What Happened To The 'Troop' In The Title Of Disney's Goof Troop
Despite Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto being classified as the five "main" characters in the Disney canon (aka "The Fab Five"), it's actually the barrel-chested Pete who arrived before them all in 1925. Originally, Pete was a bear but evolved into Mickey's archnemesis for a time before settling into his role as the loudmouth cat often playing opposite of Goofy as we know and love him today. This new affiliation began in 1992 with the animated series "Goof Troop," which followed Goofy as a single father after he and his son Max moved back to his hometown of Spoonerville. The family ends up moving next door to Pete, a used car salesman with the integrity of Harry Wormwood in "Matilda," his real-estate agent wife Peg, their son P.J., and daughter Pistol. Max and P.J. become fast friends, forcing the two families to connect, and inspiring plenty of hijinks because of it.
Created by Robert Taylor and Michael Peraza Jr., "Goof Troop" lasted for 78 episodes, and was the launchpad for one of the most underrated films in Disney's history, "A Goofy Movie." Fans loved "Goof Troop," but the name of the show itself might seem a little confusing at first. Where is the "troop" in this show about families living in the suburbs?
Well, as it turns out, the title "Goof Troopers" was chosen long before Peraza Jr. joined the team, with Disney originally hoping to modernize some of the early-1950s Goofy cartoon shorts, with Goofy in charge of a Boy Scouts-esque troop of mischievous youngsters. Goofy was to be the ultimate father figure just trying his best, which became the heart of "A Goofy Movie," and the basis for the extremely popular "Goof Troop" video game.
Report to the Goof Troop
In a brief history of "Goof Troop" posted on Michael Peraza Jr.'s blog, the co-creator noted that Disney was trying to develop the series based around the title, and things changed once he was brought into the fold. "In case you've ever wondered why the name seems to be about a troop when the actual series isn't, I'll tell you," he wrote. "The creative executive assigned to oversee its development originally conceived it as Goofy with the rank of Head Scoutmaster in charge of a bunch of young scouts."
Peraza Jr. explained that the idea was solid, but was "limiting" in terms of storytelling. How long can a series about Goofy and the Scouts conceivably last without incorporating non-scouting adventures? "We would watch their uproarious adventures as they pitched tents, learned secret oaths, cooked s'mores, and tied knots. Well, maybe there was just a little more to it than that, but not much," he wrote.
Fortunately, Peraza Jr. felt it was foolish to try and "reinvent the wheel," when the lovable klutz of Goofy trying to raise his teenage son was already the recipe to success. "His son is an average kid dealing with many of the usual issues they face: peer pressure, young love, grades, school bullies, and so on," Peraza Jr. wrote. "On top of all that, he has the zaniest, wackiest GOOFIEST dad to live down. No matter how insane the situations get though, they will always love each other. They're a family."
Report to the Goof Troop and we'll always stick together, indeed.