| “ | Hey you guys! | ” |
–Sloth | ||
Sloth is a member of the Fratelli family.
Appearance
Sloth is very tall and muscular
Involvement
Sloth is first seen chained in a room, being tortured by Jake's terrible singing. Left with food just out of reach, a spying Mikey pushes the dish closer, allowing him to grab his meal.
After Chunk is caught and interrogated by the Fratellis, he is tied up and locked away in the same room as Sloth. Chunk sheepishly tries to introduce himself to Sloth, but gets scared from his appearance and screams out for help. Eventually, Chunk continues to attempt to befriend him over their love of food; he pulls out a Baby Ruth bar and throws it his way, which smacks him in the head. Desperate to eat the chocolate bar, Sloth rips his chains off of the wall and shares the Baby Ruth with Chunk. Having made a friend, Sloth starts to eat the ice cream in the basement freezer while Chunk calls the Sheriff. Interested in his echo in the hidden passageway in the fireplace, he begins to climb down.
Sloth and Chunk make their way through the secret cave system, notably stopping by the underground plumbing for the Astoria Country Club. Sloth attempts to fix the plumbing, but causes more mayhem on the surface.
Eventually, they reach the Inferno and take to the ship's masts. Sloth swings down on a rope and saves Stef and Mouth from being pushed overboard, and then begins to fight with his brothers. They attempt to catch him between another rope, but he overpowers and subdues them. His mother attempts to calm him down by singing a lullaby, but it only reminds him of his treatment; he picks up his mother and tosses her overboard before diving off himself.
Down in the lagoon, he meets the rest of the Goonies; when they find a way out via collapsed tunnel, he sacrifices himself, lifting a boulder in the way while the cavern begins to collapse on itself. He manages to escape with his family, however. The police attempt to arrest him, but the Goonies defend him, and he is left alone after a quick show of strength. With his brothers and mother behind bars, Chunk takes it upon himself to have Sloth adopted into his family, with the intent of taking care of him and providing the loving home he deserves.
Behind the scenes
Sloth is portrayed by football star John Matuszak.
The character's face was molded with a combination of prosthetics, makeup, and animatronics. Fifteen pieces of facial prosthetics were worn by Matuszak.[1] The lower eye was a mechanical eye that blinked via radio control, as were the ears; all together, it took four hours of makeup to sculpt Sloth's face.[1] Various versions of his makeup and prosthetics were created and used during production. An early variant was more "smooth and cartoonish", and ultimately not used in the film.[2] It can, however, still be seen in some promotional material, including a number of the Goonies Topps trading cards.
Early versions of The Goonies saw Sloth spitting and burping up gemstones at the end of the movie, as the way that the Goon Docks are saved from destruction.
An extended version of the sheriff phone call scene was filmed, and had Sloth eating an entire T-bone steak[1]; this was cut from the film. Additional scenes were removed from the final cut, including Sloth and Chunk discovering the path the Goonies left and a final scene with everyone celebrating at the Walsh residence. The latter one shows that Sloth was indeed adopted by the Cohen family[1]; footage for it has never been released.
Trivia
- Sloth's real name is Lotney Fratelli; this is never mentioned in the film.
- Sloth's favorite superhero is Superman; this is a reference to Richard Donner's previous films, Superman and Superman II. When he rips off his shirt, a short motif from John Williams' Superman score plays.
- Sloth is also a fan of old pirate movies, such as ones starring Errol Flynn.
- His Raiders shirt is a reference to the NFL team Matuszak was signed to at the time.
- His quote "Hey You Guys!" is originally a catchphrase from the 1970s television children's series The Electric Company.
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 |