I don’t know about you, but Goonies played an essential role in my own coming-of-age story in the 80s. My friends and I spent countless hours in the orchard near our house, making treasure maps, booby traps, and finding our first romances. Adventure, independence, resourcefulness, persistence, friendship, humor—this movie had it all. I still, to this day, quote Goonies on a regular basis.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the cult classic, and the celebration begins in just a few days. From June 4-7 in Astoria, OR (where the movie was filmed), there will be a Goonies party of epic proportion! You can join other fans in touring iconic Goonies locations, attending quote-along film screenings and a geocaching scavenger hunt, sailing in a tall ship, checking out a complete Lego diorama display of important scenes from the film, sitting in on special appearances, and more!
If you are a Goonie near Astoria, this is an event you don’t want to miss! If you are not, have your own celebration! While I can’t make the event in Astoria, I plan on holding a “Goonies Hack” with many of the ideas below. I advise to do as many of these as possible with your closest friends, because that is the true power of the Goonies:
- Screen the film at home and serve Italian food, rocky road ice cream, and Baby Ruth candy bars.
- Make your own authentic, aged pirate treasure map. There’s a good tutorial here and here.
- Build a Rube Goldberg machine à la Mikey’s front gate.
- Have a Truffle Shuffle dance-off.
- Hack one of Data’s awesome gadgets.
- Make Chunk’s fake vomit.
- Go geocaching or design a scavenger hunt.
- Get your own adorable Chunk and Sloth plushies (featured in the photo above) and contribute to the Kickstarter campaign to add Data and One-Eyed Willy!
- Find and sail on a tall ship.
- Learn to sing a famous Fratelli opera song:
- “Una furtiva lagrima” (One tear that falls so furtively) from L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848) (In the basement while feeding Sloth)
- “Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia” (Child with your eyes full of enchantment) from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924) (In the ORV, as he finds Chunk on the road)
- Visit or construct a wishing well and make a wish.
Never say die!
