‘Goonies’ treasure map, 40 years later, leads to New Jersey

In every child, said Mark Twain, there is “a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.”

And that — in so many words — is what director Richard Donner, producer-writer Steven Spielberg and writer Chris Columbus were also saying in their 1985 cult movie ‘The Goonies,’ which celebrated its 40th anniversary June 7.

And that is what Bergen County’s Kerri Green — one of two stars of the movie with New Jersey connections — would like to say, now. But she fears it may no longer be the case.

“Kids used to hang out with each other,” she said. “People who are our age, who grew up with the movie, always tell me, ‘We used to play The Goonies. We used to go around the neighborhood looking for treasure.’ ”

But in this sedentary age of iPhones and Nintendo, the very idea of kids having adventures with other kids seems almost quaint.

“Kids don’t hang out together on the weekends,” said Joe Pantoliano, the other ‘Goonies’ veteran with Jersey ties. “They’re all in their own separate rooms, texting to each other.”

Getting into mischief

Maybe that’s one reason why there’s such affection for ‘The Goonies’ — about a gang of misfit kids who live in the unfashionable “Goon Docks” of Astoria, Oregon.

In pure Tom Sawyer fashion, they discover an old treasure map that may lead them to the hoard of 17th century pirate “One-Eyed Willy.”

What Green, Josh Brolin, Sean Astin, Ke Huy Quan, Corey Feldman, and Jeff Cohen — child actors who in many cases grew into big adult stars — don’t count on is the diabolical and redundantly-named Fratelli Brothers, hot on their trail.

“They don’t make movies like that anymore,” said Pantoliano (‘The Sopranos,’ ‘Risky Business,’ ‘The Matrix’) who played Francis Fratelli, one of a trio of gangsters (Robert Davi and football star John Matuszak were the other two) under the thumb of their “Ma Barker”-like mother, played by Anne Ramsey.

It’s one of the roles that turned Pantoliano, who grew up in Hoboken and Cliffside Park, into a Hollywood star.

“Who knew that people would still be talking about this movie and seeing this movie?” Pantoliano said. “It’s affected a generation of kids.”

And ‘The Goonies’ was an equally big deal for Green, who was born in Fort Lee, grew up in Woodcliff Lake, and was still attending Pascack Hills High School when the movie was shot.

She played Andrea Theresa “Andy” Carmichael, the cheerleader who is the love interest of Josh Brolin — or is it the other way around?

“In the 80s, it was the boy’s story — and then there was always The Girl,” said Green.

Close to home

But she, like many ‘Goonies’ fans, treasures the film’s depiction of an active, engaged childhood. A childhood where kids get out of the house, explore, have adventures. A childhood very much like her own, in Woodcliff Lake.

“In the ’80s, I remember our neighborhood was still under construction,” she said. “We were exploring, we were climbing into the foundations of things that would now be fenced off. We could get into trouble like kids of today can’t.

“It’s not 100 percent their fault — like they’re lazy, they just stay in their rooms. Everything is so monitored and locked up, with cameras everywhere. I do think ‘The Goonies’ is a throwback to a time when there was a freedom to explore. People long for that.”

The other thing that is striking about ‘The Goonies,’ now, is the old-school spectacle.

No CGI in this $19 million blockbuster. Such things, in 1985, were barely a gleam in James Cameron’s eye. What you saw was what you got. Not least the fabulous pirate ship, meticulously recreated from a 1935 Errol Flynn swashbuckler by set designer J. Michael Riva.

“All the sets, all the interior, all the tunnels (were real),” Pantoliano said. “The pirate ship, I believe, was the original blueprint from ‘Captain Blood.’ Mike Riva, who was the production designer and also the grandson of Marlene Dietrich, built it so the interior of the boat is actually the interior of the boat — which is unusual. They filled the stage with water. There was three feet of water, and where the gangplank was, there was a 16-foot drop. We would go swimming in it.”

Shock to the system

That pirate ship was as big a reveal to the actors as the audience, Green said.

Almost none of them had laid eyes on it until the moment when they first glimpsed it in the movie. Director Donner wanted to capture their genuine expressions of awe. He got more than he bargained for: several of the kids said, “Holy [expletive],” ruining the first take. “It really was disbelief, because it looked so real,” Green said.

The film’s influence, like its pirate ship, has been outsize.

Released in 1985 as a sort of junior-grade ‘Indiana Jones,’ the film did moderately well ($61.4 million on its initial release). But in subsequent decades it’s become a pop culture touchstone. There are ‘Goonies’ video games, and ‘Goonies’ fan events at the Oregon sites where the film was made. The hit series ‘Stranger Things‘ was frankly said to be inspired by ‘The Goonies.’

“It really has grown in people’s minds, it’s taken on a life of its own,” Green said.

It remains to this day one of Pantoliano’s favorite working experiences. Not least because he got to work, not just with the credited director, the late Richard Donner (‘Superman’), but with Steven Spielberg, who — uncredited — helmed the “second unit” that filmed much of the non-kid action.

That, in fact, was what led to the wrap party that is one of the legendary practical jokes of Hollywood.

Pranking the director

“Donner finished the first unit several days, maybe four or five days, before Steven finished the second unit,” Pantoliano recalled. “You’re talking about four months of shooting, and Donner had the kids, always. And they were a handful. So he was very excited to get away from those kids.”

That, Green recalled, is putting it mildly. “Dick Donner very, very purposely chose never to have children,” she said. “Every single day was, ‘Oh my God, when will this be over? When can I go back to my house in Maui?’ ”

It was Spielberg — apparently prompted by one of the kids, Jeff Cohen — who got the idea to throw a little surprise party for Donner, who had left days earlier. In secret, he flew the entire cast to Hawaii. Kids, adults, parents, chaperones. They managed to get Donner out of his house on some pretext. And then they took over.

“They had us kind of strewn around his living room, acting like it was no big deal,” Green remembered. “When he came in, we didn’t jump up and say ‘Surprise!’ It was like, ‘Hey, what’s up.’ And I remember him laughing so hard he was crying. It was my first film, and I thought all movies are like this.”

It was very funny. And like all the best jokes, it didn’t go on too long, Pantoliano said.

“They took the kids to another island, so they wouldn’t bug Dick any more.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect