rolling down the mountain, Goofy blames Max for both the car running away and the door being locked. Max retorts that the locked door was on Goofy's side. Goofy then blames Max for distracting him. And when Max tells Goofy that he should have put the brakes on, Goofy retorts that Max should have done it himself.
• Never Trust a Trailer: This TV spot tells complete falsehoods (such as saying Max is the most popular kid in school, implying Roxanne is his girlfriend before the events of the movie, and saying that his best friend—which it misidentifies as Bobby—is cool), completely ignores both Petes, makes Goofy and Max's conflict seem much more one-sided, and doesn't make it clear that the movie has a Road Trip Plot or that it's a musical.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Goofy forcing Max to go fishing after turning down Pete's offer to have dinner with him and PJ despite Max obviously wanting to accept the offer. Due to his impatience to do fishing, Goofy winds up bringing Bigfoot right upon them. He also accidentally dropped his car keys when trying to get away, stranding him and Max with Bigfoot in the middle of nowhere.
• Nightmare Sequence: The very start of the film is Max having one where he turns into his dad.
• No Antagonist: The main conflict in the movie comes from Max and Goofy, who are both portrayed as flawed but sympathetic. The series' regular antagonist, Pete, is portrayed as a Toxic Friend Influence or a Well-Intentioned Extremist, but also portrayed much lighter than he was in many Goof Troop episodes. In any case, the movie doesn't have a direct antagonist on whom all the blame or obstacles set in the heroes' path can be placed.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Many have noted that the Powerline's singing voice and dance moves resemble those of Michael Jackson. He also wears a suit that bears a striking resemblance to the ones worn by Devo.
• Non-Malicious Monster: Bigfoot does briefly frighten Max and Goofy as well as mess with their belongings, but he doesn't really mean or do any harm.
• No, You: When Max and Goofy are arguing with each other about who's responsible for causing the chaos in the car chase:
  Max: You should have put the brake on!
  Goofy: Why didn't you just put them on yourself? [pulls the brakes off]
  Max: See? You ruin everything!
• Non Sequitur, *Thud*: While Goofy and Max were spending a night in the their car, Goofy has a Waking Non Sequitur by asking Max "How many cups of sugar does it take to get to the moon?" while still half-asleep. Max answers with a confused "Uh... three-and-a-half?", before Goofy just falls right back to sleep. It's also a bit of Bathos and Mood Whiplash, as Max had been changing the map from Lake Destiny to Los Angeles, and just barely managed to shove it back into the glove compartment before Goofy woke up.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: Goofy allows himself to be pushed around and bullied by Pete for the entire movie... until Pete accuses Max of going behind Goofy's back. Goofy finally stands up for himself, stunning Pete in the process. Unfortunately, Pete was telling the truth.
  Goofy: I don't believe you.
  Pete: What?
  Goofy: I don't believe you, Pete.
  Pete: Well, hey, don't take my word for it.
• Not What It Looks Like:
  Max: You should have let me stay at home!
  Goofy: Why? So you'd end up in prison?
  Max: Prison?! What are you talking about?
  Goofy: Your principal called me!
  Max: It's not what you think!
  Goofy: You even lied to me!
  Max: I had to! You were ruining my life!
• Nuns Are Funny: The four nuns that Max and Goofy bumped into periodically throughout their journey are shown to attend the Concert Climax. Somehow, the idea that four nuns drove clear across the country just to attend a Powerline concert is hilariously unexpected.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: The morning after Max changes the map to go to Los Angeles instead of Lake Destiny, Goofy offers to make Max navigator and tells him that he trusts him wholeheartedly. Max hesitates a bit in response, but goes through with the plan anyway. Additionally, Goofy's initial lead-up makes it sound to Max like he already knows what happened.
• Offending the Fool: Goofy does not take it well when he finds out that his son Max, on top of treating him like a fool throughout the trip, betrayed his trust by changing the directions on his road map.
  Max: Dad... Listen, about my directions... [Goofy turns around, refusing to look at him] Will you listen to me? I gotta tell you something, Dad!
  Goofy: Why bother? I'm probably too stupid to understand anyway, right?
  Max: [walks away in frustration] Forget it.
• Oh, Crap!: Several times. The best expressions are PJ's in the principal's office after his dad learns about the stunt and Max's when he first sees Bigfoot and right before the waterfall. The first case was handled well for such a habitually nervous character because it wasn't run-of-the-mill panic but a Thousand-Yard Stare.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Goofy is legitimately heartbroken and furious when he discovers Max changed the map. While Goofy as George Geef in the past had shown to appear to be angry and strict towards his son, it was nowhere near as serious as in this movie. Max is legitimately shocked to see his normally friendly goofball of a dad giving him the cold shoulder.
  • When Pete finds out that Max changed the map, he eschews his normal lying and manipulative behavior and straight up tells Goofy that his son is deceiving him. Pete probably knew that the truth would hurt Goofy far too much if he found out on his own. And it does.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The scene where everyone chants Max's name is one for PJ, who lies and takes credit from someone else, behaves optimistically, burdens a friend, and starts a crowd chant in the span of one scene. He is typically overly honest and very self-effacing, a skeptic if not an outright pessimist, the recipient of any friendly burdens, and a Shrinking Violet except when he and Max are alone. The line "I told you our plan would work" doesn't make any sense for him to say, whether it's true or false.^note It's false, as all of PJ's comments about the plan were either pessimistic or neutral.
• "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: The final shot is a pan up from the house to the sky.
• Parental Bonus:
  • Max's dream at the beginning (before it turns into a nightmare) is very clearly a G-rated wet dream.
  • Goofy mentions mambo king Xavier Cugat, a reference likely lost on the target audience.
  • Max's Curse Cut Short. "My life is a living-" "HELL-o, little buddy!"
  • On a more serious note, the entire movie is one. It's message is built for both (pre)teens and their parents.
• Percussive Maintenance:
  • Max's alarm clock, which is three and a half hours behind until he hits it.
  • The proprietor of Lester's Possum Park hits the side of the stage to get the animatronics to work again.
• Piano Drop: When Goofy and Max see a mime, Goofy starts playing with him and cuts the rope from the weight he was hauling—the rope and the scissors were fake but the piano being hauled was real and falls on the mime. Goofy walks away in embarrassment.
• Pom-Pom Girl: The cheerleading squad is seen cheering about the end of the school year and the coming of summer break as they ride the bus to school and are among the few popular kids who aren't shown picking on Max.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • It's Principal Mazur's extremely exaggerated warning to Goofy about Max's behavior that sets Goofy off on the idea of taking Max on a vacation in the first place. If he'd taken even a moment to get Max's side of the story, or at the very least put the vacation off for a week, a whole lot of pain could have been avoided.
  • Goofy and Max's entire relationship in the first movie could be summed up as this too. Max spends most of the movie mad at Goofy, and Goofy spends it completely oblivious to how his son actually feels, and neither one actually takes the time to just talk directly about their problems, until near the climax of the film, when they're about to careen over a waterfall because of it. Once that happens, the two are much closer and ends the conflict completely.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When Goofy accuses Max of ruining the vacation seconds before they fall into the river, Max explodes, "I never! Wanted to go! On this stupid! VACATION!!!"
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Max after the horrid trip to the Possum Park. He was already seething after the embarrassing moment Goofy dragged him into, but then exploded when Goofy presented him the possum hat that he threw down in anger before (thinking he had "dropped it").
    Max: THIS IS THE STUPIDEST VACATION! YOU DRAG ME FROM HOME, JAM ME IN THIS DUMB CAR, AND DRIVE A MILLION MILES AWAY TO SEE SOME STUPID RAT SHOW! (throws hat out window) Call me when the trip's over!
  • While Goofy was just disappointed after finding out that Max had changed the map route, it's when they come up to the junction to either California or Idaho and Max chooses to go to California. Goofy snaps, enters Tranquil Fury, then suddenly stops on the side of the road, quickly exits the car, slams the door, and stands eerily still, looking over the Grand Canyon.
• Recurring Extra: A group of nuns keeps showing up all throughout Goofy and Max's road trip, including at the store where Goofy works, the road itself, the diner they stop at, and the Powerline concert. In most cases, almost everyone outside Max's school is seen everywhere. Either the entire world (but Goofy) is into Powerline concerts, or they all know being around the Goofy family nets them screentime.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Principal Mazur becomes so infuriated during his phone call with Goofy about Max's Powerline performance in the school auditorium that his irises turn red as he nears the end of his foreboding warning to Goofy that if he doesn't corral Max's behavior soon it could lead to Max facing capital punishment.
• Repetitive Audio Glitch: At the end of Lester's Possum Park:
  Here at Lester's Po- Po- Po- [bang] Possum Park!
• Reverse Psychology Backfire: When trying to convince Max to go on the trip, Goofy resorts to using reverse psychology, talking about how he's going to do everything "all alone." Max's response is to shrug and say "I guess so!"
• Road Trip Plot: The plot involves Goofy taking Max on a road trip to Lake Destiny, Idaho. Goofy hopes that this will improve their relationship, after realizing how distant he is from his son.
• Rod And Reel Repurposed: Max learns the Chekhov's Skill of the Perfect Cast from his father. This comes in handy when Max uses a fishing pole to rescue Goofy from certain doom at the bottom of a steep waterfall.
• Roundabout Shot: Goofy and Max have one when Goofy makes Max contra-dance with him at Lester's Possum Park, and another one towards the end of "Nobody Else But You".
• Secondary Character Title: Despite Goofy's name being in the title, Max is the protagonist of this film. Goofy is still the deuteragonist and an important character, but it's Max's motivations and character that drive the central plot line.
• Secret Test of Character: At a junction on the highway, Goofy hands Max the map and asks him to pick between going left to California, or right to Idaho. Goofy found out that Max changed the map the previous night, hoping that Max will choose to go right. Max fails the test by choosing to go left, causing Goofy to Brake Angrily.
• Serendipitous Symphony: "On the Open Road", which started from some odd percussive noises the car and related items were making.
• "Setting Off" Song: Goofy, Max, and eventually a crowd sing "On the Open Road" shortly after the road trip begins.
• Shipper on Deck: Both Stacey, Roxanne's best friend and PJ, Max's best friend, ship Max and Roxanne. Because they have very little in common otherwise, they go about it in different ways. Stacey actively pulls strings in order to get them together, while PJ just helps from the sidelines but is willing to go the extra mile to help Max win Roxanne's heart.
• Short Teens, Tall Adults: Every time a teenage character is seen next to a parent, he or she is at least a head shorter.
• Shout-Out:
  • One of the play sets in the backstage area of the school auditorium has a mermaid that resembles Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989).
  • Immediately after learning of Max's last day of school stunt, Goofy spots a blue light leading him to the bobblehead doll he purchases. For years, Kmart was notorious for their "blue light" specials. Fitting considering the movie, Goofy and Pete appear to be working at a generic Kmart/Wal-Mart clone.
  • Max standing at the top of the bleachers during "After Today" is remarkably similar to Danny's ending pose from "Summer Nights" in Grease.
  • Max's nightmare at the beginning of the film is a homage to An American Werewolf in London.
• Show, Don't Tell: Max's room has Powerline posters for this reason.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: PJ does not appear at all in any of the trailers^note Technically, he is shown in the TV spot, but in a position he may as well not have even been a Spear Carrier. Pete and Roxanne are in the main trailer, but very, very briefly—Bobby, meanwhile, is played up completely, despite having a smaller role than any of the other three. Roxanne has more screentime in the TV spot, but Pete doesn't appear at all there either.
• Snowball Lie: One of these kicks off Max's troubles. He lies to Roxanne that he has to miss their first date because his dad is not just taking him to the Powerline concert in Los Angeles, but that they'll be onstage for the final number. Midway through the trip, Max laments "I'm dead no matter what I do" since whether he admits he lied or tries to maintains the lie, it will still lead to Roxanne finding out he lied since Max won't be at the concert. It all works out in the end, since Goofy helps Max get to the concert and get osntage just as he promised. Even so, once Goofy and Max get back home, Max admits he lied to Roxanne because he wanted her to like him.
• Something Something Leonard Bernstein: In-universe, PJ does not seem to know any of the words to "Stand Out" except for "Stand out, above the crowd, even if I've got to shout out loud!" And compared against the soundtrack version, he sings that line to the melody of a different chorus than the one he was cued for.
• The Song Remains the Same: In the foreign dubs, Powerline's songs remain in English.
• Source Music: The songs mentioned under AM/FM Characterization, along with "Stayin' Alive" (which Bigfoot listens to on Max's Walkman) and three of the original musical numbers, "Stand Out" and "I 2 I" (in-universe pop hits) and "Lester's Possum Park" (part of an animatronics show).
• Spit Take: Pete spits his beer all over his TV screen after he sees Max and Goofy on stage with Powerline.
• Squirrels in My Pants: Max gets an opossum in his pants at Lester's Possum Park. Too bad that as Max manages to wrestle with it, Goofy thinks Max is finally having fun, further humiliating Max by accident.
• Stock Scream: Hannès Schroll's original "Goofy holler" is used twice just in the titles, apparently as a sort of Leitmotif. There is also a Wilhelm scream when their car runs into the scaffolding on the highway, and another faint one when the security guard goes flying into one of the TV screens at the Powerline concert. The use of the Goofy Holler is later averted when Goofy goes over the waterfall. Bill Farmer's rendition of the holler can be heard when his car explodes and at the very end of the closing credits.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Max and Goofy arguing over what music to play in the car results in the stereo exploding.
• Suck E. Cheese's: "Lester's Possum Park", complete with creepy animatronics with varying degrees of functionality. However, in this case, it's a Crappy Carnival instead of a restaurant, as an Affectionate Parody of Disney's own "Country Bear Jamboree".
• Summer School Sucks: Principal Mazur, the head of Max's school, demonstrates he's a hard core Dean Bitterman from the get-go by offering his students ideas in how to spend summer that are Summer School in all but name.
  Principal Mazur: How about... science slumber parties?
• Supermodel Strut: After Roxanne first talks to Max (with encouragement from Stacey), she and Stacey leave and Roxanne's hips sway as she walks.
• Suspiciously Apropos Music: By the time they join Powerline on stage, Goofy and Max have learnt to see each other's point of view. Naturally, that just happens to be the topic of the song they cut in on.
• Tears of Joy: Goofy sheds these after Max manages to save him from falling down the waterfall.
• Thanks for the Mammary: While Max dances with Miss Maples, he appears to grope her twice. Both these instances are edited on Disney+ version.
• Thousand-Yard Stare:
  • PJ has a vacant, eerily fixed expression when leaving the principal's office, as he dreads his father's wrath in an equally vacant tone.
  • Goofy has one during his Heroic BSoD after he finds out that Max changed the map to go to Los Angeles instead of Lake Destiny. It even extends into a Match Cut that goes from Goofy laying in bed to driving the car the follow morning, all without losing the stare.
• Throw It In!: In-universe. Powerline is initially surprised at Goofy's unexpected appearance on stage during he concert, but keeps playing along when Goofy does the Perfect Cast and turns it into a dance step.
• Time Skip: The movie takes place roughly three years after Goof Troop.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: A couple driving by on the open road consists of a short, thin husband and a tall, bulky wife. The husband mentions an "odd romantic episode" which Max calls "Very odd" when he and Goofy ride by. They turn out to be a roadie and performer respectively at the Powerline concert.
• Too Dumb to Live: Subverted. Goofy reads his road map, while driving, in the middle of the night. He winds up drifting into the opposing lane and into the path of an incoming freight truck. Goofy also somehow failed to hear the truck's loud honking since he was too busy singing to himself. If not for Max getting the car back in their lane in time, they would've likely been killed.
  Max: Dad! You're gonna get us killed! Why don't you just give me the map!?
• Toxic Friend Influence: While Pete is definitely a jerk and his advice is pretty bad, he seems to genuinely want to help Goofy out of his problems with his advice. It's just that his detached, domineering way of parenting would clearly cause more harm than good. Indeed, after Goofy finds out that Max changed the map and that Pete was right, Goofy becomes rather sullen.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Bobby's can of "cheese spray", which he is seldom seen without and is shown eating at the strangest times.
• Trailers Always Spoil: When the film was still in theaters, the Disney Channel would broadcast a Sneak Peek of the entire "I 2 I" sequence, spoiling to viewers that Goofy and Max make it to the Powerline Concert, as well as character resolutions for Pete, PJ, Stacey, and Bobby.
• Tranquil Fury: When Max fails the Secret Test of Character his dad set up, Goofy doesn't blow up in anger, but it's nevertheless clear from his expression and the way he pulls over that he is absolutely livid.
• Trap Door: Bobby sends Principal Mazur down on the stage so Max can do his stunt.
• Trashy Tourist Trap: Lester's Possum Park is a small opossum theme park, the main part we see is the Possum Posse Jamboree an animatronic musical show reminiscent of Disney's own Country Bear Jamboree or a particularly bad Chuck-E-Cheese restaurant. The song the animatronic band plays makes Max cringe and one of the animatronics is so broken it just splutters electronic noises and sparks. Goofy has fond memories of the park from his youth, but Max finds the experience unbearable.
• Truck Driver's Gear Change:
  • "After Today" starts out in B♭ major and ends in C major.
  • "Stand Out" has the verses sung in A minor, the pre-choruses in D minor, and the choruses in F major.
  • During "On the Open Road", the first three verses (with the first middle eight in between the latter two) sung by Goofy and Max are in E♭ major. Afterwards, the next two verses sung by the people passing by are sung respectively in A major and B♭ major. Then, we shift back to E♭ major for the second middle eight, and finally to F major for the last verse.
  • "Lester's Possum Park" goes from G major to A major.
  • "I2I" shifts from A major to B major after the middle eight.
• Two-Timer Date: Max ends up being forced into finding a way to go to a concert that he promised Roxanne he would go to as a date and a camping trip with Goofy after the principal ends up calling Goofy and made things seem far worse than they actually are.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Roxanne, a short, curvy, pretty young girl, has an extremely large, hairy, mean, overweight Boyfriend-Blocking Dad.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one cares about the dancing corpse or the mob victim in the trunk in the song "On the Open Road."
• Vertigo Effect: We can see down to the bottom of the waterfall, when Goofy falls over it.
• Vocal Dissonance: The Big Beautiful Woman seen "On the Open Road" with her tiny beau has a deep, gruff speaking voice that would rival Pete's. The Concert Climax reveals at the end that she has an amazing and somewhat feminine singing voice.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Goofy and Max, to a greater extent than in the show. Goofy is an Amazingly Embarrassing Parent for this reason, while Max spends most of the beginning refusing to lighten up.
• Wacky Waterbed: The Goofs' room at the Neptune Inn in has large clear waterbeds with live fish in them.
• Waking Non Sequitur: While stuck in their car, Goofy wakes up, turns to Max, and asks "How many cups of sugar does it take to get to the moon?" Max slowly responds, "Uh... three-and-a-half?" At which point Goofy falls straight back to sleep.
• Wham Shot: In-universe: After Pete tells him about Max changing the route on the map, Goofy blows him off, but winds up heading to his car regardless. After considering following what Pete said, Goofy decides against it, and is about to leave... only for the glove compartment to pop open, exposing the map to Goofy.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Averted - According to Goofy's map, he and Max's hometown appears to be Columbus, Ohio.
• World of Funny Animals: All of the characters in both movies are dogs (or rarely cats) with a cameo from Funny Animals Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the first.
• Would Rather Suffer: In "On the Open Road," Max mentions preferring detention and eating a toad to going on vacation with Goofy.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Max becomes a minor celebrity at the school after pulling off the Powerline stunt, and is happy right up until he gets home, where he's brought back down to Earth when Goofy tells him about the vacation he has planned for them both.
• You Did the Right Thing: A future tense variation: when Goofy and Max return home, Goofy encourages his son this way when he goes to tell Roxanne the truth about his little stunt at Powerline's concert.
• Your Mime Makes It Real: Max and Goofy see a mime pretending to pull something up. Goofy plays along and mimes cutting the rope, which causes a real piano to crush the mime.

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