Pete Junior facts for kids

P.J. Pete is the son of longtime Disney antagonist Pete who first appears in the 1942 short "Bellboy Donald" as Pete Junior, and was later reinvented as his modern incarnation in the 1992 animated TV series Goof Troop, in which he featured prominently along with his mother Peg and younger sister Pistol. He also appears as a supporting character in the 1995 film A Goofy Movie and its 2000 sequel An Extremely Goofy Movie. He was voiced by Clarence Nash in the original short and Rob Paulsen in all later appearances.

Background

In all his appearances, P.J. is Max Goof's best friend. Like Max, P.J ages throughout each of his appearances. P.J is shown to be nervous, insecure and often fears punishment from his very strict father Pete. His relationship with his father is consistently shown to be based on fear and control as a stark contrast to the much more loving relationship between Max and Goofy, with him often calling his father "sir." Though he is not usually the one to come up with ideas, P.J is shown to be helpful, polite, sensitive, honest and hard-working, and is usually the one to consider potential consequences. Physically he is strong and tough, capable of performing a lot of manual labor – a fact regularly exploited by his lazier father. But mentally, he’s soft and afraid because his Father treats him like he’s “under his thumb” as shown in A Goofy Movie. He has also been shown to possess a pocketknife in Goof Troop. He enjoys casual sports like bike-riding and skateboarding, and video games and watching television but his father often bullies him into activities that are much more stereotypically 'manly'.

He is drawn to look very similar to his father, though less bulky. Due to the contrast between their personalities, he also has a far more genial appearance to his face. Throughout the series and movies he becomes increasingly larger in size, although he does not actually become fatter.

P.J. is almost the complete opposite of his father behavior-wise. He often displays fear of his father, of spending time with him, and of disobeying or failing him. Pete seems to interpret this fear as respect. P.J. is eager to leave, and their father-son relationship clearly revolves around fear and control. With this thrown into even starker relief when compared to the much healthier relationship between Max and Goofy, it is speculated (though never confirmed) that Pete may be physically as well as emotionally abusive towards P.J.

Appearances

Bellboy Donald

An early version of Pete Junior appears as the main antagonist in "Bellboy Donald". Junior has a much more similar personality to Pete than the modern incarnation, and is bratty, provocative, and conniving. His appearance is different, however, as he is much smaller and has larger ears.

Goof Troop

In Goof Troop, P.J is 11 years old and lives next door to Goofy and Max. Throughout the series P.J.'s relationship with his father Pete is clearly based on fear and control, with P.J often being bullied into doing thankless chores, manipulated, insulted and punished over minor failings. It is far more frequent for P.J to be shown to fear his father than to love him, and he repeatedly displays a strong need for his father's approval despite his fear. In the first episode, P.J gloomily tells Max that he is not allowed to play with anything in his room because they are all collector's items bought by Pete. In the second, Pete forbids him to play with Max. In one episode, P.J is shown counting down the days until he can leave home. In another, Pete actually pretends he is seriously ill to manipulate P.J into doing his job just to get a day off work.

P.J. is usually seen hanging out with Max, and at one point, P.J states that Max is the only friend that he has ever had. P.J is usually talked into assisting with Max's schemes, but does prove himself to be brave whenever Max or even his father really need him. He also shows a lot more self-control than Pete, capable of understanding when a plan is going too far and when it is sensible to concede defeat.

A Goofy Movie

In A Goofy Movie, P.J is a high school-aged teenager and helps Max to try and impress Roxanne by videotaping him dance along to Powerline's new song, even though he was terrified of doing so in case his dad found out (which he did). While leaving the principal's office after they are caught he drones, "Oh man, my dad is gonna smash me like a bug." After school is let out, he later appears briefly, when Max and Goofy are in the woods, cleaning up Pete's RV with a floor-buffer. Max is shown to envy P.J as he gets to travel in Pete's luxurious RV, but P.J tells Max that he is the lucky one because everyone in town has heard that Max will be on stage with Powerline. Max reveals to P.J that it was a lie to impress Roxanne and has not told Goofy about it.

Pete and P.J meet up with Goofy & Max again when they stop off at a motel. During this time, Max confides in P.J that he has changed the map to go to L.A. Their discussion is overheard by Pete, who tells Goofy. He makes a final, very brief appearance when Max is on stage, cleaning the R.V while watching Max on TV. Even though the series Goof Troop gave all characters equal importance throughout the show, P.J. and Pete's roles were heavily overshadowed by Goofy and Max's.

An Extremely Goofy Movie

In An Extremely Goofy Movie, P.J. is a college-aged teenager. He gains more size, being almost as big as Pete and almost as tall as Goofy. P.J. is seen prominently throughout the movie, sharing a dorm with Max and Bobby, as well as being on their team for the College X Games. He, Max and Bobby travel to college in Bobby's van. When they arrive, they are followed by Bradley Uppercrust III, college X Games 'king' to a café called the Bean Scene, with an offer for Max to join, but not P.J. and Bobby. Max declines. When Tank, Bradley's right-hand-man, threatens Bobby, P.J. defends him with a biscotti, and later remarks "Moo, Moo?! Who would want to join a herd of cows?!" when he hears the name of Bradley's fraternity (Gamma Mu Mu), which is punished by Tank giving him a wedgie. His personality does not really change until he meets the Beret Girl at the disco. After speaking poetically to her (which surprises Max & Bobby) she asks him to dance. After this, he becomes a sort of beatnik, and his casual clothes change from blue T-shirt and green shorts to black turtle neck, black trousers and a beret. He and his team make it to the finals, but P.J cannot participate in the final race because Bradley straps rockets to his boots and blasts him out of the arena. His best event is shown to be bike riding. P.J. is seen at the very end of the film reading poetry to Beret Girl.

DuckTales

P.J. appears in a cameo in the 2017 DuckTales series episode "Quack Pack!", in one of Goofy's wallet photos.

Appearances in other media

Video games

He appeared in the Goof Troop video game released on the SNES gaming system. In the game, P.J. and Pete are captured by pirates, and Goofy and Max must save them. P.J. has a minor, NPC role.

Comic books

P.J.'s first comic book appearance was in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories No. 21 (June 1942), which was an adaptation of the cartoon "Bellboy Donald". He also appeared in several of the comic strips based upon the series Goof Troop, as well as the 1996 comic book adaptation of A Goofy Movie.

Merchandise

In 1991, Kellogg's had a P.J. figure as part of a set of Goof Troop 2.5" figures that could be found in packs of their cereal. Kellogg's also released Goof Troop 'squirters', that squirted water when squeezed, as part of a set that could be obtained by buying their cereal, and sending them the proof of purchase and money for shipping. In 1992, Burger King released a figure of P.J., as part of their 'Goof Troop Bowlers' set, that when pulled back, would race forward. Other merchandise made of P.J. include a 'bendem', which was part of a set that also included Max, Goofy, and Pistol. This figure represented P.J. in his A Goofy Movie incarnation.