Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

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

Director:

Vincent McEveety

Writers:

Don Tait, Gordon Buford (characters creator)

Stars:

Cloris Leachman, Charles Martin Smith, John Vernon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Pete Stancheck inherits from his Uncle Jim Douglas a race car being stored in Puerto Vallarta. With his friend Davy Johns (D.J. to his friends) accompanying him to P.V., Pete is dismayed to learn that the car is an older model Volkswagen Beetle. But when Pete and D.J. see what the car can do and learn that it somewhat has a mind of its own, they decide to enter it into the Brazil Grand Primeo formula one race. En route to Rio de Janeiro, Herbie, the car, gets Pete and D.J. into one predicament after another as it tries to help its new friend, a streetwise orphan named Paco, who Pete and D.J. encountered in P.V. and who stowed away in Herbie's trunk. Because of these predicaments, Pete and D.J. end up requiring a quick influx of cash and slyly enlist the help of wealthy Louise Trent and her bookish niece, anthropology doctoral candidate Melissa, to be their financiers. Pete's role in the scheme is to woo the shy Melissa, about which he feels guilty. But initially unknown to all of them...

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Plot Keywords:

car | cruise ship | brazil | sea | fourth part | 

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Taglines:

The Road To Rio Has Never Been Bumpier! [Australia Video]

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Genres:

Family | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

25 June 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

A kicsi kocsi legújabb kalandjai

Filming Locations:

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 93 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last screen appearance of Iris Adrian.

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Goofs

Captain Blythe says he is wearing a replica of the uniform Lord Nelson wore when he defeated the Spanish Armada. Although the Battle of Trafalgar Bay (1805) is chiefly remembered as a battle between the British and the French, the Spanish fleet was also involved. The combined French-Spanish fleet took a severe beating from the British Navy (which had very few casualties, though Nelson himself was mortally wounded by a French sniper), so technically Nelson did defeat a Spanish Armada.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Follows Herbie Rides Again (1974)

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Soundtracks

"I Found a New Friend"
by Frank De Vol

User Reviews

What the heck happened?

I was disappointed when I rented this - the only reason I bought it was partly for loyalty, partly to see if I missed something, if it was any better than I thought...No, in case you're wondering; it was just as lacking the 2nd time I saw it; now I'm just waiting to give it away. A lot of things were left out of this movie that made the 1st 3 so enjoyable, not just Dean Jones. I was a little surprised that he wasn't around, since his character makes a mega-comeback in Monte Carlo, but if he was in this film it'd be a black mark on his record. Jim Douglas has retired, & leaves Herbie to his nephew Pete. He & his friend Davey doubt it'll win a race, so just plan to return home w/it. When they see how fast it can go, they change their minds & decide to race in Mexico

• but get delayed 50 times. Paco, a native pickpocket who swipes their

& a smuggler's wallets, is invited by Herbie to hide in the trunk. He's taken along on the ship that'll get them all to the race - but is caught. The stupid pirate-obsessed captain accuses Pete & Davy of kidnapping, & when Herbie tries to rescue Paco, he orders Herbie to be thrown overboard. After landing and escaping once more, Paco finds Herbie - & runs into the smugglers, who inform him that the wallet he returned is empty. Now he steals "Pete's" wallet which really belongs to the thieves, & is forced to escape both by fleeing w/Herbie, the captain, & a few women Pete & Davey "befriend" on the boat, to stop the smugglers from stealing goods. The bull-fight they get into along the way's a highlight in the movie - partly because there's not much else to look forward to. Herbie's name was never used; the only name he gets is "ocho" from Paco. He can't swim - it's pretty clear he's lost that ability over time; in Love Bug he skates right over water, in Rides Again he sinks before floating like a human, here he drops like a rock & barely survives. The men pretend to like the women they meet on the ship, but it's just to get support in the race, & there's no sign that they've been forgiven. Nobody except Paco & Louise (1 of the women), had no idea until near the end that they were dealing w/a car that had brains or power. It isn't proved by a race either - for all the trouble they go through to enter him in a race, it isn't shown. I don't understand why he helps Paco the thief, even if he is loving. The title confuses me - it's a reference to Herbie's being covered w/bananas as a disguise, but that was 5 minutes at the most. He was also "dressed" as a taxi w/signs all over - but that didn't amuse me. The only thing that could've made this more disloyal to the series was if they'd excluded the car Herbie. I was so bored w/this I forgot the plot & characters. A good example of a bad sequel.