Herbie Goes Bananas

Director Vincent McEveety’s 1980 film, “Herbie Goes Bananas!” is the fourth and final film of Walt Disney Productions’ original Volkswagen Beetle Herbie story that began with “The Love Bug.”

Cloris Leachman plays Aunt Louise, who sponsors Volkswagen Beetle Herbie in the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, on the boat to South America, evil Captain Blythe, played by Harvey Korman, throws the car into the ocean. Derek Winnert asked in his review, “Didn’t he know that they are air tight and will float?”

Disney got rid of Dean Jones as Jim Douglas and now has Stephen W Burns as Pete Stancheck, who has received the living Herbie from his Uncle Jim, with Charles Martin Smith playing his friend Davy Jones.

Winnert noted, “Don Tait’s script may not be air tight, but Herbie Goes Bananas! is an amiable enough comedy, and the comedy stars seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.”

The main cast includes Charles Martin Smith, Stephen W Burns, Cloris Leachman, John Vernon, Elyssa Savalos, Harvey Korman, Richard Jaeckel, Alex Rocco, Fritz Feld, Joaquin Garay III, Vito Scotti, Iris Adrian, Alma Beltran, Steve Boyum, Buddy Joe Hooker, Jorge Moreno, Ruben Moreno, Ray Victor, Patricia Van Patten, Hector Morales, Alex Tinne, Antonio Trevino, and Allan Hunt.

One funny line from the movie is when Aunt Louise says, “I think it’s trying to tell us something!” Captain Blythe replies, “It’s a car, woman, not Lassie!” Side note: Leachman played Ruth Martin in 28 episodes in the “Lassie” show.

Winnert noted, “Herbie was the first car to press its tyre-tracks in the concrete at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.”

Overall, this film is not as good, but I don’t think this is really bad. It’s just underwhelming. There are some crazy stuff in here, but overall, I don’t think it will really get people that furious at it. I don’t recommend seeing it, as this is one of the lesser films in the franchise.

Tomorrow we will look at the made-for-television sequel in “Disney Month 2023.”