The 1985 Steven Speilberg film The Goonies remains a favorite of ours — and if you’re reading this, of yours. Sure, Chunk’s outfit is a disgrace, but his Truffle Shuffle skills, on the other hand, remain top notch. And would wrapping an workout freak like Brand up with some flimsy exercise cables really keep him attached to a recliner? Probably not. Still, we took a lot of cues from The Goonies. Unfortunately, some of them didn’t follow the movie’s storyline. For one, when we routed through our parents’ things we found porn instead of a treasure map. And when tried to pull a switcharoo on our girlfriends in high school in the same manner Mikey did with Andy, that was shot down immediately.
We hold no grudge. In fact, we’re still fascinated by the movie and loved learning these Easter eggs and movie facts. How many escaped you — even after your 356th viewing of the film?
No. 1: Who Owns One-Eyed Willy’s Map Now?
1) Sean Astin, who played Mikey Walsh, was allowed to keep One-Eyed Willie’s treasure map from the movie. But years later, his mother cleaned out his bedroom and threw away the map without realizing its value. That’s what you get for letting mom clean out your room, fellas. Still, we hear he snagged a map of Middle Earth after Lord of the Rings wrapped. Or maybe we made that up?
2) Randell Widner was the stunt double for John Matuszak, aka Sloth. Yep, Sloth had a stunt double but not because Matuszak was in need of a profession to teach him how to play a grown man chained in a basement; instead, Widner had to shadow Matuszak around town to make sure he got back to the hotel due to his drinking, drugging, and penchant for beating the piss out of other human beings.
3) In part of the movie, Sloth is seen wearing an Oakland Raiders t-shirt; a team John Matuszak played for professionally during his football career.
4) Anne Ramsey, who played Mama Fratelli, and her husband, Logan, were considered the life of the party on set. Of course the news is shocking because Ramsay played the villain so well (and looked terrifying at all times). Still, the Ramsey duo were popular among the cast and crew that they were sent a joint birthday cake during production by Steven Spielberg with the inscription, “To the two meanest people in Hollywood” in celebration of her role.
5) The sheriff laments the tiresome tales told to him by Chunk, mentioning one story involving “little creatures that multiply when you throw water on them.” The reference was to Gremlins and a nod to the producer of both films — Steven Spielberg.
6) The opening prison escape scene was originally meant to have escaped circus apes stealing a car, but these scenes never made it into the final cut of the film, even though actors and bystanders have vivid memories of stuntmen in elaborate monkey costumes.
7) The presentation of the pirate ship to the young cast was kept under wraps until filming to capture authentic reactions, but, according to Josh Brolin (Brandon Walsh), he ruined the take with a shouted expletive caused by his shock at seeing the realistic-looking ship.
8) Astoria, Oregon, the town where The Goonies was filmed, holds an annual festival celebrating the release of the film that includes tours, scavenger hunts, and visits from cast members like Sean Astin, Jeff Cohen (Chunk), and Jonathan Ke Quan (Data).
9) Cyndi Lauper’s song, “The Goonies R Good Enough” was made into a music video running 12 minutes in length and featuring cameos by all the Goonies with the exception Kerri Green (Andy), Steven Spielberg, Captain Lou Albano, Andre the Giant, and The Bangles.
10) Harrison Ford, Peewee Herman, and Michael Jackson all visited the set. Unsurprisingly, Michael Jackson spent the most time on site mingling with cast members and the crew. Our guess: mostly the cast.
11) Robert Davi, who played Jake Fratelli, encouraged Anne Ramsey to hit him for real in the scene where her character had to slap Davi across the face, stating that she did what he asked and there was nothing fake about it.
12) Randell Widner, John Matuszak’s stunt double, was teaching some of the kids from the film martial arts when a visiting Michael Jackson saw this and became a student of Widner’s until fans discovered the fact and nearly overran Widner’s dojo.
13) Celebrities present during filming were not limited to the cast and crew, Josh Brolin’s father, James Brolin and Sean Astin’s father, John Astin were both accompanying their children while on set, staying in the Thunderbird Hotel with the rest of the production.
14) Though much loved by fans, Cyndi Lauper has stated that she thinks the inclusion of the word “Goonies” in her song, “Goonies R Good Enough” is “terrible”, “cheesy”, and she would not perform the song in concert for years in protest.
15) Some of the family members of the Goonies for the final scene on the beach are played by the children’s real family members, including Jeff Cohen’s mother.
16) The blender, in the scene where Chunk’s hand is in danger of being mangled, had rubber blades for safety, but no one would test it on their own hand to ensure it would work and keep Jeff Cohen’s hand from being injured.
17) Rumors of a sequel have swirled since the 80s with Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg, Corey Feldman, and Sean Astin fueling the fire with comments about the possibility occurring within the next few years.
18) Above is a pic of a deleted scene — the one where Mouth references an octopus. Below is a clip of that (around the five-minute mark) as well as some others that were left on the cutting room floor.
