The philosophy behind "Goofy and the Magic Fish"

Indiana Kenny

I visited an antique store hidden at the far end of the downtown area in my hometown. This particular antique store caught my eye because of the absence of cars in the parking lot and the rusted vintage storefront sign, hanging in the front.

Anything old and seemingly abandoned always interests me, so I walked in through the double doors and was greeted with the familiar smell of mothballs and stagnant air, peppered with dust. As I walked through the store, I examined vintage cameras, hit records on vinyl, and obsolete technology that sat snugly on frayed wooden shelves. Throughout this journey, I put on my proverbial detective hat and tried to guess the backstory of every item that caught my eye, but nothing seemed to truly captivate me enough to purchase.

Finally, as I approached the eastern edge of the store and turned toward the front exit, I saw a rusty bar cart, with a bright blue book, stained with some unknown brown liquid. Naturally, I picked it up, read it, and decided after reading the first three pages, that I had to have it. And that book was, “Goofy and the Magic Fish”.

The History of Goofy and the Magic Fish

Goofy and the Magic Fish was written by Gutenberghus Bladene at the Walt Disney Productions Company and was published in 1979 by Random House New York.

Row, row, row the plot

Goofy and the Magic Fish seems to be a retelling of the famous “Monkey Paw” tale, with a child-friendly twist. The story starts with our protagonist Goofy, enjoying a relaxing, yet ordinary day fishing and eating his catch of the day in his log cabin.

Goofy has lived his day-to-day life on perpetual repeat, and he doesn’t seem to have wished for anything more than what he has right in front of him. But one fateful day, everything changes. While Goofy’s fishing, a large effervescent rainbow fish is caught in his net. The fish pleads with him to release him back into the ocean because, “Magic Fish don’t taste very good,” to which Goofy complies, and sends the fish back into the ocean.

As a reward, the fish agrees to grant Goofy a wish, and thus the story unfolds into a winding tale of innocent wishes that lead to sour results.

After you get what you want you don’t want it

When I think of “Goofy and the Magic Fish”, I think of the song, “After you get what you want” performed by Marilyn Monroe. In the song, Marilyn sings about the fickle nature of men, and how after immediately possessing something they’ve desired, they instantly lose interest in said item. The item can be a woman’s romantic interest, a promotion, a new house, a car, or even the moon. The only thing that seems to stay consistent in a man, according to the song, is the desire for something new.

Throughout the story, the central theme of Goofy’s wishes stems from the desire for an easier life. He ascends the social and economic ladder, believing that the higher he goes the less burden and responsibility he’ll have to face. But spoiler alert—this was not the case. It seems like the higher Goofy ascends, the more he has to lose. As his wealth and influence increase, so does his need for more money and people to protect his personal interests. Eventually, the burden of all his newfound wealth and power causes him to scramble back to his old fishing boat, locate the magic fish, and wish for his original life back.

There is no ideal existence

Through this story, we witness a circle effect taking place in Goofy’s life and thinking. The repeated use of the phrase, “This is the life!” finally comes to an end as Goofy sits content, back at his original log cabin.

The state of taking a journey that always leads back to the starting point is a fairly common trope found in many novels and short stories; some of my favorites being, “Robinson Crusoe”, “The Alchemist”, “The Prodigal Son” and “The Monkey Paw”. The protagonist in all of these tales believes that the life they’re currently living is dull and devoid of any excitement or opportunities to grow. So, they take up whatever resources they can find, and go on a tumultuous journey, only to realize that they were never trapped at all. The fallacy in this thinking comes from believing life doesn’t start where you’re born, but is only found somewhere else.

But, there is no ideal existence—no proverbial promised land. No matter where we go, leave, or are headed; there will always be something new to overcome, challenges to face, and roadblocks to navigate. The only thing that remains from beginning to end is ourselves.