Tear Jerker / Goof Troop

• In "Good Neighbor Goof," after the show manages to play a trope as inherently comedic as an Ironic Echo Cut for drama, the audience gets to see Pete bellowing angrily at PJ, who is clearly powerless, stammering timidly in response. Pete doesn't let up even when PJ is clearly very ashamed of himself, at which point the music turns sad, and the content of his bellowing turns into an insulting rant about the Goofs, culminating in Pete forbidding PJ from seeing Max. Max, who was hanging from PJ's windowsill at the time and heard the whole thing, starts to cry. And if the audience hasn't yet, PJ delivers a doozy of a Woobiefying line where he simultaneously explicitly states that the day of fun he's had with Max is the only one he can remember ever having and implies that he's going to accept being completely miserable for the rest of his life, crying and smiling that he'll at least have the memories. This does build into a truly Heartwarming Moment when Max and PJ are finally allowed to become friends.
• In "O, R-V, I N-V U", Max and Pete partner up to work on Pete's RV project. However, they completely ignore PJ, only talking to him when they want him to do an errand.
  Pete: (to Max) Always thinking, kid! (laughs) Why, you remind me of... of me! Ha, wish PJ had your pizzaz.
  (PJ, who was listening in, is clearly hurt by this and leaves for his room)
  • Eventually, PJ snaps at Max when approaches him for another favor.
  Max: Hey, Peej. Take my picture in front of the RV, okay?
  PJ: Take it yourself!
  Max: What's bugging you?
  PJ: YOU! If you want to be the son in this family, I'll just move out!
  Max: Hey, can I help it if your dad thinks I'm bright?
• In the third act of "Wrecks, Lies & Videotape", where Pete is visited by the "spirit" of Goofy who gives him a Christmas Carol-esque view of the future, he sees that stealing Goofy's vacation (which was won on a home video contest) and other selfish actions will give one horrible outcome. Several things include himself being deceased, Max taking over his used car business and taking on his demeanor, his wife Peg being reduced to a cleaning lady with an abysmal salary, and his two kids PJ and Pistol being crooks. Pete, evercome by emotion, breaks free from the couch he was tied to, and starts groveling at the TV screen upon his kids having their final breath. Bear in mind, that while this was all a prank (devised by Max, Goofy, Peg, PJ and Pistol) Played for Laughs to convince Pete to return the vacation to Goofy and Max, it doesn't help that the whole setup was not only dark, but also rather heartbreaking.
  • Whenever Pete gets worried or is in distress, it is often done for comic effect since he is the Large Ham in the series. But in the case of this scene, it went out of its way to make him look and sound genuinely devastated.
  Pete: NOOOOO! Why!? Why'd you become crooks...?
  PJ: (pretending to die) Just following in your footsteps, dad. Like father... like... son. (drops to the ground, appearing "dead")
  Pete: (starts sobbing loudly, then hugs the TV) MY BABY BOY! GOOOOOONNNE!
• "From Air to Eternity" has one part that's just heartbreaking. After PJ skydives against his will and messes up, Pete yells at him and insults him for it. PJ confesses that he never really jumped out of a plane before then and won a trophy for a video game, which he thought Pete knew. Then, when he's already really vulnerable, Pete falsely accuses him of being a liar and rejects him outright. Seeing poor PJ trying in vain to get back his father's acceptance is hard enough as it is, especially when he ends up kicking his own trophy and knocking himself down in frustration at the futility, but the next scene makes it even worse because we see him disparaging himself for lying, meaning he internalized the spurious accusation. Dramatic Irony adds another layer of sadness, since the audience knows that Pete is being a complete Hypocrite and PJ doesn't. The worst part is this is exactly how some abuse victims behave in real life. At least PJ ends up passive-aggressively Calling the Old Man Out.
• Ever since the 1950s Goofy has been portrayed as a "family man" and the classic shorts occasionally portrayed him with a wife. While the subject of his wife doesn't come up much, the fandom considers Goofy way too nice of a guy to divorce (and Disney Studios seems to agree), and him being a widower is the most likely alternative. This being Goofy, it's so sad.
  • And considering how Max never brings his mom up or her absence, it may well have been before he was old enough to remember her (childhood memories start kicking in at 3 or 4). Oh, that's even more heartbreaking...
  • You think that's bad, try imagining someone like Goofy trying to deal with grief. God, it'd be like the empty nest syndrome scene from An Extremely Goofy Movie only worse.
  • Hold on, it gets even worse! In the Ducktales 2017 episode "Quack Pack," Goofy shows Donald some photos of himself and Max, and the uppermost one shows Goofy holding baby Max in his arms. If this sounds innocuous enough, the photo shows Goofy with a sad look in his eyes, as though he has wept. Up until this episode, fans have considered that Mrs. Goofy either was killed in a car accident or died after a long illness. But now, we've been introduced to an even more tragic scenario: Death by Childbirth! This would be the most logical explanation for why Max doesn't talk about his mother a lot... because he has no memories whatsoever of her!
• The scene in “Puppy Love”, which features Debby crying because of all she was put through. She cheers up a bit after PJ explains to her what really happened (in his own poetic words, of course).
• In "A Goof Troop Christmas" (or "Have Yourself a Goofy Little Christmas"), Goofy's efforts to get into the holiday spirit kept causing disaster. When he overdoes it with his decorations, he accidentally gets his and Max's cabin burned down along with most of Max's presents.
  Max: Christmas is... gone.
  • Peg allows Goofy and Max to stay at their cabin after the loss of theirs. Later, a bear invades the kitchen, so while waiting for him to leave, Goofy attempts to lighten everyone's mood by performing an old song from Max's childhood, the "Reindeer Dance" (much to Max's embarrassment). Unfortunately, he forgot about a pressure cooker he left on the fire and cranberries splattered all over the room. That was the last straw for Pete.
  Pete: Listen, you cabin-crunchin', carol-croonin', Kris Kringle-crushin' jingle bell! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOUR DUMB DECORATIONS!! AND YOUR STUPID DANCES, SEE?!!
  Goofy: Gawrsh.
  Pete: NOW YOU'VE FINALLY DONE IT! YOU'VE RUINED CHRISTMAS FOR EVERYONE! EVEN YOUR OWN DUMB KID!!!
  Goofy: (shocked) Really, Max?
  (Max doesn't respond, but his sad looks says it all. This makes the hurt Goofy leave the cabin, heading out into a blizzard.)
  • In the climax, Goofy's conversation with Max, although heartwarming, can also count as Harsher in Hindsight:
  Max: You okay, Dad?
  Goofy: No. It’s getting harder and harder to make Christmas special for ya, Max.
  Max: Like when I was a kid, huh?
  Goofy: Exactly.
  Max: Well, I’m growing up, Dad. But I still love Christmas, and I still love you.
  • Considering this is the Series Finale, and that the next time we see Max is in A Goofy Movie, this exchange hints to what is to come. Father and Son are drifting apart. Max is beginning to be embarrassed about his father's antics, while Goofy is beginning to have trouble understanding his son. At least, Max's kind words about growing up are a lot gentler than his later outbursts demanding Goofy stop treating him like a kid. This may also be one of the last times Max tells his father that he loves him (If one notes how Goofy treats the affection as a past memory in the "Hi Dad Soup" scene). Nevertheless, one can also take from this exchange that no matter how bad things will get between Goofy and Max, Father and Son will always find a way to reconcile.
  • Also, if one were to count Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas as canon, it is the most positive portrayal of Goofy and Max’s relationship outside of the show. From Goofy trying to restore Max’s belief in Santa Claus to Max trying to cheer his father up after he fails to do so. Three months later, An Extremely Goofy Movie would portray their relationship much more negatively.
  • Equally bittersweet is the Pete Family looking happy and content with each other. This would be Peg and Pistol's final appearances. Consider the theory that Pete and Peg later divorced and broke up the family by the time of the Movies. Word of God says this wasn’t the case, but it still is pretty sad.
• Basically anytime we see Goofy and Pete with their families in content and happiness, it’s harder to watch considering that they were Put on a Bus, one-by-one.
• In "Date with Destiny", Max is at risk of being taken from Goofy’s custody, which is a Tear Jerker from both sides, especially when Max runs back over to Goofy after his nightmare and Goofy sadly prepares to send him off.
• "Peg of the Jungle" reveals that Pete was once a dedicated and devoted husband to Peg and would go to great lengths just to see a smile on her face. Sadly, as the years went by, Pete became the hotheaded blowhard we know him as today and he began taking his beloved for granted. It’s a depressingly realistic depiction of a marriage becoming on the rocks and a couple drifting apart.
• In "Calling All Goofs," Pete basically swindles Goofy out of the money he and Max have saved for their family reunion. Yes, Peg manages to pull some strings to get some members of the Goof family together, but for much of the episode, Goofy is depressed at the thought of not seeing his relatives, and he's even seen crying at one point.

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