In the corporately-manufactured era of Disney between the mid 1990s and mid 2000s, everyone would dread the seemingly monotonous and unbelievable direct-to-dvd sequels to Disney movies both old and recent. However, of the few that actually stood out well in terms of quality was the sequel to A Goofy Movie: An Extremely Goofy Movie. From the title alone and the fact that it came out in the sports-dominated year of 2000, one would expect this film would be dated on arrival. Yet unlike most Disney sequels that didn't need to even be thought up, this film surprisingly works well on its own enough to stand the test of time.
The main storyline revolves Max Goof moving on to college and competing in the X-Games, but also having to deal with Goofy coming to the same college to get a degree. From that premise alone, the movie practically writeall the cliched shenanigans that could ensue within, from Max being embarrassed at Goofy's personality, to the rival competitors challenging the underdogs to the games, to Goofy struggling to keep up with classes, Max and a newly found love interest. However, what would otherwise be formulaic and predictable plot beats are made up for with a decent amount of fun and surprisingly heartfelt tone. Much of what does go on in the movie surrounding Goofy's experiences in college are worthy of laughter given how absurd they can be, and you also route for Goofy more than Max this time because of how much he needs to focus on his life away from his son moving away. Even if it shares a similar type of arch from the first movie, it's less about the father-son relationship than it is about overcoming obstacles in college from bullying rivals and accomplishing your goals.
If anyone else deserves to be praised for their efforts, it would have to be the animators, since they were able to make the most out the material. I think this film may have even broader acting and gestures than the first movie, because the numerous variety of facial expressions and bold poses really make each character stick out well. The antagonist Bradley Uppercrust in particular could have easily been the generic jerk rival with an ego higher than the sun, but the animators behind him really pushed just how far you can go in expressing his feelings through the face as much as possible. Same can be said for the voice actors, both returning players like Bill Farmer, Jason Marsden, Rob Paulsen and even Pauly Shore, and newer cast members like Vicki Lewis, Bebe Neuwrith and Brad Garrett, who all sound like they were having a blast in the recording studio with each character they brought to life. Special attention must be given to veteran voice artist Jeff Bennett, as he's able to voice over four characters without once ever sounding too similar from the other, even an old raspy woman.
Isn't it cool when you can make the most of such a stupid premise as a sequel to A Goofy Movie set at college? What could have easily been a hopelessly dated product of the late 1990s/early 2000s ends up as a surprisingly entertaining flick with the same lovable characters from before. If the first movie was about a father and son overcoming their differences through growth and development, than this film is about a father and son overcoming the real world in their own way: one through a crazy competition and the other through achieving their dreams. 20 years since its release, it still holds up in a bizarre way.
