The Brother Adventure

May 22, 1987

***The Brother Adventure*** is a 1987 animated film (released in 1987 on VHS, in 2006 and 2008 on DVD, and in 2014 on DVD/Blu Ray) featuring the characters from NBC's Saturday morning cartoon *Danny and the Brothers*. This marked the first appearance of The Brothers in a feature film since their 1961 debut. *The Brother Adventure* was directed by Ron Clements (one of the very few times a man had done so for an animated feature) and features the voices of James Arnold Taylor, Michael Huang, Cary Huang, Dan Jr., Jodi Benson, Carolyn Lawrence, Kath Soucie, and Gail Matthius.

## Plot

When Jeff Murphy goes off to Europe on a business trip, Danny Murphy, Marlon Murphy, and Corey Murphy are left at home with their rather absent-minded babysitter, Miss Griffin - much to the chagrin of Danny, who dreams of world travel. While the three are playing an arcade game of *Around the World in Thirty Days* with The Buttercup Sisters, Danny and Daisy begin to argue over which would win an actual race around the world. Their conversation is being eavesdropped on by siblings Robert and Chloe Henson, two German diamond smugglers running out of ways of getting their wares to customers without government interference. Seeing an opportunity, the Hensonsapproach the children, telling them that they will provide them with the means for a real race around the world by hot-air balloon, with the winner receiving $100,000.

After tricking Miss Griffin with a recorded phone call from Jeff, The Brothers and Buttercup Sisters meet at the Henson's mansion, where they are told the rules: each team is given a separate route to follow, along with a chest of dolls, made in their own likenesses, which they are required to drop off to verify that they have visited all checkpoints. Upon dropping off one of their own dolls, they will receive a doll made in the likeness of the opposing team. In reality, the dolls being dropped off are filled with diamonds, and the dolls received are filled with cash, given to them by the buyers.

Before they take off, Marlon warns Luna not to take the easterly route because of a hurricane. However, Daisy overhears him and ignores his advice, believing it to be a trick to slow them down.

And so, after a masterly take off, both teams begin their travels; while The Brothers go to Mexico City, The Buttercup Sisters are caught in a hurricane (as Marlon predicted) before reaching Bermuda. Unknown to both teams, however, they are being trailed by two rather-intimidating looking Interpol agents named Tyrone and Antonio, sent by the French Inspector Johnson , who was informed by Robert and Chloe's Italian butler, Mario, of the Furschstein's operation. The agents silently follow behind as The Superstar Brothers and Buttercup Sisters travel through South America and Africa, visiting Machu Picchu, Rio de Janeiro, Angel Falls, Morocco, and Venice. More time is given to the countries and sites The Buttercup Sisters see, including the white cliffs of Dover, the Netherlands, Switzerland, London, Rome (where they visit the Colosseum), Paris, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Germany.

Both teams meet up in Athens, where Danny and Daisy begin bickering, each claiming they can "out-rock and roll" the other. This results in the performance of the song "The Girls of Rock 'n' Roll" amongst the Grecian ruins, with Jeff, Tyrone, and Antonio nearly spotting them.

The Buttercup Sisters then travel on to Egypt, passing the Sphinx. There, they are chased by a group of men on a camel. Despite their attempts to fight them off, the girls are captured which later reveals they are actually being rescued from Robert and Chloe's trick and brought to their young Arabian prince. The Prince falls in love with Daisy and, oblivious to the diamond smuggling, agrees to return the valuable dolls to Johnson but declares that he is keeping the girls, and making Daisy his bride.

Despite being showered with gifts, including a baby penguin, the girls are desperate to make an escape. Still unaware of the contents of their dolls, they secretly try to retrieve them - only to find them guarded by cobras. Daisy and Luna "charm" the snakes by singing "Getting Good," then grab the dolls and escape out a window, just as Cindy arrives carrying a small cooler.

The film cuts back to the boys, who are camping in a jungle in Fiji while taking a shortcut. Corey senses something is wrong, and he knows something's out in the jungle. Marlon and Danny just think his imagination is running wild, with Danny saying, "*He's still afraid of the bogeyman.*" Upon waking up the next morning, they find Corey missing. While trying to find him, Danny and Marlon are taken captive by some local natives. They soon learn that Corey is being worshipped as the natives' "Prince of Plenty". Danny and Marlon are forced to wear nothing but cap, glasses, a string necklace with three shark teeth, and a brown loincloth and are made into Corey's personal servants.

Meanwhile, the girls learn that Cindy's cooler contains not only cold drinks and sandwiches, but the baby penguin, whom Cindy feels needs to be returned to its parents in Antarctica. At first, Daisy is confused ("*You were going to eat this penguin?*"). After the song "My Mother," the girls soon agree and head to Antarctica. However, Chloe is alerted to the girl's actions by her henchmen and concludes that they must have discovered the diamonds and are trying to make off with them. She orders her henchmen to get the dolls back.

As the girls deliver the penguin to their parents, they are attacked by Chloe's henchmen. The Buttercup Sisters wrestle with the men as they attempt to steal the dolls, and a Daisy doll tears as the goons fall from the balloon. Grateful to the girls, the penguins snowball the thugs into submission and the girls escape. They notice the torn Daisy doll lying on the floor of the balloon; Luna picks it up and diamonds fall out of it. Opening an Danny doll, they find it full of dollar bills; the girls realize that the whole race was just a set-up for delivering the diamonds. Deciding the boys are likely in danger as well, they head off to find them.

Danny and Marlon, meanwhile, are forced to search a nearby cave for mushrooms for "Prince Corey," with Danny growing increasingly fed-up with the situation ("*3:00 in the morning and Prince Corey has a craving for MUSHROOMS! I hope he chokes on 'em!*"). Inside the cave, they find a series of ideograms on the walls, which Marlon translates as "Sacrifice the Prince of Plenty on the full moon." They look up and see a full moon overhead. Danny looks at Marlon and exclaims, "Over my dead body!" but in the next scene, all three Brothers are tied to stakes by the natives for no reason, hanging precariously above a pit full of crocodiles. In a desperate attempt to delay their own deaths, they sing the song "Wooly Bully", which pleases the natives and lasts just long enough for The Buttercup Sisters to rescue them.

Together in the girls' balloon, the kids return to the U.S.A.. They are met at the airport by Robert and Chloe, and after a short chase accompanied by the song "Diamond Dolls," they are forced into a 1935 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I under the false threat of Miss Griffin being kidnapped. Jeff is arriving home to the airfield at the same time and hears Danny's cries for help. Inspector Johnson runs up, identifying himself, and he and Jeff begin to make chase in his 1987 Chevrolet Caprice but two other cars crash into each other and block them off at an intersection. While it at first appears that Robert and Chloe will escape on a private jet to Costa Rica, they are accidentally run off the road by none other than Miss Griffin, who was heading to the airfield to pick up Jeff. Robert and Chloe are then taken away by the police, and Daisy and Danny begin arguing over who really won the $100,000. An exasperated Jeff breaks up the argument and guides them to Miss Griffin's 1959 Lincoln Continental, where the others await. On the way home Danny blithers about the race, frustrating the adults.

## Cast

* James Arnold Taylor - Danny Murphy
* Michael Huang - Marlon Murphy
* Cary Huang - Corey Murphy
* Dan Jr. - Jeff Murphy
* Jodi Benson - Daisy Griffin
* Carolyn Lawrence - Cindy Griffin
* Kath Soucie - Luna Griffin
* Gail Matthius - Miss Griffin
* Susan Sarandon - Chloe Henson
* Tim Curry - Robert Henson
* Frank Welker - Fluffy, the Baby Penguin, the Native Detective and additional voices

### Additional Voices

* Garry Chalk - Inspector Johnson
* Jaleel White - Prince Trix