Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

Director:

Vincent McEveety

Writers:

Don Tait (written by)
Gordon Buford (characters creator)

Release Date:

25 June 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Ole! It's south of the border disorder when.... [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

The adorable little VW helps its owners break up a counterfeiting ring in Mexico. |

Plot Keywords:

Language Barrier | Smart Car | Gadget Car | Fall Into Water | Panama Canal

Cast

Cloris Leachman	...	Aunt Louise
Charles Martin Smith	...	D.J.
John Vernon	...	Prindle
Stephen W. Burns	...	Pete (as Stephan W. Burns)
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
Jose Gonzales-Gonzales	...	Garage Owner (as Jose Gonzalez Gonzalez)
Ruben Moreno	...	Store Owner
Tina Menard	...	Store Owner's Wife
Jorge Moreno	...	Bus Driver

Also Known As:

Herbie dreht durch (West Germany) [de]
Herbie sbarca in Messico (Italy) [it]
Herbie vild och galen (Sweden) [sv]
Herbie, torero (Spain) [es]
La coccinelle à Mexico (France) [fr]
Riemukupla Meksikossa (Finland) [fi]
To katsaridaki paei sti Notia Ameriki (Greece) (TV title) [el]
To katsaridaki stis megales trelles tou (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

100 min | 93 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Herbie's name is mentioned only once in the film. This occurs when Pete first picks up Herbie at the beginning. The owner of the car lot tells Pete a story about Jim Douglas and says, "Herbie, he see it, he stop."

Goofs:

Continuity: During the bullfight sequence the colors of the decorations of Captain Blythe's uniform change from gold to silver and back again.

Quotes:

Aunt Louise: I am sure it's trying to tell us something!
Captain Blythe: It's a car, woman, not a Lassie!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules Against the Moon Men (#5.10)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

I Found A New Friend

Disappointing

I love Herbie - it's hard not to. However I can recognise how the four movies gradually get worse. This was the worst one. Now I'm not saying it was terrible, and I don't agree with a comment above that says "make the kids watch something else", but it was a disappointing effort.

The Love Bug is by far the best, closely followed by Herbie Rides Again. Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo is OK, but Bananas is not very good at all. If you're not a fan of Herbie movies, you won't like this.

5/10