Jason's Disney Movie Review: 'The Love Bug' (1969)

The first movie in my quest to watch and review all the movies and films made by Disney starts with the 1969 movie 'THE LOVE BUG.' Not sure how long this will take or if I will be able to complete it but I am going to have some fun trying and hopefully watch some some great movies! All the movies and films will be chosen at random and right now come from the Walt Disney Pictures library which will include Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar movies as well as the True-Life Adventure movies. It will not include at this time movies and films from Touchstone Pictures or Hollywood Pictures or from any of the studios that were acquired by The Walt Disney Company such as Marvel Studios, LucasFilms and 20th Century Studios to name a few. Those may come later. My goal is to post at last one review a week and possibly more in some weeks. For each movie I review I will include some basic information such as release dates, synopsis, cast and crew as well as my thoughts and a rating or score that can be used to put together my all-time favorite Disney movie list. 

'The Love Bug' had a limited release on December 24, 1968, and generally released on March 13, 1969. A Walt Disney Productions distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company, Inc. Based on the 1961 short story, “Car, Boy, Girl” by Gordon Buford. A down-on-his-luck racing driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) gets more than he bargains for when he acquires a used Volkswagen Bug. The car is named “Herbie” by his mechanic and friend, Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett), who realizes the cars odd behavior is more than a few mechanical faults. Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson), the snobby car dealership owner and race car driver who sold “Herbie” to Jim, goes crazy when Jim starts winning races. Thorndyke tries find out the secret “Herbie” is hiding while also sabotaging it. In the meantime, Jim falls in love with Thorndyke’s assistant Carole (Michele Lee.)

Directed by Robert Stevenson. Produced by Bill Walsh. Written by Don DaGradi, Bill Walsh and Gordon Buford (original story.) Music composition by George Bruns. Starring Dean Jones (Jim Douglas), Michele Lee (Carole Bennett), David Tomlinson (Peter Thorndyke) and Buddy Hackett (Tennessee Steinmetz.)

The Love Bug was the second highest-grossing film of 1969, earning $51.2 million at the domestic box office. The only film to make more than the “The Love Bug” that year, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” At the time it was also Disney’s second highest-grossing film of all-time, second only to “Mary Poppins” (1964.) The film spawned numerous sequels, “Herbie Rides Again” (1974,) “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” (1977,) “Herbie Goes Bananas” (1980) and “Herbie: Fully Loaded” (2005.) Released on VHS for the first time on March 4, 1980. Released with 12 other Disney films, the first time Disney released any of its titles for home media consumption. Re-released on VHS on November 6, 1985, September 11, 1991, October 28, 1994, and September 16, 1997. Released on DVD for the first time on May 20, 2003. Re-released on DVD on September 2, 2012, as part of a 4-movie collection that included The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo and Herbie Goes Bananas. Released on Blu-ray as a 45th Anniversary Edition on December 16, 2014, as a Disney Movie Club exclusive title. Also available on Disney+. 

Film Technical Specifications – Rating: G | Runtime: 1 hour and 48 minutes (108 minutes) | Sound: Mono (RCA Sound Recording) | Color: Color (Technicolor) | Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1.

"The Love Bug" Unofficial Official Trailer from Disney+

Jason's Thoughts

I watched this movie on Disney+ on March 22, 2023. This is classic Disney family entertainment that I have seen numerous times throughout my childhood and adulthood! It has comedy, romance and car that has become an icon in the movie industry. I love this movie and love Volkswagen Bugs, not sure if my love for the movie came first or my love for the car though? This won't be the last time you see some of the names associated with this film, like Dean Jones, David Tomlinson, Buddy Hackett, Robert Stevenson, Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi and George Bruns who are all Disney Legends. Some of the special effects are dated compared to what we have now but that doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of this film for me.

Here are some fun facts about "The Love Bug" you may or may not know: 

Herbie was a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle deluxe ragtop sedan painted in Volkswagen L87 pearl white. Herbie's interior was painted a special non-reflective grey so the camera and studio lights would not reflect. Under normal circumstances, the interior would be a matching white.

According to the filmmakers in a DVD documentary, Herbie's number 53 came from a Disney director producer, that liked retired baseball pitching star, Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers who wore #53. 

My Score: 90.00 (Check out the Jason's Movie Review page to see all the movies I have watched and reviewed.)

Have you seen “The Love Bug?” What are your thoughts on the movie? Share in the comments below, I’d love to hear them!