Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

Herbie Goes Bananas is pure, sunlit family escapism: a cheerful, fast-moving Herbie adventure that trades big emotions and big stunts like a cruise-ship romp, a splashy misadventure at sea, and a wonderfully loopy run-in that turns danger into slapstick. Vincent McEveety keeps the tone light on its feet—more postcard-bright caper than high-stakes thriller—while Cloris Leachman breezes in with gloriously eccentric energy that makes every scene feel a little more alive. The movie’s real charm, though, is how it pairs Herbie with a scrappy kid sidekick, letting the comedy come from teamwork, mischief, and that familiar Disney sense that the world is friendlier than it looks. If you want grounded realism, this isn’t it, but if you’re on the fence about a breezy, inventive, G-rated adventure that knows exactly how to be fun, it’s an easy yes.

Herbie Goes Bananas is clearly aiming for breezy, kid-first slapstick and globe-trotting mischief, with Herbie causing chaos on a cruise ship and stumbling into a light “bad guys” adventure. The problem is it feels like a franchise running on autopilot: the plot is thin, the jokes can be juvenile, and some broad stereotypes and cartoonish villains make it play more like noisy filler than a clever family comedy. If you’re expecting tight racing thrills, sharp humor, or the charm of the earlier Herbie movies, this may test your patience. Still, if you’ve got very young kids, a soft spot for goofy ‘80s Disney energy, and you just want a harmless talking-car romp, it delivers that in small, cheerful doses.