Episode 89 — Gooby

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Finally a kids movie that proves the age old adage that a kid’s best friend is a 7 foot tall scary ass looking Scottish bear that makes other kids piss their pants. Star of the hit TV show Nathan For You & Canada expert Nathan Fielder joins Paul, June, and Jason to discuss a movie with no plot simply known as Gooby. Why do people see Gooby as a man in a costume and others see him as a monster? How was this released in 2009? What lead to Eugene Levy being in this movie? Tune in as they discuss the possibility of Gooby secretly being a child molester and much more! Los Angeles: Get your tickets now for a LIVE HDTGM at Largo on Saturday, September 20th at 8pm over at www.largo-la.com! Make sure to check out The Hotwives of Orlando now over at www.hulu.com!

[HotSaucerman 2051]

Crap.... I just found this movie for free online.... might as well watch it before I listen to this..... [sigh]

[Gym Sockerman 1326]

Did Gooby record that Squarespace ad?

[thomaspashko 1]

I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses like this, but I have some "Corrections & Omissions"-related info in regards to Canada and how films are funded here.

 

Nathan's partially right to bring up Telefilm Canada as a funder of films and television in Canada. But Telefilm is almost never the sole funder of a project. If I'm remembering my university classes correctly, Telefilm works like this: every year, Telefilm receives a certain amount of taxpayer money from the Canadian gov't for their annual budget. Then, filmmakers who are independent from Telefilm submit applications to Telefilm, and if Telefilm thinks the project is promising, they'll award the filmmakers a grant to subsidize their budget.

 

The grants are pretty small. I know some folks working on a feature that's pretty big by Canadian standards, and they got a grant of $11,000. To give that some perspective, no one I know personally has received a grant even near that amount. Their funding is a combination of grants and an Indiegogo campaign (and I'm assuming personal investment), and the Indiegogo raised significantly more than their grant money. Basically what I'm saying is: there's no way $6,000,000 in Canadian taxpayer money was spent on Gooby.

 

Actually, I can't find any evidence online to suggest that Gooby received even a penny from Telefilm. Only way to be sure is to look for a Telefilm logo in the credits, but I'm not going to do that because I don't want to touch Gooby with a ten-foot pole. I'd love to know if anyone already has access to the movie and can check it out. There are also similar organizations that may have provided funding (Telefilm is the funding organization thru Canada's federal gov't, but each of the provinces has their own funding organization at the provincial gov't level).

 

Also, in regards to Paul's mistaken belief that Canadian artists are obligated to do work in Canada: I think you've mixed up the rules of Mandatory Canadian Content. It's a law stating that a certain percentage of a broadcaster's output must be content created in Canada or by Canadian artists. The percentage varies between broadcaster's and different mediums, but as an example, most new Canadian radio stations established since 1999 have to play a minimum of 40% Canadian music.

[thomaspashko 1]

It's also worth noting that most filmmakers who apply to Telefilm to try and get grant money are REJECTED because our Conservative gov't has cut arts funding drastically since 2006.

[mattman92ish 823]

This movie gave me nightmares what the actual fuck were they thinking whilst making it?? "this is great stuff" wow... anyway love nathan as a guest great ep!

[DavidHayman 1]

Director Wilson Coneybeare is the son of this guy

Rod Coneybeare, THE FRIENDLY GIANT.

 

Mind = Blown

 

- from a Canadian in the know.

[sarahride 83]

So Eugene Levy essentially plays the same role in Gooby that he did in Splash?

[justinmh05 1968]

I no longer respect Eugene Levy, and I hate SCTV now.

[Electric Newspaper Boy 0]

wow. still shocked that this epi actually features Gooby. several years ago my friends and i stumbled upon the trailer for Gooby and were so inspired/creeped out that we produced a short parody called CHUMMY -

 

 

 

"sometimes you just gotta let 'er rip!" - Gooby

[Leon The Leprechaun 55]

Slight corrections and admissions - Did anyone else think the scene with 'the cool kids' passing notes in class was crazy?Willey being the middle man for the notes being passed and being TERRIFIED? I mean he was scared as if he was passing drugs to the other kids. That was insane

[cmac94 191]

EDIT: I should listen to the whole ep before commenting

[Leon The Leprechaun 55]

When the gang was talking about the fucked up things Gooby would say that sounded very molest-y, I think they missed the biggest one.

 

They actually did mention that.

[cmac94 191]

They actually did mention that.

Whoops.

[Kickpuncher 5012]

"...because Gooby loves cookies, obviously."

[IronMaiden4892 10]

So Gooby is pretty much the Kim Kardashian of the stuffed bear world? Kinda scary..... unless you're looking at its ass and it isn't talking.

[RunAwayFromGooby 15]

Did watching Gooby freak you out? Imagine realizing 45 minutes in that they fucking filmed it in your hometown. The scene where Gooby and Willy go to the movies was shot in what was, for many years, the only theater in Barrie, Ontario, where I saw many of my favourite movies for the first time. The fat bully empties his bladder all over the floor where I stood countless times to buy snacks. This movie literally pissed on my childhood memories.

[Wien 401]

That song at the end is very disturbing. Its supposed to be a kids movie about a magical kids toy turned into a kids pal.... but he's singing like an old fashioned, croonery lounge song with this husky old man tone. Since when do kids like that? I think the real backstory to this is that some unsuccessful, poor, perverted lounge crooner from the 50s died via auto-erotic asphyxiation while cranking it to some kids show and his spirit was then transported into the body of a teddybear 60 years later.

[DEATHMAN 3317]

Weird sudden ending and double plugs on this one, but good episode and good movie (to do for this show, not actually a good movie)

[cmac94 191]

The biggest thing that bothered me about this movie is that it seems to set up that Gooby and Willy will have to fight some Hoonies(?) in some way and by defeating them Willy won't feel so in danger from his imagination anymore. Instead we see a Hoony(??) once and then never again. You could argue that after the movie ends and Gooby goes off to live with the young girl, Willy could go right back to being tormented by his imagination.

[HotSaucerman 2051]

Yeahhhh.... its time for HDTGM to get back to insane big-budget action flicks and stop messing around with these low-budget B movies that are so obviously garbage.

[walterwoodsiv 215]

You can write a totally accurate logline that makes it sound like a horror movie.

 

"Following his family moving to a new house, a troubled child with a history of hallucinations is haunted by a seven foot tall stuffed bear (Robbie Coltrane). 'Gooby' slowly starts to unravel the lives of this broken family, bringing back emotional baggage long since forgotten."

 

Feel free to amend and add on.

[denimgremlin 1179]

[JenniferSohns 3]

I didn't watch Gooby before listening to this, but the description of Eugene Levy's character kept reminding me of Splash. Did anyone else get this?

[verbz 80]

How is no one talking about the soundtrack? The soundtrack is built for a romantic comedy. The music seems to imply that Willy & Gooby are falling in love. Several long scenes of them walking or playing together (and touching...a lot) backed with sappy songs about "getting a little bit closer" & "we're meant to be" & "all the love in the world when I am with you". It's all so out of place and upsetting.