By Kayla DeKraker
Is the sports movie out this week destined to be the Greatest Of All Time?
Fittingly titled GOAT, the movie tells the story of an animal world and a young goat named Will who wants to be a pro athlete.
“In 2018, the general idea is that Kristine [Belson, president, Sony Pictures Animation] said she wanted an underdog sports movie about animals in all-animal world,” director Tyree Dillihay said at a recent press conference for the movie, discussing its inspiration. “What if this all-animal world played a sport like NBA basketball, which called it ‘Roarball,’ and it’s where the fastest, fiercest, most ferocious alpha animals on the planet compete on these crazy biomes, on two feet, on all four.”
Co-director Adam Rosette chimed in, “How do we make the story universal? It should be about something more than just winning. If it’s just winning, it’s just another sports movie. So for us, we were like, what’s the relatability? How do you get into it?”
He added, “We want to do something a little different than how they normally do it in an animated film.”
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Dillihay explained that the movie also takes a special look at what happens to pro-athletes as they grow older and the emotional toll they might feel.
“It’s kind of hard for an athlete to grow old gracefully in the age of social media,” he said. “And Jett is a prime example of that. Will caught a golden opportunity. That’s our inciting incident…but when it comes to Jett, the deeper story there is athletic mortality and being able to control your own narrative and be able to bow out gracefully on your own terms. That’s the bigger, deeper, emotional story there. The other part of it is just fun.”
The directors also shared how honoring moms was a theme they wanted to focus on.
Dillihay said, “You go through many iterations, but to finally land on something that felt really emotionally resonant — something that moms themselves are really pointed out in our focus testing to really affirm that decision.”
Rosette echoed, “I think you’re gonna find out that Tyree and I are a couple of mama’s boys right now, because…that stuff, it means the world to us. You know, I think on a personal level, my mom was an artist who gave up her dream when we were kids to help us get through life, and she became a teacher. And I’ll put food on the table, clothes on our backs, all that stuff.”
He called this movie is his “love letter to her.”
He added, “Those things in the movie had a kind of extra special meaning to me where it’s like, he wants to win for [her] more than himself.”
Part of Movieguide®’s review of GOAT reads, “GOAT conveys a strong Biblical/moral worldview throughout the whole story. Will is hopeful and believes in his dreams, not being concerned with his height but more with his character and abilities. Will perseveres through every trial he faces, lifting those around him as well as standing up for what’s right.”
The movie features a star-studded cast, including basketball played Steph Curry, who is excited to introduce his children to the movie.
“Both of them are super high energy, super charismatic personalities, and I feel like they’re going to immerse themselves into that world pretty immediately,” Curry told USA Today of his daughter Ryan, 10, and son Canon, 7. “And they’re not shy to let people know how they feel. They’re going to be the ones in the theater that people might be telling them to quiet down because they’ll be talking and laughing and singing and dancing and all that. I can’t wait to watch it with them.”
GOAT debuts in theaters this Friday, Feb. 13.
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