A Goofy Movie’s Director Says the Beloved 1995 Film ‘Lives in the DNA’ of the Black Community

The Black community was in part responsible for giving 1995’s “A Goofy Movie” life after lackluster box office numbers

A Goofy Movie may not have been a box office hit, but it’s a film that’s come to mean a lot to many different viewers.

Director Kevin Lima appears in Not Just a Goof, the new Disney+ documentary that looks back at the making of the beloved 1995 film. In the documentary, a montage of fans discussing the movie on different social media platforms includes voices explaining what it meant to the Black community.

Lima says he was “quite shocked when I had discovered that the African American community had embraced this movie. Looking back at it, it lives in its DNA.”

One creator in the documentary points to the final season of FX’s Atlanta, during an episode called “The Goof Who Sat by the Door,” which tells a fictional history of Disney’s attempt to make “the Blackest movie of all time.”

Lima shares his hope that the movie continues to inspire all the communities it has found a home with.

“I certainly would not be sitting here where I am today if I had not seen The Jungle Book when I was 5 years old. And I think that expression and inspiring expression in kids and adults, it is incredibly important in our society. Some people don’t have the ability to express themselves any other way,” he shares.

“I can only hope that someone sees A Goofy Movie and is inspired to be a filmmaker or an artist — that A Goofy Movie does for someone now what The Jungle Book did for me when I was 5.”

A Goofy Movie debuted on April 7, 1995, grossing just $37.6 million against its $18 million in production costs. The release came five months after its originally intended release date, further illustrating it as a low-priority release among the rich Disney roster of the time.

Thirty years later, the fans who gave the film the reputation it enjoys today will learn the story of how their favorite moments — from music and animation to storyline — came together behind the scenes.

Not Just a Goof is now streaming on Disney+.