The Love Bug
The Love Bug (1968), sometimes referred to as Herbie the Love Bug is the first in a series of comedy films made by Walt Disney Productions that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. It was based on the 1961 book Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford.
Contents
Plot [ edit ]
Dean Jones.
That evening, Jim returns home in a brand new Lamborghini 400GT. having agreed to sell Herbie to Thorndyke to pay the remaining installments he owes on it. Jim states he needs a 'real car' for the upcoming El Dorado road race. but finds no sympathy from Tennessee, Carole, or Herbie, who jealously proceeds to smash up the Lamborghini, proving to Jim once and for all he has a mind of his own. By the time Thorndyke arrives to collect Herbie, the Volkswagen is nowhere to be found, and Jim sets off into the night hoping to find Herbie and make amends before the car is seized by Thorndyke's goons. After narrowly escaping being torn apart in Thorndyke's workshop, and a destructive spree through Chinatown. Herbie is about to launch himself off the Golden Gate Bridge when Jim reaches him. In his attempt to stop Herbie from driving off the bridge, Jim himself nearly falls into the water. Herbie pulls Jim back to safety, but then is impounded by the San Francisco Police Department. There, Mr. Wu, a Chinese businessman whose store was damaged during Herbie's rampage, demands compensation that Jim can no longer afford. Using the Chinese he learned while in Tibet, Tennessee tries to reason with Wu, and learns that he is a huge racing fan who knows all about Jim and Herbie's exploits. Wu is willing to drop the charges in exchange for becoming Herbie's new owner. Jim agrees to this, as long as Wu allows him to race the car in the El Dorado. If Jim wins, Wu will be able to keep the prize money but has to sell Herbie back for a dollar. Wu replies to this proposal in clear English: 'Now you speak my language!'.
The El Dorado runs through the Sierra Nevada mountains from Yosemite Valley and back. Before the start of the race, Thorndyke persuades Mr. Wu to make a wager with him on its outcome. Thorndyke (with his assistant Havershaw acting as co-driver ) pulls every trick in the book to ensure he and his Thorndyke Special are leading at end of the first leg of the race. As a result of Thorndyke's shenanigans, Jim (with Carole and Tennessee as co-drivers) limps home last with Herbie missing two wheels and having to use a wagon wheel to get to the finish line. Despite Tennessee's best efforts, it looks as if Herbie will be unable to start the return leg of the race the following morning. Thorndyke then arrives and claims that this makes him the new owner of the car. Wu regretfully tells Jim of the wager and that in accordance with its terms this is true. Thorndyke, thinking he is Herbie's new owner, gloats to Jim about what he's going to do to Herbie and kicks Herbies front fender, but Herbie then unexpectedly lurches into life and chases Thorndyke from the scene, showing he is more than willing to race on. Thanks to some ingenious shortcuts, Jim is able to make up for lost time in the second leg and is neck and neck with Thorndyke as they approach the finish line. In the ensuing dogfight, Herbie's hastily welded - together body splits in two. The back half of the car (carrying Tennessee and the engine) crosses the line just ahead of Thorndyke, while the front (carrying Jim and Carole) rolls over the line just behind, meaning Herbie takes both first and third place.
In accordance with the terms of the wager, Mr. Wu takes over Thorndyke's car dealership (hiring Tennessee as his assistant), while Thorndyke and Havershaw are relegated to lowly mechanics. Meanwhile, a fully repaired Herbie chauffeurs the newlywed Jim and Carole away on their honeymoon.
Cast [ edit ]
Production notes [ edit ]
Story and development [ edit ]
Dean Jones credited the film's success to the fact that it was the last live action Disney film produced under Walt Disney 's involvement, just two years after his death in 1966. Although Jones tried to pitch him a serious, straightforward film project concerning the story of the first sports car ever brought to the United States, Walt suggested a different and much better car story for him, which was Car, Boy, Girl . a story written in 1961 by Gordon Buford.
Car, Boy, Girl, The Magic Volksy, The Runaway Wagen, Beetlebomb, Wonderbeetle, Bugboom and Thunderbug were among the original development titles considered for the film before the title was finalized as The Love Bug.
Herbie competes in the Monterey Grand Prix. which, except for 1963, was not a sports car race. The actual sports car race held at Monterey was the Monterey Sports Car Championships .
Peter Thorndyke's yellow "Special" is actually a 1965 Apollo GT. a rare sports car built in the United States by International Motorcars in Oakland, California. It used an Italian-designed body along with a small-block Buick V8 engine. This car exists today, is in the hands of a private collector, and has been restored as it was seen in the movie with its yellow paint and number 14 logo. [ 3 ]
"Herbie" [ edit ]
Before film began production, the titular car was not specified as a Volkswagen Beetle. and Disney set up a casting call for a dozen cars to audition. In the lineup, there were a few Toyotas. a TVR. a handful of Volvos. an MG and a pearl white Volkswagen Beetle. The Volkswagen Beetle was chosen as it was the only one that elicited the crew to reach out and pet it.
The Volkswagen brand name, logo or shield does not feature anywhere in The Love Bug . as the automaker did not permit Disney to use the name. The only logo can be briefly seen in at least two places, however. The first instance is on the brake pedals during the first scene where Herbie takes control with Jim inside (on the freeway/when Herbie runs into Thorndyke's Rolls Royce), and in fact it is shown in all the future scenes when Jim is braking. The second instance is on the ignition key, when Jim tries to shut down the braking Herbie. The later sequels produced, however, do promote the Volkswagen name (as sales of the Beetle were down when the sequels were produced).
Donald Drysdale's number 53 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1984.
The car was later given the name "Herbie" from one of Buddy Hackett 's skits about a ski instructor named Klaus, who speaks with a German accent as he introduces his fellow ski instructors, who are named Hans, Fritz, Wilhelm, and Sandor. At the end of the skit, Hackett would say "If you ain't got a Herbie (pronounced "hoy-bee" ), I ain't going."
Herbie's trademark "53" racing number was chosen by producer Bill Walsh. who was a fan of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player Don Drysdale (Drysdale's jersey number, later retired by the team, was 53).
Walsh also gave Herbie his trademark red, white and blue racing stripes presumably for the more patriotic color and came up with the film's gags such as Herbie squirting oil and opening the doors by himself. [ 4 ]
Benson Fong, who played Mr. Wu, said that when he and the others were dragged along the dirt by Herbie, it was like being pulled by 40 horses. The 1961-65 Volkswagen Beetles actually were rated by the SAE at 40 horsepower (30 kW) in factory configuration (though only 34 horsepower (25 kW) by the European DIN system which measured engine output as installed in the car with cooling fan and exhaust system attached)
Herbie has his own cast billing in the closing credits, the only time this was done in the entire series of films.
Today, only a handful of the original Herbie cars are known to exist. Car #10 was recovered from a warehouse in Pennsylvania, and has been preserved-still sporting its original paint from the movie. [ 5 ]
Deleted scenes [ edit ]
The bonuses on the DVD provide two deleted scenes named "Used Car Lot" and "Playground".
A scene shot, but not included in the final cut of the film, featured Jim calling at a used car lot prior to his visiting Thorndyke's auto showroom. This missing sequence has long since been lost, and all that remains is the script and a single black-and-white photograph of Jim talking with the salesman at the lot.
An unfilmed scene at the end of the story that was scripted and storyboarded was to have shown Herbie playing with children at a nearby playground prior to taking the newly married Jim and Carole off on their honeymoon.
Stock footage [ edit ]
The opening scene of the demolition derby cars is footage from the film Fireball 500 . Parts of this scene can also be found in a 1966-model year dealer promotional film by Chevrolet, titled Impact '66 .
Shooting locations [ edit ]
You kids change partners more than square dancers!
The Dating Do Si Do is the tendency for a long running piece of fiction to recycle characters. In shows dealing with relationships especially, the tendency is that the longer the story goes on, the greater the likelihood that everyone will at some point have been in a relationship with (or at least slept with) everyone else. Well, usually not quite everyone, but still, the number of people having been in a relationship with other people is probably greater than could be expected under normal circumstances.
Usually it seems to be done to avoid introducing new characters. Unlike a Love Dodecahedron. a series that enjoys this dance does not necessarily have any of the couples being in competition with each other.
As can be noted, this is especially common in long-running series that still keeps a fairly regular cast.
‘Dating Naked’ Cast Member Suing After Censor Fail, Says She Was Too Naked
Dating Naked is a new breakout series on VH1, and while many are amused by the show, one cast member is not. Jessie Nizewitz is suing the network’s operator Viacom and two production companies for $10 million because she was “too naked” on her episode.
For those who haven’t seen the VH1 show, Dating Naked . the whole concept of the show is, well, dating naked. Two individuals, a man and woman, are sent to paradise to date naked because they claim they’ve tried every other form of dating and have come up empty.
The idea behind dating naked is that with no clothes, there are no barriers and therefore a “real” connection can possibly be formed. The two individuals first go on a date with each other, and then they each go on two more dates. By the end of the show, the original daters are asked to pick who they would like to continue dating, and that’s about it! While the show is all about being dating naked, cast members are guaranteed to have all their naughty bits blurred out.
According to E! News . Nizewits, a 28-year-old New York model filed the lawsuit Wednesday because she says all her naughty bits weren’t properly blurred out during her episode on Dating Naked . Entertainment Weekly went on to say that Nizewits claimed that VH1 flashed her crotch during one segment where she was playfully wrestling with her date, and after viewers noticed the blur malfunction, she says she endured jokes on social media at her expense:
“Plantiff… was shocked, horrified and outraged to observe this intrusion into her privacy for all to see,” reads the suit filed by attorney Matthew J. Blit in New York on Wednesday. “Immediately Plaintiff became subject to ridicule by those watching … Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer extreme emotional distress, mental anguish, humiliation and embarrassment…”
While Dating Naked does show nude backsides, they do make sure that breasts and genitals are significantly blurred out. Nizewits even admit that the blurs often show less then wearing a bikini:
“If you watch an episode, you will see that the blur actually makes it less revealing than a bikini would.”
While Nizewits has noted in a statement that she knew she would be naked on the show, she says that she wasn’t expecting the whole world to see her privates:
“Obviously, I did not expect the world to see my private parts, this is not what I anticipated or what any other contestants on the show anticipated.”
Do you believe that Jessie Nizewitz should sue over the crotch flash on her episode of Dating Naked . Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Roundup: Dating Naked Cast Member Sues Show; Talib Kweli Goes Off on CNN; Meet Mr. Met
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Life without Braxton Miller begins for Ohio State. [SI ]
The 1994 Penn State football team through their own words. [Football Letter ]
A story about the time Jim Harbaugh had a bathroom emergency. [The Cauldron ]
The Demise of Fantasy Football. [Sports on Earth ]
You’ll need 15+ minutes, but this is a (good) deep read on a prominent DC-area AAU coach/convicted drug dealer. [SI ]
People are already complaining about some minor changes to Twitter. [The Verge ]
Freshman suffers horrific-sounding injury via an accident at frat house. [Bro Bible ]
10 things you might not have known you can do with beer. [Popular Mechanics ]
12 fun facts about The Simpsons . [Esquire ]
A day in the life of Mr. Met. [Rolling Stone ]
User Reviews
Excellent Chemistry Times Two!
29 July 2014 | by 3xHCCH (Quezon City, Philippines) – See all my reviews
Kenji delos Reyes is one of the passengers of a plane that crashed en route to Bicol. His son Kenneth, a rebellious teenager who just wished his dad dead the night before, wants to go there to look for him. Kelay is a kooky girl who also wants to look for Mr. delos Reyes because she wants to reunite him with his first love, her aunt Athena, who is on her death bed. As typical local rom-coms go, Kenneth and Kelay start out hating each others guts. As circumstances forced to them to take a long road trip to Bicol together, Kenneth gets to know his dad more and the pivotal role Athena played in his father's life.
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