Herbie

Herbie (born 1963 in Wolfsburg, Germany) is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle, which is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1969 film, The Love Bug. 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

Herbie is a L87 pearl white 1963 Model 117 Volkswagen Type 1 Deluxe Sunroof with yellow-on-black California license plates OFP 857. For the action sequences, Herbie is fitted with a somewhat more powerful, four-cylinder Porsche 356 engine.

The car is given its name by an enlightened mechanic named Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett) in "The Love Bug" after his uncle "Herb", who was a middleweight boxer. His uncle had a perpetually broken nose which resembled the front of a Volkswagen Beetle. [imdb title|0064603|The Love Bug]

The "53" logo was possibly chosen because it was Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale's uniform number. (This was mentioned by a member of the original film's production staff in a Volkswagen enthusiast magazine article circa 2001.)

Whilst the cars used in all the films were painted an original Volkswagen L87 Pearl white, the interiors of the cars (in all films except for the 2005 version, ""), were painted in a non-reflective gray. This was to prevent the reflection of studio lights during filming. By 2005, reflections of studio equipment could be digitally removed in post-production. Fact|date=February 2008 The first Herbie film, "The Love Bug", was based on the story "Car, Boy, Girl" written by Gordon Buford in 1961.

History

Before being passed to Jim Douglas, Herbie was bought by a rich woman for her downstairs 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.

Films

*"The Love Bug" (1969) — Directed by Robert Stevenson
*"Herbie Rides Again" (1974) — Directed by Robert Stevenson
*"Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" (1977) — Directed by Vincent McEveety
*"Herbie Goes Bananas" (1980) — Directed by Vincent McEveety
*"The Love Bug" (1997) made-for-TV movie — Directed by Peyton Reed
*"" (2005) — Directed by Angela Robinson

Television series

A television series, "Herbie, the Love Bug" or Herbie the Matchmaker [imdb title|0083428|"Herbie, the Love Bug" (1982)] , was aired in 1982. Five episodes were made: [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083428/episodes Herbie, the Love Bug Episode List] , Internet Movie Database]
*"Herbie the Matchmaker" — original air date: 17 March 1982 (also known as "The Love Bug")
*"Herbie to the Rescue" — original air date: 24 March 1982
*"My House Is Your House" — original air date: 31 March 1982
*"Herbie, the Best Man" — original air date: 7 April 1982
*"Calling Doctor Herbie" — original air date: 14 April 1982

Versions

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 many subtle changes that the casual moviegoer might miss. 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. 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. 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.

"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. Herbie also now has custom high back seats, being fitted to better conceal the back seat driver. Note the cut-n-shut engine cover again, this time in the scene with flowers. Throughout this film, Herbie has a later asymmetrical-shaped door mirror rather than the round mirror correct to this model year (1963). The "wheelie" Herbie in this film is a special fiberglass car. If one examines the paused picture, it can be seen that the car is much shorter than a standard VW, having a fiberglass body mounted atop a tube chassis and an 1835cc performance VW engine (these cars were built by Speed Unlimited in Glendale, California). Interestingly, the Laser 917 GT Coupe driven by von Stickle in the film was actually a VW-based kit car. 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. One interesting bit of trivia, Herbie is the only car in the world with an official passport. Since it is illegal to fake a passport, Disney had to get special permission from the government to create this very real movie "prop."fact|date=October 2008 It is visible only briefly during the opening scenes of "Herbie goes To Monte Carlo".

"Herbie Goes Bananas" (1980)

The car featured in "Herbie Goes Bananas" is generally identical to the one featured in "Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo" but with the fake filler cap removed, the hood spotlight removed, and the sunroof, which was dark grey in Monte Carlo, is back to the usual light grey. The cars still featured a cowl-mounted aerial. The rust seen on the car in this film is painted on. Unfortunately, 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. The restored Herbie seen at the end of the movie is a later 1965 model; notice the larger windows and wing (fender) mounted turn signals. This film 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. At least one of the floating Herbies used in the movie survives to this day and is owned by a Herbie enthusiast in Florida. A total of 26 VWs were utilized in the filming of "Herbie Goes Bananas". Seventeen of those cars were auctioned off in August 1980 for as little as USD $25 each. Today, fewer than half of the cars from "Herbie Goes Bananas" are accounted for.Fact|date=March 2007 Herbie's name is only mentioned once in the film, by the garage owner.

"Herbie: Fully Loaded" (2005)

In "", there are a multitude of changes when compared with the previous films. The gumball "53" numbers are in a different font. The gumball on the hood is lower, as evidenced by closely examining the chrome bar down the middle of the hood. The car has reverted to a standard interior (body-colored L87 Pearl White, not gray) with standard seats. The aerial has now returned to its original front quarter plate mounting and Herbie has lost his front license plate. The glass of the headlights has also been removed and accessory chrome "eyelids" with the ability to blink have been added. Herbie's front bumper can change shape to smile or look sad, and the sun visors, sometimes the wipers are used as "eyelashes".

"SuperBug"

A similar series (and possibly a parody of Herbie) of five German movies called "SuperBug" [imdb title|0067318|SuperBug] also starred a Volkswagen beetle. 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, (though not as distinctive as in "The Love Bug") 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.Other than the facts that the broken-up car in the beginning looks like Herbie and that it has a mind of its own, there are no further connections to the Herbie series. In later movies, the car's mind was written in as an A.I. installed in the car. Although all movies "starred" the same yellow beetle and similar characters, they didn't share the same continuity. For example, the beetle's owner and the female lead were always played by the same actors, yet they had different names and/or personalities in each film. (In one film, the beetle's owner was a scientific genius, while in another he was a bitter alcoholic).

Popular culture

*The first Herbie Web site was created by David Evans in 1997. Its current location is [http://www.herbiemania.com www.herbiemania.com] .
*In the summer of 2005, Radio Disney offered a promotional drawing to take possession of Herbie, in connection with the release of "Herbie: Fully Loaded." It is unknown, however, as to whether this vehicle is one of those actually used in the film.
*In the video game "", Carl "CJ" Johnson's friend, The Truth says he once drove an "Astral Goat" named Herbie, referring to Herbie the Volkswagen.
*In November 2000, the first Herbie car show took place in Orlando, Florida. The event was known as Herbie Days at Disney 2000.
*In the early days of the Disney-MGM Studios park, Herbie was on the Backlot Tour. This Herbie performed tricks, but burned in an accident. Now, a car from "Herbie: Fully Loaded" is on display for the tour.
*An animated version of Herbie was seen in the parking garage of "Disney's House of Mouse" series in two episodes.

Toys and collectibles

Disney has licensed many Herbie toys and merchandise throughout the years, including:
*Herbie die-cast 1:64 scale cars by Johnny Lightning (all films)
*A radio controlled ZipZaps Herbie ("Fully Loaded")
*1:6 scale radio controlled Herbie and VW Bus ("Fully Loaded")
*Volkswagen New Beetle model with Herbie's stripes and numbers by Bburago.

References

External links

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* [http://www.herbiemania.com Herbie Mania]
* [http://www.lovebugcentral.com Herbie Fans]
* [http://www.lovebugfans.com LoveBugFans.com]