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So when it came time to make a film about an underdog car which could rise to the top of its competition and teach a lot of lessons along the way, the Beetle was a no-brainer. So it is that The Love Bug was born. A white, 1963 Volkswagen Beetle (Bug), sunroof edition; Herbie (as he would come to be known) was soon the most recognizable car in the world, with his red, white & blue racing stripes and the round racing numbers "53". But how does a car become a star; and wind up with the top grossing movie of 1969? Easy...Disney magic.
The first is the lovely and intriguing Carole (Michele Lee), an assistant at the dealership, and all that it takes to get Jim inside. The second is a lonesome-looking, little car that is nothing but an eyesore to the abrasive and tire-kicking Mr. Thorndyke (David Tomlinson), who runs this establishment. Never one to see a fine piece of machinery abused, Jim defends the little car and berates the tyrannical Thorndyke, before returning home. It seems his humanitarian nature has made an impact on Carole, but more importantly, also on the little car, which promptly follows him home! That's right...you see, this little car has a mind all his own.
After a small police fiasco for "stealing" the car, Jim decides to purchase it...after all he does need some wheels (how else can he take Carole out on a date?). His new prchase finds itself with a new name, Herbie, after the uncle of Jim's warm-hearted but mildly insane roomate, Tennessee (Buddy Hackett). But what Jim thinks is going to be a transportation relationship soon becomes more! You see, Herbie has other plans to help out the only guy who would come to his defense, and soon begins trying to pair up Jim and Carole (by locking doors or driving them to lovers lane) and reviving Jim's racing career by proving just how fast he could be! Unfortunately, Jim doesn't notice what Herbie is doing for him, other than that his car seems to have quite a few "bugs" in it and is a little hard to steer at times, but Herbie continues nonetheless.
Soon Jim is winning races and is at the peak of what could be the comeback career of all time. But as his fame goes straight to his head, other people take notice as well; namely Mr. Thorndyke, a racer himself, who is now thinking twice about his transaction with Jim. Soon, Thorndyke is hatching devious schemes to foil Jim's every move and launching sabotage attempts to put Herbie out of commission. All of this Herbie puts up with without complaint, but when Jim begins to think of himself as a champion, deserving of a bigger, better and faster car, Herbie is forced to make a decision. Will he keep helping out the ego-inflated, two-bit race driver, or go his own way?
But of course, Herbie is only one star of this movie, as it is a treasure trove of powerhouse acting talent. Dean Jones (Jim), who was signed to the studio by Walt Disney himself, made pictures for Disney for twelve years, including: The Shaggy D.A., Blackbeard's Ghost, and That Darn Cat! Six of Dean's Disney collaborations are listed among Variety's all-time hits! Buddy Hackett (Tennessee) brought his unique form of character acting to such greats as 1962's The Music Man and later voiced Scuttle in Disney's The Little Mermaid and it's sequel in 2000. And of course, no one could miss the great David Tomlinson (Thorndyke) who paired up with The Love Bug's director, Robert Stevenson, on two other Disney favorites: the Academy Award winning Bedknobs and Broomsticks and five-time Oscar winning, Mary Poppins. Herbie himself was given a German Golden Screen Award for The Love Bug, but they may have just been partial to their own engineering!
Speaking of the aforementioned films Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Mary Poppins...it would seem that they share a closer relationship with The Love Bug than merely the great acting skills of David Tomlinson. All three pictures also share the same writer, co-writer, editor, various crew members and even make-up artist! No wonder these are three of my favorite Disney films of all time, and undoubtedly three of the finest examples of what Disney is (or at least was) all about: family entertainment, quality acting, top-notch attention to detail, and putting smiles on faces across the globe.
Other extras take you through the various incarnations of Herbie in his subsequent appearances: Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and the TV series "Herbie, The Love Bug". And if you ever wondered what happened to all those "Herbies", there is a featurette on that as well. Of special note, is the inclusion of footage from Love Bug Day at Disneyland, on which guests entered their own personal VW Bugs into a contest for best decorations. There are some truly innovative and truly bad interpretations, but the footage of Disneyland before many of its changes is worth checking this one out. There are too many more features to get into here, but suffice it to say that they are all worth looking into and make this DVD set a terrific value.
The Love Bug is a must have, plain and simple, for any Disney fan; and even if you already own the VHS, the DVD extras are worth the price of picking this one up. So jump in your car and head to the nearest DVD store right now, but just remember to be nice to your car...it has feelings too ya know!
P.S. Be sure to wait all the way through the credits!
-aaron-
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It
was the Sixties; a time of flower power, tie-dye and most importantly,
anti-government feelings. These anti-establishment feelings
spread from the government to incorporate almost any big business
or organization, whether it be banking, police departments or even
automobile manufacturers. So it was, that Volkswagen's Beetles,
and of course their Bus, were eagerly accepted by this peace and love
generation. The low price, great gas-mileage, and the resulting
positive impact on the environment and natural resources were music
to the ears of a generation that didn't blow their dough on "gas
hogs" or "meaningless possessions"; which is good because
when you smoke pot all day and don't have a job...well, you limit
your options.
Jim
(Dean Jones) is an out-of-work and out-of-luck ex-race driver, who
has been forced into the dubious and dangerous career of demolition
derby. He finds himself doomed to this new occupation against
his will, but not entirely unprepared, after wrapping too many priceless
racecars around trees or mashing them against track walls. The
car's owners and sponsors would say he just wasn't a very good driver,
but Jim would say that they just don't "get it". Down
on his luck and down in the dumps, Jim finds that the closest he can
get to a finely crafted piece of automobile engineering now, is through
the display glass at the local dealership, but as he gazes longingly
through that glass one day he finds two surprises in store for him!
The
Love Bug can best be described as It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad
World (which also featured Buddy Hackett) combined with The
Great Race...full of the zany stereotypes and slapstick humor
which made all three unforgettable classics. The inventive special
effects in The Love Bug, however, set it aside from all others and
set new precedents in what could be achieved in movies. Herbie
finds himself popping wheelies, coasting on two wheels (see image
at left), opening and closing his own doors, windows and hood, operating
without a driver, and even getting torn in half! All these effects
are created seamlessly and look far more convincing than could be
expected of the time. The simple fact that Herbie seems to take
on a life and personality of his own is what truly amazes me.
You can look at this vehicle and tell if it is happy, angry or sad.
Amazing!
It
is wonderful to see these classics (The Love Bug, 20,000
Leagues Under The Sea, Treasure Island, etc.) finding their
way to DVD. It is of utmost importance in this day and age that
we remember that films were not always about guns, martial arts, buddy
cops, sexy teens and gratuitous nudity. But don't think that
this is just a copy of the old plastic-cased VHS tape your kids wore
out. There is more here than you could hope for! My favorite
addition has to be the commentary with stars, Dean Jones, Michele
Lee, and Buddy Hackett! Rarely is a project 35 years old able
to gather so much of it's talent together after all that time.
But that is just the extra feature on disc one; there is of course
an entire second disc of goodies for your enjoyment. Multiple
features take you through the process of choosing just the right car
and designing its look to fill the role of Herbie.