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 Herbie
the Love Bug - The
enchanted Volkswagen Beetle automobile imbued
with a spirit and mind of its own on the sitcom HERBIE, THE LOVE BUG/CBS/1982. Dean Jones, who
previously starred in the Walt Disney movie
The Love Bug (1968), reprised his role as
Jim Douglas, the car's reluctant owner who was
adopted by Herbie the Love Bug.
To support his new wife, Julie MacLane (Patricia
Harty) and her three children, Jim (and Herbie)
ran a driving school and taught a class in
drivers education for a local high school. The
outcome of such endeavors (with Herbie along for
the ride) led to predictable hilarious results.
Other films to feature Herbie included:
- Herbie Rides Again (1974) as Herbie helps an old lady from
a corrupt real estate developer
- Herbie in Monte Carlo (1977) as Jim Douglas drives Herbie
in a European car rally
- Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) as Herbie helps his new owner
break up a counterfeit ring in Mexico
- Herbie the Matchmaker (1981) as Herbie helps a young couple
find romance
- The Love Bug (TV Movie 1997) starring Bruce Campbell as
Herbie's new owner Hank Campbell who ends up battling a devil car
called "Horace" owned by a nefarious race car driver
In 1974, Disney aired the TV special Herbie
Day in Disneyland taped in their Disneyland
theme park in Anaheim, California.
In 2005, Disney re-engineered it successful
movie franchise and premiered Herbie: Fully
Loaded starring Lindsay Lohan and Michael
Keaton.
In the film, Lindsay plays Maggie Peyton, the
daughter of Ray Peyton, Sr., a former racing
giant whose family had once been part of a
NASCAR dynasty. With renewed hope that his
daughter (Lohan) can return the family to its
former status in the racing world, Ray enlists
Herbie's old friend Kevin (Justin Long) to
prepare Maggie and Herbie for competition in the
NASCAR circuit.
Maggie initially finds Herbie in a local
junkyard while she looked for a car to restore.
When she opened up the Herbie's glove box, she
found a letter that read ""Please take care of
Herbie. Whatever your problems, he will help you
solve them." Maggie sarcastically commented
"Great, a fortune cookie on wheels."
TRIVIA NOTE:
Herbie's license plate number is OFP 857
(California registry, black plate, yellow
letters). The original Disney's Herbie the Love
Bug can be found on display at the Swigart
Automobile Museum in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
See "Articles Archive"
Historically, the Volkswagen car was created in
Germany during the rise of Adolph Hitler in the
1930s who recognized the Volkswagen (or
"People's Car") as one of the iconic symbols of
his new Nazi Regime.
The car (now called "The
Beetle") featured an aerodynamic shape (designed
by Austrian car-body-designer Erwin Komenda) and
an air-cooled, four cylinder, rear-mounted
engine to provide the German people with
affordable, economical transportation.
Ironically, the Nazi Regime has faded away but
the popularity of it's People's Car (developed
by German automotive engineer, Ferdinand
Porsche) continues to grow despite its
association with such a truly despicable
dictator.
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