Josh Gad Reunites ‘The Goonies’ Cast On New YouTube Show

The Goonies are back. For the first time ever — on a Zoom call — fans of the famous ’80s kids adventure movie got to see their favorite stars reunite remotely. And Josh Gad is the person they can thank for it.

Monday’s The Goonies reunion also marks the premiere of Gad’s newest web series, Reunited Apart, an online show that brings together the cast and creative team of beloved movies — from a distance — “either for health concerns or because they simply don’t want to be near each other.”

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As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Gad explained in his promotional video on Instagram why he specifically decided to kick off his new series with The Goonies — or, as he referred to it, “The Godfather of its generation.”

“There is one movie that defines my childhood. One movie that defines my personality. One movie that defines me.”

In the first episode’s introduction, Gad related that he hoped his show — especially the sight of beloved film characters — would bring comfort and happiness to quarantining viewers during the current coronavirus pandemic.

However, Reunited Apart is not purely for entertainment purposes, as Gad is also using it to raise money for charity. He explained that for each episode, he would recognize a different charity and request donations for those organizations that are helping those who have been affected by the coronavirus. This week, he is raising money for The Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

Sean Astin was the first one on the call. Before calling in the other cast and crew members, Astin first reenacted his character Mikey’s popular “Troy’s Bucket” monologue from the film, much to Gad’s delight. Astin likewise requested that Gad do an impression of his famous Frozen character, Olaf, to please his kids.

The rest of the cast was called in, including Corey Feldman (Mouth), Jeff Cohen (Chunk), Martha Plimpton (Stef), Jonathan Ke Quan (Data), Kerri Green (Andy), Josh Brolin (Brand), Robert Davi (Jake Fratelli), and Joe Pantoliano (Francis Fratelli).

Also on the call was screenplay writer Chris Colombo and executive producer Steven Spielberg. Even director Richard Donner, who just celebrated his 90th birthday, joined the virtual reunion. Cyndi Lauper, who performed the movie’s theme song, “The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough,” appeared toward the end.

The cast and crew swapping stories about their time making the film set up the highlight of The Goonies‘ virtual reunion show — Jeff Cohen’s reenactment of his character Chunk’s hilarious confession monologue.

Viewers were delighted, as they expressed in the comments section of Gad’s YouTube post of the reunion.

“I smiled the whole time. I’m still smiling. I don’t think I’ll stop all day. Thank you Josh for this epic event,” said one video commenter.