Herbie Goes Bananas
| Herbie Goes Bananas | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Vincent McEveety |
| Produced by | Kevin Corcoran Ron Miller Don Tait |
| Written by | Gordon Buford Don Tait |
| Starring | Cloris Leachman Harvey Korman Charles Martin Smith Stephen W. Burns John Vernon Elyssa Davalos Joaquin Garay, III Richard Jaeckel Alex Rocco |
| Music by | Frank De Vol |
| Cinematography | Frank V. Phillips |
| Editing by | Gordon D. Brenner |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution Co. Inc. (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) |
| Release date(s) | June 25, 1980 |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $18,000,000 (USA) |
Herbie Goes Bananas is the fourth of a series of films made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie – the white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own. The film stars former Mel Brooks collaborators Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman.
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[edit] Plot
Loosely picking up where Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo left off, protagonist Pete Stancheck (Stephen W. Burns) has inherited Herbie from Jim Douglas, and travels to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) with his friend Davy "D.J." Johns (Charles Martin Smith) to retrieve the car. There, they befriend Paco (Joaquin Garay, III), a comically mischievous, orphaned pickpocket.
Pete and D.J. board a cruise ship to Rio de Janeiro to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Primeo, while Paco follows hidden in Herbie's cargo compartment. En route they meet an anthropology student named Melissa (Elyssa Davalos) and her extravagant, eccentric aunt Louise (Cloris Leachman), who is trying to find a husband for her niece. When Herbie wreaks havoc on board, Pete pretends to court Melissa, intending that her Aunt Louise will sponsor their race.
Meanwhile, Herbie helps Paco, who has dubbed the car 'Ocho' ('eight' in Spanish, Paco having added the individual numerals in Herbie's number 53; also a pun on the Mexican nickname "vocho" or "bocho".), escape captivity. When the ship's captain Blythe (Harvey Korman) has his costume party wrecked by the boy and car, he puts Herbie on trial and sentences him to be dropped in the sea, whence he is rescued by Paco and disguised as a taxi.
Thereafter follow two villains (John Vernon and Alex Rocco) seeking to capture an antique gold disc, and to seize Paco and retrieve some film kept in their wallets; Herbie's matador part in a bullfight; romance between Aunt Louise and Captain Blythe; and bananas initially used to conceal Herbie among farm vehicles traveling to market and later used by Herbie and Paco to stop the villains escaping justice. Ultimately, the villains are captured, and the protagonists re-unite in a house to celebrate.
[edit] Cast
- Cloris Leachman .... Aunt Louise Trends
- Charles Martin Smith .... Davy "D.J." Johns
- John Vernon .... Prindle
- Stephen W. Burns .... Pete Stancheck
- Elyssa Davalos .... Melissa
- Joaquin Garay, III .... Paco
- Harvey Korman .... Captain Blythe
- Richard Jaeckel .... Shepard
- Alex Rocco .... Quinn
- Fritz Feld .... Chief Steward
- Vito Scotti .... Armando Moccia
- José González González .... Garage owner
- Ruben Moreno .... Store owner
- Tina Menard .... Store owner's wife
- Jorge Moreno .... Bus driver
- Allan Hunt, Tom Scott[disambiguation needed
] .... Canal operators - Hector Morales .... Mexican General
- Iris Adrian .... Loud American wife
- Ceil Cabot .... Mrs. Purkiss
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- Patricia Van Patten .... Cigarette guest
- Jack Perkins .... Loud American
- Henry Slate .... Off-watch officer
- Ernie Fuentos .... Native
- Antonio Trevino .... Pigeon owner
- Dante D'Andre .... Dr. De Moraes
- Alma Beltan .... General's wife
- Dolores Aguirre, Aurora Coria .... General's daughters
- Alex Tinne, Don Diamond .... Locals
- Warde Donovan .... Maitre d'
- Ray Victor .... Guard attendant
- Bert Santos .... Policeman #3
- Buddy Joe Hooker .... Chef
- Steve Boyum .... Panama policeman
- Kenny Endoso .... Mexican policeman
- Mario Cisneros .... Puerto Vallarta policeman
- Jeff Ramsey .... The matador
- John C. Meier .... Ship's officer
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[edit] Reception
Herbie Goes Bananas was the most poorly received film in the Herbie franchise since its inception in 1969 with The Love Bug. Most film critics remarked that the series had run its course, with Leonard Maltin commenting that there was "one amusing scene where the VW turns matador; otherwise, strictly scrap metal." Maltin (who rated the film *½ out of ****) added that the plot dealt with its cast "encountering all sorts of 'hilarious' obstacles along the way."[1] Phil Patton, author of the book Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile, observed that the Herbie franchise was "a game of diminishing returns: Herbie Goes Bananas...is filled with "south of the border" clichés and stereotypes."[2]
[edit] Cars
- The prop Herbie thrown into the sea was never retrieved. A total of 26 VW Beetles were used, by reason of the quantity of stunts and tricks.
[edit] External links
- Herbie Goes Bananas at the Internet Movie Database
- Herbie Goes Bananas at AllRovi
- Herbie Goes Bananas at Rotten Tomatoes
- Herbie Goes Bananas at Box Office Mojo
[edit] References
- ^ Martin, Leonard (2006). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. Signet Books. pp. 563. ISBN 0-451-21265-7.
- ^ Patton, Phil (2002). Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile. Simon & Shuster. pp. 110–111. ISBN 0-7432-0242-2.
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