A line-up of vehicles modeled after Herbie at a VW rally at Stanford Hall, UK
Herbie is an anthropomorphicVolkswagen Beetle, which is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1969 film, The Love Bug. In the franchise, the car has a mind of its own and is capable of driving itself, and is a serious contender in auto racing competitions. Throughout most of the franchise, Herbie is distinguished by red, white and blue racing stripes from front to back bumper and a racing-style number "53" on the front hood, doors, and engine lid. One exception to this is his introduction in The Love Bug, where he initially appears as a nondescript white vehicle with a grey-colored fabric sunroof, the style of sunroof offered on VW Beetles made in 1963.
Origin
The first Herbie film, The Love Bug, was based on the story Car, Boy, Girl written by Gordon Buford in 1961.[citation needed]
In The Love Bug, the car is named by mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett) after his uncle "Herb", who was a middleweight boxer. Steinmetz' uncle had a perpetually broken nose which resembled the front of a Volkswagen Beetle.[1]
Storyline
Rebuild by a fan.
Before being passed to Jim Douglas, Herbie was bought by a rich woman, Mrs. Van Luit, for her upstairs maid, but Herbie was returned the following day, because the maid had been having problems with him.
In Herbie Rides Again, Jim went to Europe and Tennessee went to Tibet because his philosophy teacher got sick, so Herbie was placed in the care of Mrs. Steinmetz, Tennessee's aunt.
In Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Jim returned from Europe and put Herbie in the fictional Trans-France Race, from Paris to Monte Carlo, where Herbie fell in love with a Lancia Scorpion named Giselle.
In Herbie Goes Bananas, Herbie was passed to Jim's nephew, Pete Stancheck, in Mexico. Herbie befriended an orphan named Paco, and together, they stopped a gang of con artistes from stealing ancient Inca gold. Paco gives Herbie the nickname "Ocho", the Spanish word for the number 8, purportedly because the digits 5 and 3 in Herbie's racing number, 53 were added together (5+3=8). At the end of the film Paco says, "Five and three are eight, anyone knows that."
Herbie then passed from owner to owner until he was bought by Maggie Payton in Herbie Fully Loaded.
While the look of Herbie remained fairly consistent through out the films (with the exception being the 1997 TV movie and 2005's Herbie Fully Loaded") there have been subtle changes. Many of the differences are described below.
The Love Bug (1969)
In the original 1969 film, The Love Bug, the original stripes differ from those in later movies; the stripes do not cover the valances or louvers of the car and the blue is a lighter shade. Also, Herbie features color-keyed running boards, while in later films the running boards are standard black. During the film, depending on the scene, the wheels change from standard VW wheels (although fitted with plain hubcaps with no VW logo) to specially widened wheels on the racing Herbies. During one scene (when Tennessee is hanging out of the window), the "53" logo on the passenger-side door is missing. The door is also cut along the lower edge at an angle to enable the car to tilt over to the right on two wheels. One of the modified racing Herbies featured a Porsche 356 engine, brakes and KONI shock absorbers. All Herbies in The Love Bug had the VW badges removed from the hood and featured plain non-VW hubcaps. If you examine these cars closely, you will see that the hood-mounted VW logo was replaced with a plain disc of the same diameter, colored to match the body. All logos were removed to avoid any trademark conflicts, although one can glimpse a VW key, the pedals retained the VW logo and the Wolfsburg crest is visible on the steering wheel. While there was no official endorsement by Volkswagen, many theaters featured an appropriately-marked Beetle in the lobby or out front, courtesy of local dealers. This film was one of the highest grossing films in history up until the mid 70's. For its day it was technically brilliant and the special effects were remarkable for their time.
Herbie Rides Again (1974)
In Herbie Rides Again, the car features the revised stripes (the blue was switched to a navy) with the addition of a hood-mounted spotlight, and the running boards were now the more conventional black. After the success of the first movie, the film was heavily endorsed by Volkswagen (whose sales of the Beetle were lagging) and the logos reappeared. Additionally, Herbie was running on standard wheels yet again. Volkswagen also promoted the film by having a Type 1 Beetle, complete with Herbie livery, in every showroom. There are various model errors in this film, such as the later "big window" (post-1964) Beetles being used. Also of note is the "cut-n-shut" engine cover after the warehouse break-in. The Beetle used was a late model, having a more bulbous flat-bottomed lid with an earlier rounded bottom edge welded on.
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
In Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, the car is again fitted with wide racing wheels (Goodyear GT radials), and also has an external fuel filler cap. The filler cap was fake, being added for the film's storyline. With the addition of the fuel filler, the antenna is now a retractable unit fitted on the front cowling, near the windscreen wipers. Herbie still sports a hood-mounted spotlight, but this time it features a black "Carello" cover. Throughout this film, Herbie has a later asymmetrical-shaped door mirror. There were a total of nine VW's used in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. Many of these cars were recycled for use in Herbie's next feature film, Herbie Goes Bananas in 1980. [citation needed]
Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)
In Herbie Goes Bananas The Hood-mounted light and fake gas cap was removed. He still had his grey-bucket seats, the Goodyear GT Radial tires and rims. But also Herbie's sunroof was the origanal light grey rather than the dark grey from Monte Carlo. The rust seen on the car in this film is painted on. The car that "walks the plank" in the movie was never recovered from the sea. It was tossed overboard from the SS Coromuel ferry ship (not The Sun Princess cruise ship). The car is somewhere between La Paz and Baja California.
Herbie Goes Bananas also featured the same later model door mirror as Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo. Herbie set a Guinness World Record as the first car to go through the Panama Canal during filming in 1979. Herbie's name is only mentioned once in the film by the garage owner.[citation needed]
It is important to remember that Volkswagen ceased the production of Beetles in America one year before the film's release, making the acquisition of available Beetles more challenging.
The Love Bug (1997)
In the made-for-television film, The Love Bug, there was some significant changes. The font of the 53 changed, and its position on the front hood is higher up. The racing stripes are different sizes (the blue is usually wider than the red and white), and the shade of blue reverts to the lighter version used in the original 1969 movie. The sunroof is a solid white (vs. grey) and is missing the racing stripe. Herbie's tire are standard Beetle tires, instead of the racing tires that appeared in Herbie Goes Bananas.[citation needed]
Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
In Herbie: Fully Loaded, Herbie went through several "costume changes" throughout the movie, changing his style dramatically from scene to scene.
Again, the font of the 53 is different, and it is slightly bigger and lower down on the front hood. The racing stripe is also missing once more from the sunroof.
For the "Street Racer" look, Herbie is a brighter white, has a rear rear spoiler, and a blue light rear engine cover.
During the demolition derby, Herbie is stripped down with no interior panels or racing seats. The sunroof has been removed.
For the "NASCAR" look, Herbie gets a new, more off-white, paint job, NASCAR sponsor decals, a different rear spoiler than from before, and has super NASCAR tires and wider wheel wells.
More than 25 different Herbie cars were used during the shooting of this film.[citation needed]
SuperBug
A similar series of five German movies called SuperBug[4] also starred a Volkswagen beetle which had no official connection to the Love Bug franchise.
In the first movie, which features a rally across Africa, a rich participant is given a "race car" by his wife, which, as she said: "Won the last by race in the United States". This turns out to be a white Volkswagen beetle that has fallen apart in the middle, sporting a barely visible 53 on it. After a quick repair and a new yellow paint job, it shows a mind of its own, chasing its owner because he insulted the car. It is acquired by a poor man named Ben who gives the car the name Dudu, which is Swahili for bug. In the later movies, the car's mind was portrayed as an artificial intelligence installed in the car.
