Day 7 - What film makes you happy?

Answer: Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

I could've picked probably over a dozen movies that give me that happy feeling when I watch them, but I can only pick one for the challenge. I went with the film Ernest Scared Stupid. The Ernest movies are a bit of guilty pleasure movie for me. I know that they're silly, but I don't really care. I find the character Ernest P. Worrell to be funny and the high jinks that he gets into over the course of the series to be enjoyable. I went with this one in the series because it's the Halloween movie for Ernest and that's my favorite holiday. I always enjoy a good Halloween film.

The plot of Ernest Scared Stupid is pretty simple. A troll named Trantor was imprisoned in an oak tree by one of Ernest's ancestors some time in the 19th Century. The only way that Trantor can be released is by a Worrell on the night before Halloween. Fast forward to the present and some kids get their haunted house wrecked by a bully. Ernest decides to help the kids out and builds them a club house in the same oak tree that Trantor is sealed away in. One thing leads to another and Ernest accidentally releases the troll. Trantor starts finding children and turning them into wooden doll. It's up to Ernest and friends to figure out a way to stop the troll. That's it.

The story of Ernest is an interesting one. I think he started off as a character that was created to be used to advertise products in commercials. Then it was decided to take the character and given a TV show called Hey Vern, It's Ernest! The ongoing joke would be that Ernest would visit someone named Vern and sort of impose himself on their life. Vern was always portrayed from a first person perspective. We, the audience, were supposed to be Vern and it was supposed to be kind of an annoyance that Ernest kept coming around. After the TV show, that's when they started to put the Ernest character in movies. He's always played by the late Jim Varney. If you want some silliness and want to laugh, maybe check out what you can find of Ernest P. Worrell.

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