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Ernest Goes to Camp
Directed by	John R. Cherry III
Produced by	Martin Erlichman Elmo Williams
Written by	John R. Cherry III Coke Sams
Starring	Jim Varney Victoria Racimo John Vernon Iron Eyes Cody Lyle Alzado
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	1987-05-22 (USA)
Running time	92 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$3,000,000
Preceded by	Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam
Followed by	Ernest Saves Christmas
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Ernest Goes to Camp is a 1987 comedy film directed by John R. Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. It is the second film to feature the character of Ernest P. Worrell. The movie received a PG rating from the MPAA.

Jim Varney reprises his role of Ernest P. Worrell as a maintenance man at a summer camp known as Kamp Kikakee. Opportunity strikes and Ernest is offered a job as a camp counselor (his dream). Of course, things go wrong after Ernest muddles things up with a group of juvenile delinquents that are assigned to him. The film features one scene in which Ernest and the boys must serenade his box turtle Pokey so it will let go of Ernest's nose. Ernest teaches the delinquents a thing or two about friendship and self-respect as the boys go on to defend the camp from an evil mining corporation (Krader Corporation) that wants to destroy the area to find petrocite. Chief St. Cloud teaches Ernest about how Indian Braves had to pass certain tests to be called warriors. Ernest passes the Indian bravery tests by standing up to Krader in a final scene in which he plugs the villain's hunting rifle with his finger. The boys and Ernest succeed in protecting the land and Kamp Kikakee remains for young campers to enjoy. Things work out in the end and, as usual, a lesson has been learned.

• The song used to detach the box turtle from Ernest's nose is "Happy Together," a song which was written and recorded by the musical group The Turtles. It also serves as a theme song of the film.
• Ernest Goes to Camp aired in two parts during The Magical World of Disney, with part 1 airing on October 29, 1989, and part 2 on November 5. Prior to the movie, Ernest was seen training for, and finally riding, Disneyland's Splash Mountain attraction.
• In his song "Callin in Sick Today," Weird Al Yankovic mentions that he can "spend all day in [his] underwear watching Ernest Goes to Camp" rather than going to work.
• A great deal of the novel and subsequent film Hoot closely resembles the plot of this film, with the mining company replaced by a restaurant chain and the campground replaced by an owl sanctuary.

• Ernest Goes to Camp at the Internet Movie Database
• Read Reviews of this movie at RottenTomatoes.com