Brandon Walsh, often shortened to Brand, is the oldest and a member of the Goonies. He lives in the Goon Docks of Astoria with his parents and younger brother, Michael Walsh.
Appearance[]
Brandon is a tall and muscular teenager he is also the largest oldest and strongest of the goonies. He has short sandy brown hair and is often seen wearing a red bandana around his head like a sweatband. He wears a sleeveless gray shirt with a dark blue hoodie over it. He also wears a pair of gray sweatpants with blue shorts, and a pair of Nike Vandal Supremes. While riding a child's bike down to find the Goonies, he also wears a dark gray vest.
Involvement[]
Prior to the day the events of the movie take place, Brand has scheduled a date with his crush, Andy. He has also failed his driving test.
Brand is instructed by his mother to watch over his brother, Mikey, on the eve of the Goon Docks being foreclosed on and signed away to Mr. Perkins. He joins the Goonies up in his father's attic, where he discovers numerous leftovers from the Astoria Historical Museum. He dismisses the idea of One-Eyed Willy and his lost treasure as a bedtime story and local legend, and returns to working out in the lounge. Outwitted by the Goonies, he is bound to a sofa chair with his resistance bands, but is eventually released once his mom and Rosalita arrive home from the supermarket. He sets out to retrieve Mikey at his mother’s request and has to resort to stealing a little girl's bicycle when he discovers his bike's tires are flat thanks to Mouth.
Riding out to Ecola State Park, near Cannon Beach, he runs into Troy, Stef, and Andy; all three are riding in Troy's Ford Mustang. Amused with Brand's situation, Troy pins him to the side of his car and speeds down the road, ultimately sending him careening down a hill.
Brand makes his way to the Lighthouse Lounge and upon finding his brother and his friends inside, Brand tosses Mikey over his shoulder and carries him outside as Mama Fratelli chases them out of the restaurant. Brand doesn’t believe his brother when Mikey tells him and the other Goonies about the apparent monster that he saw chained up in the basement. They all end up hiding as the Fratelli family emerge from the building carrying something wrapped up in a black tarp. Mama Fratelli yells at her sons to just put it in the car.
The Fratelli family drive away and Brand begins to round the boys up to take them home. Mikey states that in a couple of hours, it won’t be their home anymore. Andy and Stef arrive and Brand starts flirting with Andy, which serves as a distraction for the boys to sneak back inside the abandoned restaurant. Brand follows them in, insisting that they are all going home. Outside, Andy and Stef step on a rake that has a dead animal on it and run inside the restaurant screaming. The boys, with a little help from Andy, manage to convince Brand to let them explore the basement, to which he reluctantly agrees. The group make their way downstairs and while the boys go check out the "It", Brand and Andy almost share a kiss. They are knocked back into a nearby room when the others panic at the sight of Sloth.
The Goonies start teasing Brand and Andy about the almost kiss while they start exploring the room. Brand finally has enough and tells Mikey they have to go home. Mikey argues with Brand that they have to go lower to find the treasure, but Brand remains unconvinced. However, when Chunk accidentally breaks a water cooler, Mike follows the sound of water draining down into a grate in the floor of the fireplace, which reveals a hidden, underground passage. Brand kicks his way through the false floor, revealing a cave below. During the commotion, Data discovers $50 dollar bills on a printing press and excitedly alerts everyone that they now have the money to save their homes. Brand inspects them and reveals that the bills are fake. Chunk gets upset and starts to leave, but the smell of ice cream in a walk in freezer stops him. He opens the door and discovers different flavors of ice cream, oblivious to the fact that there is a dead body with a bullet hole in the freezer. The rest of the them do notice and are stunned. When Chunk finally sees the dead body, he starts to scream. Just then, the Fratellis arrive back at the restaurant, which leaves the only way out through the secret passage. All but Chunk are able to escape. Chunk is accidentally left in the freezer with the body.
While underground, Brand and the others try to get the attention of anyone on the surface through a set of pipes on the “roof” of the tunnel. This, unfortunately, causes mass mayhem on the surface to which they quickly move on. This leads them to discovering Chester Copperpot's corpse and a new set of booby traps. Brand, then, finds a new part of the passage and a huge colony of bats that fly past them to escape. They discover a waterfall and a bunch of coins, thinking they are treasure. Stef looks at the coins to find that they are not treasure, but coins in Moss Garden Wishing Well representing other people’s wishes and dreams. She declares that they can’t take them. Mouth says some of those wishes are his and he wants them back. A coin is suddenly tossed down the well, revealing Troy on the surface. Tired, Andy and others declare that they want to go home, so they convince Troy to throw down the bucket. Brand begins to coordinate their escape, but stops due to Mike’s impassioned speech. Moved by his words, Brand and the Goonies continue their adventure. While the younger boys figure out the next step, Brand complains to Andy about Mikey and his incessant interest in exploring and pirate treasure.
During a bathroom break, Andy calls out for Brand, revealing to Stef that she wants to kiss him. Brand, still occupied, sends out Mike to check on her. Andy grabs Mike out and kisses him, not knowing that it wasn’t Brand. The Fratellis soon catch up to them, and the Goonies flee across an old ship mast. They come across an old organ made of bones and the only way to escape is for Andy to play the music on the back side of the map. The map states that if the notes aren’t played correctly, it will cause their death. She nervously starts playing as the Fratellis move in. Her second mistake nearly sends Brand falling down into a giant pit of spikes and sharp rocks. She goes on to make a mistake or two, but does successfully play the piece and the cave door is opened. The Goonies all go through and end up riding down a massive waterslide and landing in the lagoon where the Inferno has been housed for centuries.
On the ship, Brand helps Mike up and into the treasure section before joining Mike up there with the other Goonies. They discover that that the treasure is real and Brand assists in looting up all the treasure. Soon, he has to drop it all as the Fratellis arrive and round them all up. When Andy is forced to walk the plank by the Fratellis and falls overboard, Brand jumps in to her rescue, saving her from drowning. After bringing her to safety, Brand and Andy finally kiss. She comments on the lack of braces, which temporarily annoys Brand, realizing that Mike is the one with braces. They kiss again. The rest of the Goonies flee into the water, and they are rejoined by Chunk and a new friend, Sloth. Trying to find a way out through a collapsed tunnel, Brand asks for a light. Data hands him a sparkling candle, which they realize is dynamite. The tunnel is blocked yet again, and Brand attempts to clear out the way. Sloth steps in to help, and the Goonies are able to escape.
Out on Cauldron Point, Brand is reunited with his family. He kisses Andy again and then goes to see his parents. Both Mike and Brand are despondent about losing One-Eyed Willy's treasure, but are consoled by their father, Mr. Walsh. He tells them that having them back alive has made the Walsh's "the richest family in Astoria". When Mr. Perkins gloats that the Perkinses are the actually the richest family in Astoria, Brand threatens to hit him, but is stopped by his parents. Rosalita discovers the marble bag full of gemstones, however, which saves the Goon Docks from foreclosure.
Relationships[]
Brand has a rather typical "big brother" relationship with Mikey. His teasing and pushing around doesn't come without a protective aspect, and upright says that "nobody hits [his] brother except [him]".[1] He also bosses him around, whether it's due to his mother asking him to watch over him or trying to save him from certain death by the Fratellis or One-Eyed Willy's booby traps.
Andy and him have a romantic relationship of sorts, as he had plans for a date on the following Friday (that were complicated due to his failing a driving test). Over the course of the night, they share a number of near-kisses, up until he saves her from drowning and when they're all reunited with their families on Cauldron Point. At one point, Brand is slightly agitated to learn Mikey kissed Andy first, before she calms him down with a second kiss.
He and Troy do not get along whatsoever, as Troy looks down on those who live in the Goon Docks.
Behind the scenes[]
Brand is portrayed by Josh Brolin. This was Brolin's first film role.
An element dropped from Brand's character was claustrophobia, which acted up while the Goonies moved through the underground cave system. Promotional materials for the film mentioned this character trait, despite its cut from the movie.
Brand appears in the Stop 'N Snack deleted scene, where he comes to his brother's defense, preventing Troy from punching him. Brand attempts to take back the treasure map, but is out-tricked by Mouth.
Trivia[]
- Brand's weight machine at the beginning of the film was a birthday present, as displayed on a note attached to the machine.
- According to Mikey, his favorite thing in the world is his bike. It took specifically 376 jobs mowing lawns to save up for it.
- Brand has great respect for the dead, as shown when he puts Copperpot's skull back where it belongs.
- Brand’s mother gave birth to him at the age of 17.
Gallery[]
References[]
| The Goonies characters | |
|---|---|
| Goonies | Andy • Brand • Chunk • Data • Mikey • Mouth • Sloth • Stef |
| Fratellis | Francis Fratelli • Jake Fratelli • Mama Fratelli |
| Secondary | Chester Copperpot • Irene Walsh • Irving Walsh • Mr. Perkins • One-Eyed Willy • Rosalita • Troy Perkins |
| Miscellaneous | Andy's father • Andy's mother • Chunk's father • Chunk's mother • Data's father • Data's mother • Data's sister • Eydie Cohen • FBI Man • Mouth's father • Mouth's grandmother • Prison Guard • Stef's father • Stef's mother • Stef's sister • Tennis Player • Troy's friends |