Powerline is a famous Pop star. He is the idol of both Max Goof and the majority of the background characters from the 1995 film A Goofy Movie. He is known for the performance of such hit songs as "Stand Out" and "I2I".
Personality[]
While his off-stage behavior is unknown, it is shown that Powerline is a consummate professional. When Goofy and Max accidentally crash his performance, he doesn't get upset and throw them out. Instead, he keeps the show going and not only lets them join his performance (especially after Goofy performed a breakdance version of The Perfect Cast, to which Powerline actually displayed interest in), but also quickly adapts his routine to include the Perfect Cast.
Appearances[]
A Goofy Movie[]
On the morning of the last day of school before the summer break, Max wakes up late for school, surrounded by many Powerline photos and posters adorning the walls of his bedroom, just after having a dream-turned-nightmare regarding him and his crush Roxanne. As he struggles to get dressed, he is greeted by his father, Goofy, who, in his attempt to help clean up Max's messy room, accidentally ruins Max's life-size cardboard cutout of Powerline with his vacuum cleaner. When Goofy inquires as to who the cutout is meant to be, Max, unimpressed by his father's ignorance and lack of knowledge of the latest trends and music, retorts "It's only Powerline, Dad, the biggest rock star on the planet."
On his way to school, Max peeks into the window of a music store, through which he spies a large cutout of Powerline on display and being admired by a couple of girls.
Later, during an assembly at school, the student body president Stacey invites everyone to come to her party where Powerline's Los Angeles concert will be aired live on Pay-Per-View TV. Then, Max and his friends hijack the auditorium stage right in the middle of Principal Mazur's speech, creating a small concert in which Max performs "Stand Out" while dressed in costume as Powerline. The performance succeeds in making Max a school celebrity and impresses his love interest Roxanne, but also lands him in detention. In the principal's office, Roxanne complements Max on his dance, which Max describes as being "from Powerline's new video," prompting the two to express their shared interest in Powerline.
Roxanne then agrees to go with Max to Stacey's party, but unbeknownst to both of them, the principal had phoned Goofy about Max's prior actions, but Mazur was so furious about what happened, he over-exaggerated the truth. Fearing his son may be heading down a life of crime, Goofy decides to take Max on a cross-country trip to bond with him. When Max tries to tell his father about the party, Goofy refuses to listen. Before leaving town, Max stops by Roxanne's house to call off their date, but when she mentions going to the party with someone else, Max frantically fabricates a story about his father knowing Powerline and tells her that he will be on stage with Powerline at the concert in Los Angeles.
During the trip with father, Max encounters his friend P.J., who is also on a trip with his own father. Inside a luxurious RV, P.J. plays and sings along with "Stand Out" as he scrubs the floor of the RV. P.J. then tells Max that everyone in town has heard about his going to the Powerline concert. And later that night, Max secretly changes the driving route on his father's road map to lead them to the concert in Los Angeles.
The next morning, Max is surprisingly made navigator for the trip by Goofy and is able to guide his father in the direction of Los Angeles. One night, when staying at a motel, Max and P.J. watch Powerline's "Stand Out" music video on TV, but then Goofy comes in. Having discovered his son's deception, Goofy is initially heartbroken, then angry, but after some reconciliation with his son the next day, he eventually decides to help Max make good on his word and get him on-stage with Powerline.
Goofy and Max finally arrive in Los Angeles on the night of the concert but are accidentally separated backstage. As they look for each other, Powerline appears on-stage and begins his performance of "I2I". While Max flees a security guard who caught him watching Powerline and his backup dancers from under the stage, Goofy falls into the electrical sphere Powerline entered the stage from and ends up on-stage right next to Powerline. As encouraged by Max, Goofy performs his Perfect Cast fishing technique as a freestyle dance, impressing everyone. Powerline then joins in the dance and integrates both it and Goofy into his performance. Max himself then crashes down onto the stage between the two, and all three of them break into dance together with everyone in the audience cheering for them, believing Goofy and Max to have been part of the performance all along.
Elsewhere, Roxanne, Stacey, P.J., Pete, Bobby, and others all watch the concert from different televisions and are amazed by the Goofs' performances. On their return home, Goofy brings Max to Roxanne's house where he confesses to her about how he had lied before about his dad knowing Powerline, for which Roxanne forgives him.
Goofy Gets Goofy[]
Prior to the release of A Goofy Movie, Powerline appeared in the 1994 Mouse Works 'funny face' book Goofy Gets Goofy (which, itself, is an adaptation of the Powerline concert scene from the movie). In this story, Powerline's role is largely the same as in the movie, with him performing at his rock concert and being surprised to see Goofy appear onstage with him after (in this version) the audience had tossed Goofy onto the stage. When Goofy starts dancing the Perfect Cast, Powerline joins in the dance right before Max swings down onto the stage from above, and all three dance together in front of everyone.
Le Journal de Mickey[]
On February 12, 1997, Issue #2330 of the French magazine Le Journal de Mickey published a special Dingo & Max[2] comic strip titled "Je T'Ayuck" ("I Ayuck You").[3] (retitled "The Show Hyuck'st Go On" when, 26 years later on July 4, 2023, Fantagraphics reprinted and adapted it into English in Volume 3 of The Disney Afternoon Adventures). Though Powerline himself does not appear in person, he is mentioned by P.J. when he asks what kind of gift Max plans to buy Roxanne for her birthday, with P.J.'s third guess being "A Powerline T-shirt?" ("Un tee-shirt de Powerline?").
Shortly after, when Max and P.J. pass by a store window, another cutout of Powerline is seen on display in the window, albeit with Powerline's shirt and boots colored light pink, his pants, collar, and wristband colored dark blue, his belt colored yellow, and both his fur and his nose colored peach (in the English version, this color scheme was corrected to match Powerline's appearance in A Goofy Movie).
Disney Parks[]
A Powerline-branded candy, "Powerlimes", is featured in the queue of the Disneyland version of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway at the El Capitoon Theater's concession stand and was sold as a real candy shortly after the attraction's opening. A young Max can also be seen dressed as Powerline for Halloween in a photo in Goofy's House.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode[]
Powerline in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Powerline is a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. He is Front-line Control Role hero. Powerline is a unique hero which arrives to the battlefield Fashionably Late, his entrace is recreating his entering the music stage from the movie, which also in game deals damage and blinds enemies. Powerline also sings and unleashes a laser light show which deals damage and blinds enemies. Powerline also can summon clouds of dry ice to complement his dance move, these clouds freeze enemies upon touching them.
Powerline has friendship campaigns with Goofy and Ducky and Bunny. He also has friendship campaigns with Slinky Dog and Clawhauser.
This was also his debut as playable character in a Disney game.
Trivia[]
- Since Powerline appears in the Mouse Works 'funny face' book Goofy Gets Goofy (which was published on October 1, 1994), that book would technically be his very first appearance since its release predates that of A Goofy Movie (April 7, 1995).
- According to director Kevin Lima and music associate producer Bambi Moé, the inspiration for Powerline came from the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, and Bobby Brown. A popular fan belief is that Brown was even supposed to be cast as the voice of Powerline before Tevin Campbell was cast during production. However, in a 2020 interview with /Film, both Lima and Moé deny this rumor, stating that Brown was only a source of inspiration for Powerline, and if there had ever been any initial inquiry at the time about whether or not Brown would have been interested in the role, it never went anywhere, officially.[1]
- Powerline's aesthetic and stage presence were also inspired by David Bowie and how he "became characters" and "put on a theatrical version of himself" as he performed. Thinking of a way to give Powerline a visual identity that makes him "ultimately super theatricalized", and in a way that fit the movie's world, led to his atom logo and electricity motif.[2]
- It is unknown what Powerline's actual name really is, as "Powerline" is most likely just his stage name.
- Powerline has no spoken dialogue in the movie; he only sings the songs he performs.
- However, in the novelization of A Goofy Movie published by Scholastic, Powerline actually does get two speaking lines: "Cool dance!" (in response to his seeing Goofy do the Perfect Cast) and "Ah-one, ah-two, ah-three," (instructing Max and Goofy to dance with him together onstage).
- Also in the novel, the cardboard cutout in Max's bedroom is said to be of Powerline playing the guitar, when the cutout seen in the movie is instead of Powerline singing into his handheld microphone.
- In the French novelization of A Goofy Movie published by Disney Hachette, the dance from Powerline's "Stand Out" music video that Max performs backstage—before he trips on some cables and falls out onto the stage in front of students at the assembly—is said to be named "Cosmos Rocker".
- Neither of Powerline's songs is translated in any foreign language dubs of the movie.
- Among all of the Powerline posters and memorabilia seen in Max's bedroom in A Goofy Movie, on the wall near one of his windows is an old flyer for one of Powerline's concerts that reads "Celtic Stadium" at the top, and what might be the number 93 printed near the bottom. This could mean that Powerline had previously performed at Celtic Park (which is nicknamed "Celtic Stadium") in Glasgow, Scotland back in 1993 prior to the movie's events.
- According to the French graphic novel adaptation of A Goofy Movie (and its Danish translated version), the rock music that Max tries to listen to in the car, right before the movie's "On the Open Road" song, is Powerline music.
- Though it is not given in the movie, several pieces of officially-licensed store merchandise for A Goofy Movie (such as T-shirts, baseball caps, bedding, and more) make explicit reference to the "Stand Out World Tour" (or just, the "Stand Out Tour"), and attribute both the years 1994 and 1995 to this tour. This would indicate that the concert seen in the movie was a part of this tour and that it took place from at least 1994 to 1995.
- Several T-shirts even provide complete lists for every stop on the tour. Specifically, the shirts sold by Target, Hot Topic, and Amazon all share a common list that places Los Angeles as the second-to-last stop on the tour.[4] Since the movie takes place in June,[5] and if this particular list is to be believed, that would mean that A Goofy Movie takes place in June 1995.
- Meanwhile, a different T-shirt sold exclusively through BoxLunch provides a different list that, while sticking with the year 1995, places Los Angeles earlier in the tour as its fourth stop.[6] Going by this list, while the concert would have still been in June, the tour itself would have instead probably begun in 1995 rather than finish that year, in disregard of the 1994 year given by some of the other official merchandise.
- Between these two lists, the former is the more common list and is able to apply for both the given years of 1994 and 1995, but it is simply up to the fans to decide which of these two lists (if any at all) one wishes to consider the correct one for the concert seen in the movie.
- In the 2001 PlayStation video game Goofy's Fun House, several posters of Powerline are seen hanging on the walls of Max's bedroom inside Goofy's titular house.
- In the 2017 DuckTales animated series, a Powerline CD case featuring him on the cover is seen in the Season 2 episode "Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!".[7] Dewey Duck and Della Duck even sing a part of "Stand Out" together in the same episode. Later, in the Season 3 episode, "Quack Pack!", Goofy shows Donald a picture of Max dressed as Powerline for Halloween, although Max's costume is red instead of yellow.[8]
- In collaboration with Disney Fine Art, artist Claire Hummel created a recreation of the Goofy family map used on Max and Goofy's road trip,[9] and a variation that included Powerline's autograph dedicated to Max.[10] Both were sold by Cyclops Print Works and were on display at Gallery Nucleus. Claire is the daughter[11] of Rob Hummel,[12] who worked on A Goofy Movie in animation technology.[13]
Gallery[]
.png "FunkoPOP-1340-Powerline-(2023-WondrousCon-And-FunkoShop-Exclusive).png (1.5 MB)")
.png "FunkoPOP-1340-Powerline-DiamondCollection-(2023-WondrousCon-And-FunkoShop-Exclusive).png (2.1 MB)")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 A Goofy Movie Oral History of the Powerline Concert and "I2I" – /Flim
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Goofy & Max", the French title of A Goofy Movie
- ↑ A play on the phrase "Je T'Aime", which is French for "I Love You"
- ↑ The list of stops for the Stand Out Tour '94/Stand Out World Tour '95, as given by T-shirts sold by Target, Hot Topic, and Amazon: Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Beijing, China; Kanpur, India; Tel Aviv, Israel; Cairo, Egypt; Moscow, Russia; Düsseldorf, Germany; Johannesburg, South Africa; Naples, Italy; Paris, France; London, England; Dublin, Ireland; Toronto, Canada; New York, USA; Chicago, USA; Los Angeles, USA; and Mexico City, Mexico.
- ↑ During the truck stop diner scene of A Goofy Movie, there is a calendar visible on the back wall with June given as the current month.
- ↑ Alternate list of Stand Out Tour 1995 stops, as provided by a BoxLunch exclusive T-shirt: New York, USA; Chicago, USA; San Francisco, USA; Los Angeles, USA; Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; Beijing, China; Seoul, Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; Moscow, Russia, Paris, France; London, England; Vancouver, Canada; Toronto, Canada; and Montréal, Canada.
- ↑ File:Screen Shot 2019-05-26 at 11.30.23 AM.png
- ↑ File:Max Goof DT 1.jpg
- ↑ https://cyclopsprintworks.com/products/this-map-belongs-to-all-goofeys-by-claire-hummel
- ↑ https://cyclopsprintworks.com/products/goofy-map-variant-edition-by-claire-hummel
- ↑ https://twitter.com/hummeline/status/1247592469564276736
- ↑ https://twitter.com/hummeline/status/1249874991325167616
- ↑ https://twitter.com/shoomlah/status/1247677628682661888
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