The Love Bug (1968)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Don DaGradi and Bill Walsh, based on the story "Car-Boy-Girl" by Gordon Buford
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Starring Dean Jones, Michele Lee, David Tomlinson, Buddy Hackett, Joe Flynn, and Benson Fong

Features:

Released by: Buena Vista
Rating: G
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Own it

Jim Douglas (Jones) is a racing driver down on his luck. He just can't seem to find the right car to win with. Then Herbie enters his life. Herbie just happens to be a plain white Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own. Only Douglas' friend and mechanic, Tennessee Steinmetz (Hackett) really believes in the little car's abilities from the very beginning. Instead, Douglas believes that it's his driving that's been winning all the races--but when Douglas almost loses Herbie because of his own ego, he has to rethink his take on that special little car.

This is just one of those classic Disney movies. After all, it couldn't go wrong with both Buddy Hackett and David Tomlinson in the cast. Dean Thomas was infinitely charismatic as Herbie's reluctant owner. He, Hackett, Lee, and Tomlinson made a perfect team to take on the challenge of not being upstaged by the car. Not only that, but the story is told so well as to make you feel like that automobile is actually feeling his way through the film.

The DVD is an amazing collection of supplemental material. As you probably already know--how could you avoid knowing--Disney was famous for promoting his films with "behind the scenes" featurettes and the like, mostly with the twist that the fantastic idea behind the movie was, in fact, real life. What's great about this one is that, in what is left of it, Dean Jones, Michele Lee and the crew talk about Herbie as though he is a real actor in the movie.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. On the first disc, there is a commentary track featuring Jones, Hackett, and Lee. This is unbeatable, because they actually got the three actors back in the studio to record a commentary track before, God forbid, they are lost to us forever. They were not in the studio at the same time; Lee's track seems to have been cut separately, but they are all three there. Jones and Hackett enjoy talking about the different race tracks they went to as well as all the people that they worked with. Lee likes talking about her wardrobe and how young she was when she did the movie. Rounding out the features on the first disc is a Disney short cartoon called "Susie, The Little Blue Coupe". It's just a presentation of the cartoon short that used to be shown before the feature films in cinemas years ago and thus is a nice addition to the set.

Okay, so back to disc two. After you look at the original featurette, or what has remained of it over the years, you move on to a featurette called "Searching for Herbie" that talks about the different stages of Herbie's life in all of the movies and television series. Most of these differences are cosmetic, but they are definitely there. Then you have "The Love Bug Production Archives" which presents you with quite a few options. The production gallery itself is a very well edited and conceived collection of still shots from the set of the original movie...set to the film's theme song. Then you move on to the promo video that has survived from when they had "Love Bug Day" at Disneyland in 1969. People from all over brought their VW's to the parking lots and they decorated them in several thousand different ways.

The best feature on this section of the disc, however, is the retrospective look at Jimmy McDonald, foley artist. He is the man responsible for creating most of the sound effects in the Disney cartoons and movies over the years. Sadly, he passed away in 1991, but this mini-documentary is a wonderful look at his life and his contribution to the world of movies. In the audio archives, there are several of the original radio spots for the movie that you can listen to including one voiced by Gary Owens (of Laugh-In fame). Then you can view two different scenes from the movie with your choice of audio tracks present. You can listen to the dialogue, sound effects, or the composite of both put together. The last thing on the first menu is a look at the 1969 Disney Studio Album, a collection of shots from Disney in 1969 (naturally), including some concept sketches for what Disney wanted Disneyworld and Disneyland to look like.

The second bonus material menu has three little featurettes. The first, called "That Loveable Bug" is a collection of interviews on camera with the cast and current Disney executives. It talks about script development, the world of the movie, the characters created by the actors, and, of course, Herbie himself. "The Many Lives of Herbie" is a look at the life of the car and at all the promotional films and stunts that were made to promote the car's life. "Herbie Mania" is about the craze for the little white cars that was created. You can still find people who decorate their older VW bugs with the classic number "53" on the hood and they interview two of them; one of them who has actually adapted his car with a number of servo motors run by a laptop that allows it to "show off" like Herbie did in the movies.

Even though this DVD doesn't bear the moniker "Vault Disney" (which we still don't quite get why they dropped that choice series name), the menu on the second disc does. No matter what it's called, this series of Disney movies is a great way to celebrate the movies made when the studio was in its powerhouse days. The supplemental material coupled with the film itself make this a definite addition to anyone's collection.

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