Astoria, Oregon Celebrates 40 Years Of Johnny 5 Being Alive
by Brendan M. Allen
“Hey, laser lips, your momma was a snowblower!”
Ready to feel old? It has been four decades since Johnny 5 (Tim Blaney) rolled onto the silver screen and into our hearts. The city of Astoria, Oregon has announced the Official Short Circuit 40th Anniversary & Astoria Film Celebration for June 5th-7th, 2026.
The festival weekend will include cast and crew appearances, panels, licensed merchandise, film screenings, workshops, trivia, a 1980s prom, and more, across multiple venues. It will be an ’80s nostalgia overload for attendees.
Special guests on the weekend include Blaney, Ally Sheedy, Steven Guttenberg, Robert Davi, Eric Allard, Jason James Richter, Joey Cramer, Toby Froud, Gary Foster, and Mark Marshall.
One of the venues on the weekend’s docket is the Oregon Film Museum, which is housed in the old Clatsop County Jail, which is famous for the opening sequence in the 1985 film The Goonies. My family and I were able to visit the museum the last time we were in the PDX area. We also got a few pics outside Mikey (Sean Astin) and Brandon’s (Josh Brolin) house and checked out a couple other filming locations.
Also filmed in Astoria were Kindergarten Cop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and Free Willy, among others. The city’s cinematic landscapes continue to draw filmmakers and fans alike, making Astoria a must-visit destination for ’80s and ’90s film lovers.
The event’s activity schedule can be found here, and some pretty cool official merch is available at this link.
