''The Love Bug'' is a 1968 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

and the first in a franchise by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

racing

Beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

named Herbie. It was based on the 1961 book ''Car, Boy, Girl'' by Gordon Buford. The movie follows the adventures of Herbie, Herbie's driver, Jim Douglas ( Dean Jones), and Jim's love interest, Carole Bennett ( Michele Lee). It also features Buddy Hackett as Jim's enlightened, kind-hearted friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, a character who creates "art" from used car parts. English actor David Tomlinson portrays the villainous Peter Thorndyke, the owner of an auto showroom and an SCCA national champion who sells Herbie to Jim and eventually becomes his racing rival.

Plot

Race car driver Jim Douglas has been reduced to competing in demolition derby races against drivers half his age. As part of his overall life of poverty, Jim lives in an old fire house overlooking San Francisco Bay with his friend and mechanic, Tennessee Steinmetz. Steinmetz, a claimant of

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

spiritual enlightenment, is a sculptor who uses old car parts. After yet another race ends in a crash, Jim must find a new car to drive. At an upmarket European car showroom, Douglas meets sales assistant and mechanic Carole Bennett, and the dealership's owner, Peter Thorndyke, who abuses a white Volkswagen Beetle. Douglas, lacking money, leaves Thorndyke's showroom with nothing, but the abused Beetle follows him home. After a police run-in on charges of grand theft, Thorndyke agrees to Douglas's offer to lease-purchase the tiny car. Douglas then enters himself and the Beetle in a series of races. To the astonishment of spectators and the growing hatred of rival driver Thorndyke, the "Love Bug" repeatedly wins. Frustrated, Thorndyke finally infiltrates Tennessee's garage, the night before the next race, and sabotages the upstart vehicle by pouring Irish coffee into the gas tank. A disgusted Douglas, with his eyes now on the upcoming El Dorado road race, decides to switch out the underpowered vehicle for a brand new

Lamborghini 400GT Lamborghini 400 GT is the name given to two grand tourers produced by Italian manufacturer Lamborghini. History The first 400 GT, commonly referred to as simply the 400 GT or 400 GT Interim, was essentially the older 350 GT featuring an enlarge ...

. In despair, the Beetle drives itself away from the Douglas/Tennessee garage with the goal of throwing itself off the Golden Gate Bridge. By the barest of margins, the car is saved when a repentant Jim Douglas risks his own life to save "Herbie." With a financial backer, Chinese-American businessman Tang Wu ( Benson Fong), Jim and Herbie are ready for the El Dorado. The El Dorado, an out-and-back open road race, runs through the Sierra Nevada mountains from Yosemite Valley to Virginia City and back. On the outbound leg, rival driver Thorndyke and his assistant Havershaw (acting as the "Thorndyke Special's" co-driver), carry out a series of dirty tricks against Herbie. As a result of Thorndyke's shenanigans, Jim (with Carole and Tennessee as co-drivers) limps home last with Herbie missing two wheels and having to use a wagon wheel to get to the first finish line. Having come in last on Day 1, Herbie, Jim, Carole, and Tennessee must make a slow start on the race's Day 2, the homeward leg. Thanks to some ingenious shortcuts, Jim is able to make up for lost time in the second leg. As Herbie and the "Thorndyke Special" race towards the second finish line, Herbie succumbs to metal fatigue and breaks in two. The Beetle's back half (carrying Tennessee and the engine) crosses the line just ahead of Thorndyke, while the front (carrying Jim and Carole) rolls over the line just behind. The Love Bug has taken both first ''and'' third place. As the Love Bug's backer, Wu takes over Thorndyke's car dealership. He hires Tennessee as his assistant and demotes Thorndyke and Havershaw to the mechanics' shop. Rewelded into shape, Herbie chauffeurs the newlywed Jim and Carole away on their honeymoon.

Cast

* Dean Jones as James "Jim" Douglas, a racing driver * Michele Lee as Carole Bennet, Jim's love interest * David Tomlinson as Peter Thorndyke, the owner of the car shop * Buddy Hackett as Tennessee Steinmetz, Jim's friend and roommate and partner in racing * Joe Flynn as Havershaw, Thorndyke's right-hand man * Benson Fong as Tang Wu, Jim's friend and team supporter * Joe E. Ross as Detective * Barry Kelley as Police sergeant * Iris Adrian as Carhop * Gary Owens as Announcer *

Chick Hearn Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years. Hearn is remembered for his rapi ...

as Announcer * Andy Granatelli as Association President *

Ned Glass Nusyn "Ned" Glass (April 1, 1906 – June 15, 1984) was a Polish-born American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly, or deceitful characters. ...

as Toll Booth Attendant *

Robert Foulk Robert C. Foulk (May 5, 1908 – February 25, 1989) was an American television and film character actor who portrayed Sheriff H. Miller in the CBS series ''Lassie'' from 1958 to 1962. Early years Foulk attended the University of Pennsylvan ...

as Bice * Gil Lamb as Policeman at Park *

Nicole Jaffe Nicole Cowgill Jaffe (born May 23, 1941) is a retired Canadian actress, best known as the original voice actress for Velma Dinkley in Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoon series from 1969 to 1973. Biography A life member of ...

as Girl in Dune-Buggy * Wally Boag as Flabbergasted Driver *Russ Caldwell as Boy Driving Dune-Buggy * Peter Renaday as Policeman on Bridge *Brian Fong as Chinese carrying Herbie * Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as Mexican Driver *

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. Van ...

as Driver

Production notes

Story and development

Dean Jones credited the film's success to the fact that it was the last live action

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film produced under

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's involvement, released just two years after his death in 1966. Although Jones tried to pitch him a serious, straightforward film project concerning the story of the first

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

ever brought to the United States, Walt suggested a different car story for him, which was ''Car, Boy, Girl'', a story written in 1961 by Gordon Buford. ''Car, Boy, Girl;'' ''The Magic Volksy;'' ''The Runaway Wagen;'' ''Beetlebomb;'' ''Wonderbeetle;'' ''Bugboom'' and ''Thunderbug'' were among the original development titles considered for the film before the title was finalized as ''The Love Bug.'' Herbie competes in the Monterey Grand Prix, which, except for 1963, was not a sports car race. The actual sports car race held at Monterey was the Monterey Sports Car Championships. The 1968 Monterey Grand Prix was in fact a Can Am Series race and did not feature production cars. Peter Thorndyke's yellow "Special" is actually a 1965 Apollo GT, a rare sports car sold by International Motorcars of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

. It used an Italian-built body and chassis from

Intermeccanica Intermeccanica (formally Construzione Automobili Intermeccanica) is an automobile manufacturer, founded in Torino, Italy, in 1959 by Frank Reisner. It subsequently moved first to the United States, then to Canada, and is currently headed by ...

paired with a small-block Buick V8 engine that was installed in Oakland. This car exists today, is in the hands of a private collector, and has been restored as it was seen in the film with its yellow paint and number 14 logo.

"Herbie"

Before the film entered production, the titular car was not specified as a Volkswagen Beetle, and Disney set up a casting call for a dozen cars to audition. In the lineup, there were a few Toyotas, a TVR, a handful of

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

s, an MG and a pearl white Volkswagen Beetle. The Volkswagen Beetle was chosen as it was the only one that elicited the crew to reach out and pet it. The Volkswagen brand name, logo or shield does not feature anywhere in the film, as the automaker did not permit Disney to use the name. The only logos can be briefly seen in at least two places, however. The first instance is on the brake pedals during the first scene where Herbie takes control with Jim inside (on the freeway when Herbie runs into Thorndyke's Rolls-Royce), and it is shown in all the future scenes when Jim is braking. The second instance is on the ignition key, when Jim tries to shut down the braking Herbie. The later sequels produced, however, do promote the Volkswagen name (as sales of the Beetle were down when the sequels were produced). The VW " Wolfsburg" castle emblem on the steering wheel hub is also seen throughout the car's interior shots. Within the script, the car was only ever referred to as "Herbie", "the small car" or "the Bug"—the latter, although a common nickname for the Beetle, was not trademarked by Volkswagen at the time of filming. The car was later given the name "Herbie" from one of Buddy Hackett's

skit Skit may refer to: * * A short segment in a performance, such as: ** Sketch comedy ** Hip hop skit ** Puppet skit ** Promo (professional wrestling) Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. ...

s about a ski instructor named Klaus, who speaks with a German accent as he introduces his fellow ski instructors, who are named Hans, Fritz, Wilhelm, and Sandor. At the end of the skit, Hackett would say "If you ain't got a Herbie (pronounced "''hoy-bee''), I ain't going." Herbie's trademark "53" racing number was chosen by producer Bill Walsh, who was a fan of

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

baseball player Don Drysdale (Drysdale's jersey number, later retired by the team, was 53). Walsh also gave Herbie his trademark red, white and blue racing stripes presumably for the more patriotic color and came up with the film's gags such as Herbie squirting oil and opening the doors by himself. Benson Fong, who played Mr. Wu, said that when he and the others were dragged along the dirt by Herbie, it was like being pulled by 40 horses. The 1961–1965 Volkswagen Beetles actually were rated by the

SAE SAE or Sae may refer to: Science and technology : * Selective area epitaxy, local growth of epitaxial layer through a patterned dielectric mask deposited on a semiconductor substrate * Serious adverse event, in a clinical trial * Simultaneous Aut ...

at in factory configuration (though only by the European

DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken by ...

system which measured engine output as installed in the car with cooling fan and exhaust system attached). Herbie has his own cast billing in the closing credits, the only time this was done in the entire series of films. Today, only a handful of the original Herbie cars are known to exist. Car #10 was recovered from a warehouse in Pennsylvania and has been preserved—still sporting its original paint from the film.

Deleted scenes

The bonuses on the DVD provide two deleted scenes named "Used Car Lot" and "Playground". A scene shot, but not included in the final cut of the film, featured Jim calling at a used car lot prior to his visiting Thorndyke's auto showroom. This missing sequence has long since been lost, and all that remains is the

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of ha ...

and a single

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

photograph of Jim talking with the salesman at the lot. An unfilmed scene at the end of the story that was scripted and

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in t ...

ed was to have shown Herbie playing with children at a nearby playground prior to taking the newly married Jim and Carole off on their honeymoon.

Stock footage

The opening scene of the demolition derby cars is footage from the film '' Fireball 500.'' Parts of this scene can also be found in a 1966-model year dealer promotional film by Chevrolet, titled ''Impact '66''.

Shooting locations

Some of the racetrack scenes were shot at the Riverside International Raceway in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. Others were filmed at

Laguna Seca Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...

in Monterey, California, Willow Springs Raceway in Willow Springs, California and

Paramount Ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. The ...

in Agoura Hills, California. Additional scenes depicting the El Dorado race were filmed near the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

in Big Bear City, California.

Cast and crew

Andy Granatelli, who was popular at the time as a presence at the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

as well as the spokesman for STP, appears as himself as the racing association president. Announcer Gary Owens (of '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' fame) and Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play man

also appear as themselves. The driving scenes were choreographed by veteran stunt man Carey Loftin. Drivers in the film billed in the opening credits include

, Reg Parton, Regina Parton, Tom Bamford, Bob Drake, Marion J. Playan, Hall Brock, Bill Hickman, Rex Ramsay, Hal Grist, Lynn Grate, Larry Schmitz, Richard Warlock, Dana Derfus, Everett Creach, Gerald Jann, Bill Couch, Ted Duncan, Robert Hoys, Gene Roscoe, Jack Mahoney, Charles Willis, Richard Brill, Roy Butterfield, Rudy Doucette, J.J. Wilson, Jim McCullough, Bud Ekins, Glenn Wilder, Gene Curtis, Robert James, John Timanus, Bob Harris,

Fred Krone Fred Krone (June 19, 1930 – January 12, 2010), also known as Krunch, was an American actor and stuntman who worked predominantly in Westerns. Career Krone was born in Kentucky. He began working in the 1950s performing stunts and as an actor ...

, Richard Ceary, Jesse Wayne, Jack Perkins, Fred Stromsoe, Ronnie Rondell, and Kim Brewer.

Cars featured

*1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta (#14) *1955 OSCA MT4 Barchetta (#18) *1957 Chevrolet Two-Ten 2-Door Sedan (#23) *1959 Devin D (#47) *1959 Austin-Healey 3000 (#64) *195x Kellison J4 (#82) *1960 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta ''SWB'' (#54) *1963 Apollo 3500 GT (#14) *1963

Shelby Cobra The AC Cobra, sold in the United States as the Shelby Cobra and AC Shelby Cobra, is a sports car manufactured by British company AC Cars, with a Ford V8 engine. It was produced intermittently in both the United Kingdom and later the Unite ...

289 (#20) *1963 Triumph Spitfire 4 (#96) *1964 Jaguar XK-E (#14) *1965 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray C2 (#29) *1961 Balchowsky Ol' Yaller MkIV (#41) *1966

Lamborghini 400 GT Lamborghini 400 GT is the name given to two grand tourers produced by Italian manufacturer Lamborghini. History The first 400 GT, commonly referred to as simply the 400 GT or 400 GT Interim, was essentially the older 350 GT featuring an enlarge ...

2+2 *1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray C2 (#20)

Promotion

During one scene in the film, Herbie has lost one of his wheels, and Tennessee is hanging out of the passenger side door to balance him. The door opens, and there is no "53" logo on the door. This image was used heavily to promote the film.

Reception

''The Love Bug'' was the second-highest-grossing film of 1969, earning over $51.2 million at the domestic box office. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, later earning a 78% "Fresh" rating from 18 critics on the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' panned the film as "a long, sentimental Volkswagen commercial ... which has the form of fantasy-comedy, lots of not-very-special effects and no real humor." '' Variety'' wrote, "For sheer inventiveness of situation and the charm that such an idea projects, 'The Love Bug' rates as one of the better entries of the Disney organization."

Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called it

brisk, active, bright, technically impeccable, simple-minded, full of tricky effects and free of all but the most glancing resemblances to nasty old reality. It is a formula picture, and such troubles as there are arise mainly from the fact that the formula has known much stronger ingredients ( Fred MacMurray and flubber, let's say) in the past.

'' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' declared that "this very engaging mechanical fantasy is the best piece of work from the Disney studios for some time. The caper appears to have had the effect of injecting life into Robert Stevenson's usually pedestrian style, since with the exception of one glutinously sentimental episode the pace never lets up."

Comic book adaptation

* Gold Key: ''The Love Bug'' (June 1969)

Legacy

Four theatrical sequels followed: '' Herbie Rides Again'', '' Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'', '' Herbie Goes Bananas'', and '' Herbie: Fully Loaded''. Some parts of the racing sequences from the film were later reused for Herbie's dream sequence in '' Herbie Rides Again'', responding to Grandma Steinmetz's telling Willoughby Whitfield that Herbie used to be a famous racecar. A five-episode television series, titled '' Herbie, the Love Bug'', aired on CBS in the United States in 1982. Directed by Vincent McEveety, the series acted as a continuation of the films, with Dean Jones reprising his role as Jim Douglas. In 1997, there was a made-for-television sequel which included a Dean Jones cameo, tying it to the previous films. The most recent sequel, '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'', was released on June 22, 2005, by Walt Disney Pictures. At

Disney's All-Star Movies Resort Disney's All-Star Movies Resort is a resort hotel located at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of five Disney Resorts in the "Value" category along with Disney's All-Star Sports Resort, Disney's All-Star Music Resort, Disney's Pop Century ...

at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Herbie has been immortalized in the "Love Bug" buildings 6 and 7.

Home media

The film was released on VHS on March 4, 1980. It was re-released on November 6, 1985, September 11, 1991 and on October 28, 1994 with ''Herbie Rides Again''. It was soon re-released again on September 16, 1997 along with the entire ''Herbie the Love Bug'' film series. It was released on DVD for the first time on May 20, 2003. It was released again with its sequels in a four movie collection in 2012. A 45th Anniversary Edition

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

was released on December 16, 2014 as a Disney Movie Club exclusive title.

References

External links

Lovebugfans forum
*
Lovebugfans
(archived) *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Love Bug, The 1968 films 1960s fantasy comedy films 1968 romantic comedy films American fantasy comedy films American romantic comedy films 1 Films based on short fiction Films set in San Francisco Films shot in San Francisco Films directed by Robert Stevenson Films produced by Bill Walsh (producer) Films adapted into comics Films scored by George Bruns Walt Disney Pictures films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films