Welcome to the inaugural edition of "Weird Episodes". The blog where we look at strange episodes of television shows. Be it animated or live action, if there was a strange episode in the bunch, it'll get covered. Hey, remember the time Goofy ran for mayor, won, and it was never brought up again? Find out how as we cover the Goof Troop episode "A Goof of the People".
Goof Troop was a 1992 animated series from Walt Disney Television Animation. The third cartoon to debut in the Disney Afternoon lineup and the first to not be an adventure series. It centered around Goofy, now a single father, returning to his hometown of Spoonerville to raise his son Max. He ends up living next door to his old rival Pete and his family. And many wacky misadventures ensued. While Goof Troop was a show that was somewhat more grounded than other Disney Shows (despite the more comedic and over the top nature of those stores because this is a cartoon starring Goofy), the show wasn't averse to getting weird for the sake of a plot.
I mean, I could have started this blog with that episode where Pete gets turned into a fly, but if this blog is successful, consider that a later episode. The one episode of Goof Troop that always stuck with me in how bizarre it was, yet inconsequential to the series it became despite its outcome being kind of a big deal was the season 1 episode "A Goof of the People".
We open the episode with Goofy lamenting over the state of his garden, to which his son Max says is the fault of the conveniently placed SlimeCo factory that just opening up in Spoonerville and is filling the town with its noxious air pollution.
Goofy remembers that there used to be a time when the air was nice and clean and pulls out a jar of fresh air he's kept since he was young. Why Goofy decided to keep a jar of air? Never really explained, but maybe he thought he'd pull an Aloysious O'Hare and sell the stuff after the planet's gone ass up. Finally sick of this sick air, Goofy heads to Slimeco to speak with its owner, Fenton Sludge, which has to be one of the most Captain Planet villain-esque names of any character.
Turns out his design isn't too far off from that assumption either as he's literally a mass of pollution. When Goofy confronts him about his pollution and asks him to stop, Sludge gets angry and kicks him out of the factory. Max tells Goofy that he shouldn't stand for Sludge's actions and that there's conveniently a special election for mayor going on. Goofy should run for mayor. Goofy doesn't quite know how to feel about that considering he's just John Q. Public (the guy they named the library after?), but Max hands him a book that can teach him all he needs to know about politicking. Particularly the art of shaking hands and kissing babies.
In that order and in no other way, of course.
And this is where Pete sticks his nose into the story. Upon learning that Goofy is running for mayor (and the fact that being Mayor could mean paid vacations for him), Pete decides to run for mayor as well, stealing Goofy's anti-pollution policy at that. Sludge, not being happy that there are two anti-pollution candidates out there, sets out to bribe one of them. And since Goofy is the saintiest saint that ever sainted, he goes with Pete. But despite Pete's best efforts, his attempt to sell the pros of pollution still see him failing in winning the hearts of the voting public.
So Sludge just cuts out the middle man and stashes a bunch of toxic waste barrels in Goofy's garage, making him out to be a liar and seemingly giving Pete the winning edge in this election. Seeing the slime prints of Fenton Sludge in his driveway, Goofy sets out with his flower and his clean air jar to finally settle this once and for all.
Also, since this episode hasn't taken enough strange turns, there's now a toxic waste monster rampaging through town. It makes its way to SlimeCo and attacks Goofy, until Goofy's clean air manages to destroy it.
Fenton grabs the jar and uses it on himself, and it suddenly turns him into a handsome guy because that is some clean ass air apparently. Fenton goes straight, and SlimeCo devotes itself to cleaning up the environment. And we end the episode with Goofy becoming mayor of spoonerville, with Pete as his new chauffeur.
So, why is this episode weird exactly? Well, the general anti-pollution plot, as silly as it is, still works to send its message across to young kids. But it's the end result that leaves me befuddled. Canonically, Goofy became mayor of Spoonerville. In the middle of the first season. And in the next episode, everything's back to the status quo with nobody mentioning it ever happened. Most likely the explanation is that Goofy got what he wanted, so he resigned soon after, and Pete was too unqualified for the role either, so that kinda explains it. I get that's the fate of an episodic show where events don't always connect from one episode to the next, but I'd say becoming mayor of a town would be a really big deal. Hell, look at A Goofy Movie for example. That seems to follow the canon of Goof Troop. Would nobody have noticed that Max's dad used to be the mayor of the town? I'm looking way into this, I know, but it does fit the weird category.
Overall, this was a fun little episode. Not the strongest of the show, but one that does represent how Goof Troop worked as a series. Something you'll get more of when I cover the show in full for All in a Disney Afternoon, but consider this first outing for Weird Episodes a teaser of what's to come. Also, if this is well received, I'll do more weird episodes on other shows.
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