The Love Bug (1968)

The first film about the loveable Volkswagen Beetle that is actually alive, and still the best, “The Love Bug,” released in 1968, remains a classic Disney live-action movie that’s a must-see for every child. Movies4Kids said in their review, “In fact, legend has it that when the film was written, no one knew what car would ‘play’ the role – Disney apparently hired a bevy of cars which they left outside the studio for crew members to look at, including a Toyota and a Volvo. The crew members would inspect each car – but when most of them got to the VW in the line-up, they petted it instead, so the Beetle got the job.”

The story is about race car driver Jim Douglas, played by Dean Jones, who is famous for crashing rather than winning races. After he visits Peter Thorndyke’s (David Tomlinson) car showroom, a white Volkswagen Beetle likes Jim and follows him home, and despite Jim staying clueless about the Beetle being “alive,” his mechanic Tennessee (Buddy Hackett) figures it out and encourages Jim to race the car (naming it Herbie). Herbie also sets up Jim with Carole Bennett, played by Michelle Lee, and Thorndyke being the villain, plus some amazing races and car stunts that should excite younger audiences.

The success of this film led to five sequels, which we will be looking at over the next few days.

My brother decided to have us all sort the different categories of Disney films from what we thought was best to worst. When it came to the live-action Disney films, I let my brother know that I had never seen any of the Herbie movies. He recommended them, so I checked them out. This first entry is the best of the bunch. If you haven’t seen it, you should. This is a really good movie.

Tomorrow we will look at the first sequel in “Disney Month 2023.”