The Love Bug (1968)

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Bill Walsh (screenplay) &
Don DaGradi (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 marzo 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sport

Frase comercial:

It's a Love-in for Herbie... the incredible little car who shifts for himself!

Plot:

A race car driver becomes a champion with a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own.

Plot Keywords:

Animate Car | Inanimate Object In Cast Credits | 1960s | Automobile | Ghost Town

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Herbie Is Likable, But Age Has Made Him Ready For Junkyard

Cast

Dean Jones	...	Jim
Michele Lee	...	Carole
David Tomlinson	...	Thorndyke
Buddy Hackett	...	Tennessee Steinmetz
Joe Flynn	...	Havershaw
Benson Fong	...	Mr. Wu
Andy Granatelli	...	Association President
Joe E. Ross	...	Detective
Iris Adrian	...	Carhop
Ned Glass	...	Toll Booth Attendant
Robert Foulk	...	Bice
Gil Lamb	...	Policeman at Park
Barry Kelley	...	Police Sgt.
Nicole Jaffe	...	Girl In Dune-buggy
Wally Boag

También conocida como:

Car-Boy-Girl (USA) (original script title)
Cupido motorizado (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
Ahí va ese bólido (Spain) [es]

Duración:

107 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Clasificación:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | Canada:G (video rating) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:F (Ontario) | Finland:S | Norway:A | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

1000 block of Lombard Street, Lombard Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivialidades:

During the exchange between Jim Douglas and Mr. Wu while hanging from Herbie's rear bumper: "Car very strong." "And very fast." "The strength of forty horses." The stock Volkswagen Beetle engine did have forty horsepower.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Herbie the car is following Jim (who is on the tram), ropes can be seen that are attached from the front of Herbie to the back of the tram as the car passes the camera. Thus revealing that the car is being towed by the tram.

Quotes:

Jim Douglas: [on the phone] Yeah, yeah, Thorndyke. I know what you did to my car. You need your brains kicked out.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Walt Disney Comedy and Magic Revue (1985) (V)

Herbie Is Likable, But Age Has Made Him Ready For Junkyard

Sorry to sound like Scrooge, but after seeing these films once again in the late '90s, I did not particularly enjoy this late '60s Disney movie favorite, nor its sequels. I watched them when they came out and was mildly amused at that time, but these Herbie flicks did not age well. I can understand why they did a remake recently.

I know it's a fantasy, but it just looks now so stupid it's almost beyond description. In a nutshell, we have a 40-horsepower VW bug that wins auto races because it's "alive," complete with a personality and - get this - a soul! Meanwhile, the driver of the race car (Dean Jones as the annoying "Jim Douglas") thinks he's responsible for the race victories. Well, at least that made sense. The film turns out to be a propaganda piece for Buddhism!! I kid you not!

In fairness, Disney and other studios who have done animation have always made inanimate objects human-like and many times we laugh at that, myself included. So, I'm not really making fun of the premise but it just looks and sounds so dated 40 years later, especially the San Francisco hippie scenes.

"Herbie," by the way, was a likable "guy." It was good to see Benson Fong (Charlie Chan films) again, and Joe E. Ross (Bilko, Car 54, Where Are You?) and even goofy Buddy Hackett as "Tennessee Steinmetz." I always found it a shame, though, that humorous stand-up comics like Hackett and Don Rickles played so many stupid roles in these '60s films.