I’d argue that ‘Dream Goat!’ is one of the best segments of the series so far. While the story doesn’t do anything groundbreaking or anything like that, it‘s a little more of a nuanced take on the usual Aesop’s fable about guilt than we’d usually get.
The main reason for that is Timmy himself. His decision to set the town mascot Chompy free isn’t done out of pettiness or selfishness, but because he’s aware of how miserable the goat is being stuck in a cage all the time. He makes his wish out of the kindness of his heart, which makes it easy for us to root for him. The story that results from this is a pretty telling one about the kind of character he is.
Through a misunderstanding, Vicky gets blamed for Chompy going free and is sent to jail for it. The segment starts off with her bullying Timmy as per usual, so even if this is your first one, you’d naturally want to see her get her comeuppance in some way. Yet while seeing her get punished for something is cathartic on the base level, she is still being punished over something she didn’t even do. It’s more bittersweet than you would expect, and I appreciate it for having that kind of nuance here.
Timmy is portrayed as considering telling the truth pretty much from the start, partially thanks to Wanda’s conscious wisdom, but the segment keeps in mind that he’s still a kid, and so once he starts getting all this praise and cool stuff, he gladly takes it. You can tell that there’s a much more rational part of him that needs to be nurtured so it can properly flourish, but his childlike instincts tend to take over, successfully portraying him as a pretty complex protagonist for a story as simple on paper as this.
Once his “dream wishing” comes into play, that’s when things take off, I’d say. Timmy’s guilt over letting Vicky take the fall begins to take over, and not only is it affecting him because he resolves to stop sleeping because of it, but it’s affecting everyone else. It’s a perfect and hilarious visual metaphor for his guilt, showing that it affects everyone involved and not just him. The fact that it’s done with humorous imagery is icing on the cake.
When he finally does tell the truth, he doesn’t get off scot-free; he did still lie about what happened, so of course he‘d be grounded. I love that the segment acknowledges that simply apologizing isn’t going to absolve you of any punishment. You still have to be disciplined in some way to learn your lesson.
You know what, I think I just talked myself into loving this segment even more. It’s one of the best stories in the show so far, and it still contains the humor that the series is known for, making for a very funny time coupled with a great character study.
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