"A Goofy Movie", a 1995 animated flick, was the first full-length movie for Goofy, one of Disney's famous cartoon characters, and it was released over sixty years after the character was first introduced. Five years later, just like many other animated Disney movies, that one got the direct-to-video sequel treatment. I first saw "A Goofy Movie" from beginning to end in 2007, and watched it again earlier this year. Overall, I thought it was good both times, slightly better the second time. I never saw "An Extremely Goofy Movie", the 2000 direct-to-video sequel to the 1995 release, until this month. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as the original, but thought it could still be above average. However, for the most part, I didn't even think it was that.
Max Goof is ready to leave home for college, and he is looking forward to it, but his father, Goofy Goof, is not very happy, knowing how much he is going to miss his son. Max moves out to the college campus with his two friends, P.J. and Bobby, with plans to make the top team at the X-Games. The three of them quickly draw attention to themselves by skateboarding around the campus, including the attention of the Gamma fraternity, who are known as the X-Game champions! The group's leader, Bradley Uppercrust III, offers Max to join them, but since his two friends are not allowed to join, he refuses. The new rivals then make a bet. The loser of the finals will become the towel boy for the winner! Meanwhile, Goofy misses his son so much that it's hard for him to concentrate on his work, causing a major accident in the factory and costing him his job! He learns that he will need a college degree in order to get another well paying job, so he decides to go to the college where his son has enrolled, which means that they're together again and Max is in for more embarrassment!
One of the things that helps "A Goofy Movie" entertain its audience is the humour, and that's definitely something that's missing for most of this sequel. I didn't keep a straight face all the time while watching "An Extremely Goofy Movie", but certainly did for the majority of it. For some reason, although Goofy still has his charm here, he's certainly not as funny. I can't describe how he's not that funny this time, but he isn't, and neither are any other characters in this sequel. In the part where Goofy suddenly enters the college classroom, his son's reaction is pretty funny, but the rest of the class laughing and Goofy's presence giving Max's punk rival something to make fun of him about, is not. There's also a lame gross-out moment with the three friends stuffing their faces with nachos, getting cheese smeared around their mouths. In addition to the lack of laughs, the story certainly isn't very interesting, either. This sequel introduces some new characters, such as Bradley Uppercrust III and his fraternity, and Sylvia Marpole, the college librarian and Goofy's new love interest. None of them really do much for the film. Another new character is the "Beret Girl in Café." We first see her reciting her ridiculous poetry, and this is a lame part of the movie. This "Beret Girl" appears in more than one scene after that, and is a poorly crafted character.
These direct-to-video sequels from Disney often disappoint many fans of their theatrical predecessors, and this particular one certainly didn't turn out to be an exception. "An Extremely Goofy Movie" has some occasional funny moments (though even those don't tend to be THAT funny) and nice animation, and there are characters for viewers to root for, but for the most part, it's basically just another cartoon, there's not much special about it. I know I'm far from the first one to point this out, but as a sequel, this film has some continuity problems, with Goofy and Max's awkward relationship and the absence of Roxanne, as if the events of "A Goofy Movie" didn't happen! Maybe this wouldn't be that much of a problem if this sequel were actually entertaining, but unfortunately, it isn't usually that. This may not be a sequel to avoid at all costs, and I'm sure many kids would enjoy it, but it's definitely a film that could have used better writing.
