The success of a goofy film defied all Disney expectations

Part of the reason Disneytoon Studios created "A Goofy Movie" was that it was originally meant to be a straight-to-video release. In fact, they've expanded on just about every one of Disney's many sequels and direct spinoffs since then. From "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" and "Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World" to the Goofy sequel "An Extremely Goofy Movie". So maybe "A Goofy Movie" wasn't exactly designed to fail so badly that it wasn't worth spending so much money on. This is illustrated quite blatantly in the film's $18 million budget compared to the $45 million given to "The Lion King".

Producer Don Hahn went so far as to tell Vanity Fair, "It wasn't even a B movie. It was a C movie." And even when the movie was cleared for theatrical release, it was severely restricted — with no premiere in California (ironically for a movie whose destination is Los Angeles) and only debuted at the AMC Pleasure Island Theater in Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. Hahn even said the film's release only happened as part of the "fulfillment of a corporate legacy" established by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former Disney chairman who originally greenlit the movie. project. So there couldn't have been more apathy or indifference at Disney towards "A Goofy Movie".

Given the studio's feelings for the film and the restrictions placed on its theatrical release, it's probably no surprise that it didn't really catch people in theaters. Its total earnings of $37.6 million are just a fraction of the $191.8 million "The Lion King" pulled in in its first weekend. But that was the 90s, a time when movies that were collapsing in theaters could find a second wind (and a cult following) thanks to VHS.