I have to confess--I'm a Goonie fan. I love that movie. It has all the elements of every kid/adventure book I ever read when I was a kid--bad guys, geeky, outcast kids who save the day, pirates, buried treasure...

Good to know I'm not alone, LOL.

http://www.newsday.com/ap/text/entertainment/ap769.htm

What's With 'The Goonies'?

by STEFANIE FRITH Associated Press Writer

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) -- They trek up the hill on a gravel road, wide grins on their young faces. Cameras swing from their hands. They may have driven hundreds of miles or even flown in from other countries, but it was worth it.

They're seeing the Goonie house.

It's been 16 years since the Steven Spielberg-produced kid flick ''The Goonies'' was released. But teens and twentysomethings are still flocking to this quaint coastal town to see the white Victorian home with the expansive wraparound porch that played a prominent role in the adventure-comedy.

With a sequel in the works and the DVD set for release in August, locals are expecting even more Goonie gawkers.

What is it about this goofy little movie that keeps fans coming in droves?

''I think it makes people remember their childhood,'' says Erik Candiani, 30, a San Francisco resident who started a Goonies Web site in 1994.

''When I first went to the house, it felt magical, like I had been there before. I even seemed to know where it was. People want to know that it is real.''

Although ''The Goonies,'' starring Sean Astin and Josh Brolin, was one of the top 10 movies of 1985, it only made about $60 million. It had a hit song with Cyndi Lauper's ''Goonies R Good Enough,'' though, and generated two Nintendo video games.

But the movie -- about a group of friends who seek buried treasure to save their ramshackle homes from being turned into a golf course -- has inspired its own Goonies groupies. In Los Angeles last year, tickets for two midnight showings of the film sold out within minutes.

Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River about 80 miles northwest of Portland, already receives about 200 Goonie visitors every month, more during the summer, the Chamber of Commerce says.

''You can always tell the Goonies fans,'' said Gina Forsyth, the Chamber's visitor services coordinator. ''They are a certain age, they usually come in a group and they have a certain look, a certain twinkle in their eyes.''

More than 25 percent of visitors to Astoria are there for the Goonie house (not including those who never stop by for directions), the Chamber says.

The Astoria Chamber of Commerce sells a pamphlet for $1 that tells where the house and other Goonie sites are. It also lists sites from other films shot in the picturesque town, such as ''Kindergarten Cop'' and ''Free Willy.''

But Marian Olsen, a Goonies fan who lives down the street from the house, says people aren't interested in ''those other films.''

''Only 'The Goonies,''' says the 60ish Olsen, who had a Goonies mural painted on the outside of her house. ''They are really fanatics. All college kids. I invite them in and I take their pictures on the couch where Steven Spielberg sat when he came to ask if he could use my motorhome in the film.''

Richard Donner, who directed ''The Goonies,'' said he was pleased and surprised to learn that fans still come to see the Goonie house.

''It's really achieved cult status,'' he said. ''When I was working on 'Free Willy,' I drove back up to see the house. There was a lot of nostalgia. I remembered the little fence and the laundry line. I've never had so much fun working on a film as I did with 'The Goonies.'''

Donner said he picked the 19th century house because of its classic Victorian-American look and because it was isolated enough for filming. He chose the region because he wanted an East Coast-like setting that had its share of dreary weather.

The lingering cult status of ''The Goonies'' is what prompted Donner to work on a DVD edition, which will include deleted scenes and commentary with the cast.

He confirmed that two writers are working on a sequel and, depending on how it turns out, filming could start in six months to a year.

''Everybody's coming back,'' Donner said.

Jim Fuller's family owned the Goonie house for more than 30 years. He sold the place in May to a corporation he wouldn't identify, but which he insisted had no plans to tear it down to build a golf course.

From his room in the house next door (which was also used in the film), Fuller, 60, watches Goonie gawkers hike up the hill.

''People come from all over the world to see this house,'' he said with a proud smile. ''Those who live here call this Goonie Hill. And I'm the main Goonie.''

Trudy Dugan, who has rented the upstairs section of the Goonie house for four years, said she hadn't heard of ''The Goonies'' before she moved in.

''But my daughter warned me that there were going to be a lot of people stopping by,'' said Dugan, 69. ''I didn't believe her until people starting ringing my doorbell and taking pictures of my house. But my grandkids thought it was really neat that their grandmother lives in the Goonie house.''

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001

Answers

I love that movie! My son is getting to the age where he will enjoy it as well. (Thanking that I have a reason to watch it numerous times again)

Plus, I think that movie opens up their imaginations a little more, if that is possible.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001

A sequel to the Goonies???

Cool, loved that flic, glad my kids made me watch it :)

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001