The Love Bug

"Herbie will honk his way into your heart."

1968 1h 48m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 666

ComedyFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of its own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.

“Herbie will honk his way into your heart.”

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Cast

Dean Jones
Jim Douglas
Michele Lee
Carole Bennett
David Tomlinson
Peter Thorndyke
Buddy Hackett
Tennessee Steinmetz
Joe Flynn
Havershaw
Benson Fong
Mr. Wu
Andy Granatelli
Association President
Joe E. Ross
Detective

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Stevenson
Writers: Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi, Gordon Buford
Languages: Spanish, English, Cantonese
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Spanish, English, Cantonese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Herbie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Edward Colman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dean Jones and Michele Lee and David Tomlinson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Herbie will honk his way into your heart.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Stevenson directs. Edward Colman behind the camera. George Bruns scores. Cotton Warburton cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Spanish, English, Cantonese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

158 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Spanish, English, Cantonese.
3Part of the "Herbie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Edward Colman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Dean Jones and Michele Lee and David Tomlinson carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Herbie will honk his way into your heart.".
9IMDB entry: tt0064603 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "car race", "sports", "san francisco, california", "suicide attempt".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Edward Colman
Original score: George Bruns
Editing: Cotton Warburton
Costume design: Bill Thomas
Makeup / hair: Otis Malcolm
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $51,264,022
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Love Bug (1968)

Part of

Herbie Collection

Herbie is an anthropomorphic 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, a character that is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film The Love Bug. He has a mind of his own and is capable of driving himself, 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, a racing-style number "53" on the front trunk lid, doors, and engine lid, and a yellow-on-black '63 California license plate that says, "OFP 857". One exception to this is his introduction in The Love Bug, where he initially appears as a nondescript white vehicle with a gray colored fabric sunroof (a.k.a. "ragtop"), the style of sunroof offered on VW Beetles made through 1963.

Also by

Robert Stevenson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2020-07-10
★ 6/10
That lovable Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own A has-been racecar driver in San Francisco (Dean Jones) acquires a Volkswagen Beetle and his luck changes on the raceway. He, his mechanic (Buddy Hackett) and potential girlfriend (Michele Lee) start to see that the cute vehicle has a mind of its own. David Tomlinson and Joe Flynn are on hand as dastardly villains. "The Love Bug" (1969) is a fun Disney racing-oriented fantasy that inspired three sequels by 1980, a television movie in 1997 and a 2005 theatrical sequel with Lindsay Lohan. This is a good flick when you’re in the mood for some innocent fun, but I feel the latter three movies are the best ones: “Herbie Goes Bananas” (1980), “The Love Bug” (1997) and “Herbie Fully Loaded” (2005) with the 1997 one arguably being my favorite (perhaps because it features the Dark Herbie and Alexandra Wentworth). But this is the one that started it all. It features a fitting cast and superb locations. It’s a tad overlong though and should’ve been abbreviated by 15-20 minutes. The film runs 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot entirely in California, including San Francisco, Big Bear Lake, Riverside, Agoura, Santa Clarita, the Monterey Peninsula, Cuddy Valley, San Bernardino National Forest and studios in Burbank. GRADE: B-
CinemaSerf2023-12-27
★ 6/10
David Tomlinson was always pretty reliable as the go-to comic English gent, and he delivers quite well here as the supercilious car dealer "Thorndyke". He only deals in the luxury end of the market, so "Jim" (Dean Jones) is a bit surprised to find a dilapidated old VW Beetle in his yard. There's something very special about this little car, and soon the down-on-his-luck driver and his mate "Tennessee" (Buddy Hackett) have bought him, repaired him and named him "Herbie". Magically, his racing fortunes take an about turn and pretty soon his erstwhile owner is after him back - and is prepared to go to just about any lengths as they prepare to compete in one trans-American race and - to the victor the spoils and the the scrapyard with "Herbie" if he doesn't win. It's interesting that this was released one year after "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968) - so clearly the theme of magical cars was popular. "Herbie" is mischievous and not averse too the odd tantrum which gives him just enough of a personality, coupled with an on form Jones - to create an enjoyable tale of friendship and inter-reliance as well as one of fast-paced antics and even the slightest hint of romance as we tumble down mountains, slide in and out of mud and generally have our own sort of "Whacky Race". It's a bit over-scripted and probably twenty minutes too long - I think we all get the gist and could be getting on with the action a bit more quickly, but it's still a decent watch that reminds us of what was hugely popular in the late sixties.