Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Stopping by Goofs on an October Evening

Greg Weagle mentioned during his recent reviews of the episodes on the Goof Troop DVD that WDTVA veteran Mike Peraza, in addition to providing readers with entertaining behind-the-scenes information on the development of DuckTales and Darkwing Duck, also did a couple of blog posts about the prehistory of that series.  The early days of what was originally called Goofy Troopers weren't quite as chaotic as the scrum that would ultimately engulf Bonkers, but the rather shapeless series that did emerge certainly speaks to the existence of some growing pains.

 
Greg noted that he found the three DVD eps of Goof Troop rather tedious to get through.  Not because they were BAD, per se, but because they were... well, unmemorable.  Unlike the best WDTVA series, Goof Troop didn't seem to develop a true identity of any sort; the attitude of the writers seemed to gradually morph into "whatever works," which explains why so many of the later episodes slipped into the confining (yet comfortable) rut of "How Pete's Scam of the Day Will Unravel," or why the series took so many unexpected and bizarre detours into Fantasyland (dinosaur eggs on riverbanks, magical musical instruments).  Goof Troop's lack of a solid narrative "spine" certainly helps to explain why, had it not been for the extra frisson of interest provided by the unexpectedly enjoyable 1995 theatrical feature A Goofy Movie, the series would be completely forgotten today.  Bonkers may have been an unholy mess, but at least it was memorable, in the manner of a particularly spectacular car wreck.  Goof Troop doesn't even have that to fall back on (or stumble over, given that Goofy is involved).

Of course, there are some legitimately outstanding Goof Troop episodes, but they just seemed to "happen" by sheer good fortune, kind of like finding the Baby Jesus in the King Cake.  No surprise, then, that while we celebrate DuckTales' 25th anniversary with such pomp and fervor, the 20th anniversary of this series is slipping past us on little Goof feet.
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3 comments:

  1. ComicbookrehabOctober 22, 2012 at 11:17 AM

    There are about a dozen episodes of this show that I do enjoy: The "Untouchables" spoof with "Eliot Goof", "Unreal Estate", "Axed By Addition", "Major Goof", "O-R-V-I-N-V-U", "Gunfight at the Okey-Doke Corral" anda few others, with the only pattern being that they didn't focus too much on Pete's stress level (which I found disturbing)or Goofy's ineptitude (which drove me up the wall) or other things. Peg's hourglass figure was VERY interesting, anticipating the popularity of Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek Nicki Minaj, Christina Hendricks and Kim Kardashian by a decade, at a time when the trend was the skinny waif or blonde bikini babe. :)

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  2. Chris BaratOctober 24, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    CBR,

    I liked the Mammoth RV ep, and a handful of others, but not many others stand out. It's amusing to note that, while traces of the show itself are few and far between on the net, there appears to be a fair amount of porn featuring Peg!

    Chris

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  3. ComicbookrehabOctober 26, 2012 at 10:23 AM

    I'm not really surprised - not after two or three episodes that highlighted her physique by offering different costume changes. And there is that one episode where she tries to sneak into a mansion to curry favor with a wealthy dowager by sliding through a gate - and her posterior gets stuck for a few long seconds..

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