Is his looneyness ever explained?

He's just a happy-go-lucky, unflappable, well-to-do, well-intending, rubber-faced schmoe.

Ernest Scared Stupid establishes that, at least within its own story, that Ernest's Great-Grandfather (ish) was cursed by a Troll, so that the male with each new generation would become dumber than the last.

I personally don't see Ernest as being dumb or particualrly slow, just simple.

It's called "children's entertainment". I know that's a bit of a smartass answer, but that's the long and short of it.


What's got me a little annoyed is how low this (and all his movies) are rated. I looked at the demographics, to my non-amazement, people 30+ (who WEREN'T KIDS when these movies came out) rate them really low. Listen idiots, if you're not a kid, and you never saw this as a kid, your vote is pretty much piss in the punchbowl. The ratings go up the younger the voter, suggesting IT'S A KID'S FILM AND IT APPEALS TO KIDS IT ISN'T FOR OLD PEOPLE STOP BEING BITTER.