A new mini-documentary celebrating the film has embellished the legend of The Goonies further, this time with Mustang-driving gorillas on a rampage.
With the recent passing of the late, great Richard Donner, stories continue to emerge about the director, but this one is particularly fun. The Goonies, which Donner directed, originally featured a sequence, we kid you not, that featured gorillas that escaped from the local zoo. Gorillas in turn joyriding through the town in a Mustang (Troy’s Mustang to be exact), whilst our heroes are deep under the city streets, searching for One-Eyed Willy’s lost haul of treasure.
Reportedly, producer Steven Spielberg was particularly enamoured with the scene, far more than Donner. So when he insisted that it make it into the final cut of the movie, Donner suggested that if Spielberg was so keen on the bizarre sequence, maybe he should shoot it himself. And that’s exactly what happened.
So, whilst it didn’t make it into the eventual cut of the movie (much like the infamous giant octopus), there is footage of the Spielberg-directed joyriding gorilla sequence, using Rick Baker-designed ape suits from 1984’s Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. What’s more, if you watch the video, you can even see said footage, at around the five minute mark of the 14 minute documentary, which is well worth a watch in its entirety.
If that’s not a feel-good Friday story, we don’t know what is. Happy weekend everybody!
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