The octopus is a large cephalopod residing in the Haystack Rock of Cannon Beach where it lurked in the waters surrounding the lost pirate ship Inferno.
Appearance[]
The octopus is a large orange octopus with eight arms full of tough suckers. It has a large imposing beak which it may or may not still be using to house a cassette player.
Involvement[]
The octopus attacked Stef and Mouth in the lagoon that the Inferno was housed by[1] and later Andy as well.[2] A quick-thinking Data swam down and planted a cassette player into the creature's mouth hoping it would distract it long enough to help his friends get away. The octopus reluctantly swallowed the device which was playing the tune of Goon Squad's "Eight Arms To Hold You". The rhythmic sounds of the music blew away the octopus as it reverberated through its body, but the music slowly seemed to calm the savage beast, distracting it long enough to allow the Goonies to escape its tentacled clutches. The New Wave beats of the song drove the octopus into a craze, as it seemingly moved to the beat of the music and swam away to the far corners of the lagoon.[2]
When The Fratellis had caught up to the Goonies in the Inferno, they forced them to walk the plank in the hopes that they would drown. As some of the Goonies walked off the plank, they feared that the octopus would return to eat them. Fortunately, Sloth's timely arrival ensured their escape from Haystack Rock.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
The octopus is a character cut from The Goonies. It was a part of the octopus deleted scene. The octopus itself was a thirty-two feet long puppet, developed by Burman Studios, the same crew that developed the makeup and prosthetics used for Sloth. This sequence was cut from the final product of The Goonies, only included in syndicated viewings of the movie on television and as a DVD extra in subsequent re-releases of the movie. [3]
A number of reasons for the octopus' removal from the film have been cited, such as technical limitations that kept the puppet from being able to break dance as was intended. An adult Sean Astin during a Q&A went into detail about the issues with the octopus puppet, and personally considered it to be too weird.[3][4]
Despite the removal of its scene from the film, Data still mentions it at the end of the movie to a group of reporters. It also appeared in a number of promotional materials, such as the Goonies Topps trading cards.
The octopus makes an appearance in other media and adaptions of The Goonies. It is present in the novelization, where it attacks Andy in addition to Stef and Mouth. In the music video for Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", the octopus attacks Lauper and binds her up. It is also being used for making sushi for the pirate crew aboard the Inferno.
The octopus is an enemy in the Commodore 64 and Famicom Goonies video games. It also appears in the LEGO Dimensions Goonies levels as a major boss and obstacle the player must fight. Instead of a cassette player, they used a boombox to distract it. While that is happening, Andy suggest that they shouldn't mention it because nobody will believe them and that it would sound ridiculous, with Brand adding that Data will still tell everyone anyway.
Trivia[]
- The octopus may have been modeled after the Giant Pacific octopus, which is known to inhabit the coastal North Pacific, where Oregon is.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ The Goonies (film) syndicated version
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Goonies (novel)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fred (2015-04-15). an Interview with Rob Burman ! (Article). Retrieved on 2019-01-22. [link expired]
- ↑ NerdNewsToday (2014-05-29). Sean Astin explains the Octopus scene from "The Goonies" (Video). Retrieved on 2019-01-22.
| 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 |
| Novel and Cut characters | Bertha • Bonzo The Great • Doug • Gas Station Attendant • Grandpa • Lenny Dole • Octopus • Sylvia Keester • Simon Simian • Simone Simian • Uncle Art • Uncle Sydney |