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Herbie is an anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle, which is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1969 film The Love Bug. In the franchise, the car has a mind of its own and is capable of driving itself, 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 and a racing-style number "53" on the front hood, doors, and engine lid. One exception to this is his introduction in The Love Bug, where he initially appears as a nondescript white vehicle with a grey-colored fabric sunroof (a.k.a. "ragtop"), the style of sunroof offered on VW Beetles made through 1963.

Herbie's origins are firmly established in The Love Bug. Before being passed to down-on-his-luck race car driver, Jim Douglas (Dean Jones), Herbie was bought by San Francisco socialite Mrs. Van Luit for her upstairs maid. However, Herbie was returned the following day, because the maid had been having problems with him. Douglas has an earnest appreciation for what he deems "a decent piece of machinery" and eventually purchases the unassuming "little car."

In Herbie Rides Again, after several successful races with Herbie, Douglas decides to enter foreign racing circuit, while his mechanic friend Tennessee is residing in Tibet to help his ailing guru. Before Tennessee departs, he leaves Herbie in the care of his great aunt, the widowed Mrs. Steinmetz (Helen Hayes).

By Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Douglas returns from Europe and enters Herbie in the Trans-France Race, stretching from Paris to Monte Carlo. This time around, Douglas recruits mechanic friend Wheeley Applegate (Don Knotts) to assist, particularly when lovesick Herbie falls "hood over wheels" in love with a Lancia Scorpion named Giselle. Unfortunately, Giselle is driving by competitive female driver Diane (Julie Sommars). Herbie also finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when the stolen Etoile de Joie diamond is stashed in his gas tank.

In Herbie Goes Bananas, Douglas has decided to retire from racing after the Monte Carlo race and pass Herbie onto his nephew, Pete Stancheck (Stephen W. Burns). Stancheck has plans to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Primeo, based in Mexico. In the interim, Herbie befriends an orphan named Paco, and together, wreak havoc onboard cruise ship the Sun Princess, resulting in overzealous ship Captain Blythe (Harvey Korman) to force Herbie to "walk the plank." Herbie is dropped into the sea, becomes a rustbucket as a result of immersion in the salt water, and is eventually rescued by Paco and disguised as a taxi. The two stop a gang of con artistes from stealing ancient Inca gold. Paco gives Herbie the nickname "Ocho", the Spanish word for the number 8, purportedly because the digits 5 and 3 in Herbie's racing number, 53 were added together (5+3=8). At the end of the film Paco says, "Five and three are eight, anyone knows that."

After the Mexico debacle, Douglas takes Herbie back and opens a driving school in Herbie the Matchmaker.

Hank Cooper (Bruce Campbell) becomes to owner of Herbie in the made-for-television movie "The Love Bug", named after the original movie. The movie reveals Herbie's true origins as it ventures to explain how Herbie's auto-maker actually designed him to be a "living machine". Herbie's maker is forced to build an "Evil Herbie" which is responsible for killing Herbie at one point in the film. Cooper, in respect for his beloved vehicle, buries Herbie, but the return of Jim Douglas sets Cooper on the path to rebuild the fallen love bug and sets him to race his evil doppelganger. At the end of the movie, the Evil Herbie uses a laser to cut Herbie in two, but much like his trick in the first film, Herbie splits and races to a successful finish.

Herbie is then passed from owner to owner until he was bought by Maggie Peyton in Herbie: Fully Loaded. Maggie takes Herbie to two places he has never been before: a demolition derby; and NASCAR racing. It's also in this film that Herbie was a newer model VW Bug.

• The Love Bug (1968) — Directed by Robert Stevenson
• Herbie Rides Again (1974) — Directed by Robert Stevenson
• Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) — Directed by Vincent McEveety
• Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) — Directed by Vincent McEveety
• The Love Bug (1997) made-for-TV movie — Directed by Peyton Reed
• Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) — Directed by Angela Robinson

A television series, Herbie, the Love Bug or Herbie the Matchmaker^[1], was aired in 1982. Five episodes were made:^[2]

• "Herbie the Matchmaker" — original air date: 17 March 1982 (also known as "The Love Bug")
• "Herbie to the Rescue" — original air date: 24 March 1982
• "My House Is Your House" — original air date: 31 March 1982
• "Herbie, the Best Man" — original air date: 7 April 1982
• "Calling Doctor Herbie" — original air date: 14 April 1982

Herbie's appearance remained consisted throughout the first four film entries as well as the 1982 television series (Herbie the Matchmaker). There were only some minor, subtle changes. The 1997 TV movie and Herbie: Fully Loaded featured major overhauls in Herbie's appearance, as there were different production crews working for Disney by this time.

In the original film The Love Bug, the original racing stripes differ from those in later movies; the stripes do not cover the valances or louvers of the car and the blue is a lighter shade. Also, Herbie features color-keyed running boards, while in later films the running boards are standard black.^[3]

During the film, depending on the scene, the wheels change from standard VW wheels (although fitted with plain hubcaps with no VW logo) to specially widened wheels on the racing Herbies. During one scene (when Tennessee is hanging out of the window), the "53" logo (a.k.a. "gumball") on the passenger-side door is missing. The door is also cut along the lower edge at an angle to enable the car to tilt over to the right on two wheels.^[3]

One of the modified racing Herbies featured a Porsche 356 engine, brakes and KONI shock absorbers. All Herbies in The Love Bug had the VW badges removed from the hood and featured plain non-VW hubcaps. The hood-mounted VW logo was replaced with a plain disc of the same diameter, colored to match the body. All VWs logos were removed to avoid any trademark conflicts.^[3]

In Herbie Rides Again, Herbie features revised racing stripes, with the original blue switched to a dark navy. In addition, the stripes were applied over the valances and louvers, and would remain so until 1982's television series Herbie the Matchmaker. Herbie also received a hood-mounted spotlight, and his running boards were now the more conventional black.^[3]

Additionally, Herbie was running on standard wheels yet again. Volkswagen also promoted the film by having a Type 1 Beetle, complete with Herbie livery, in every showroom. There are various model errors in this film, such as the later "big window" (post-1964) Beetles being used. Also of note is the "cut-n-shut" engine cover after the warehouse break-in. The Beetle used was a late model, having a more bulbous flat-bottomed lid with an earlier rounded bottom edge welded on.

After the success of The Love Bug, the film was heavily endorsed by Volkswagen, whose sales of the Beetle were seriously lagging. As such, the company insisted that the VW logos appear on Herbie. Both the hub cap VW logo and hood-mounted VW logo were reinstated.

In Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, the car is again fitted with wide racing wheels (Goodyear GT radials), and also has an external fuel filler cap. Post-1968 Beetles did feature the fuel tank accessible on the right side behind the fender: the silver cap itself, however, was fake and added for the film's storyline.^[4] With the addition of the fuel filler, the antenna is now a retractable unit fitted on the front cowling, near the windscreen wipers. Herbie still sports a hood-mounted spotlight, but this time it features a black "Carello" cover. Throughout this film, Herbie has a later asymmetrical-shaped door mirror. There were a total of nine VW's used in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. Many of these cars were recycled for use in Herbie Goes Bananas.^[3]

In Herbie Goes Bananas, the hood-mounted light and silver gas cap was removed. He still had his grey-bucket seats, the Goodyear GT Radial tires and rims. But also Herbie's sunroof was the origanal light grey rather than the dark grey from Monte Carlo. The rust seen on the car in this film is painted on. The car that "walks the plank" in the movie was never recovered from the sea. It was tossed overboard from the SS Coromuel ferry ship (not The Sun Princess cruise ship). The car is somewhere between La Paz and Baja California.

Herbie Goes Bananas also featured the same later model door mirror as Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo. Herbie set a Guinness World Record as the first car to go through the Panama Canal during filming in 1979. Herbie's name is only mentioned once in the film by the garage owner.^{[citation needed]}

It is important to remember that Volkswagen ceased the production of Beetles in America one year before the film's release, making the acquisition of available Beetles more challenging.

In the made-for-television film, The Love Bug, there was some significant changes. The font of the 53 changed, and its position on the front hood is higher up. The racing stripes are different sizes (the blue is usually wider than the red and white), and the shade of blue reverts to the lighter version used in the original 1969 movie. The sunroof is a solid white (vs. grey) and is missing the racing stripe. Herbie's tires are standard Beetle tires, instead of the racing tires that appeared in Herbie Goes Bananas.^[3]

In Herbie: Fully Loaded, Herbie went through several "costume changes" throughout the movie, changing his style dramatically from scene to scene.

• Again, the font of the 53 is different, and it is slightly bigger and lower down on the front hood. The racing stripe is also missing once more from the sunroof.
• For the "street racer" look, Herbie has a brighter white paint, a whale-tail rear spoiler, intake vents ahead of the rear wheels, lowered suspension, wider tires and a windowed rear engine cover through which blue LED lighting shows (similar to modded PC cases).
• During the demolition derby, Herbie is stripped down with no interior panels, racing seats or special body parts. The sunroof cover has been removed, although the cutout remains to play important roles during the derby.
• For the "NASCAR" look, Herbie gets a new, more off-white paint job, NASCAR sponsor decals, a different duck-tail rear spoiler, wider NASCAR tires and matching wheel wells.

More than 25 different Herbie cars were used during the shooting of this film.^[3]

• Herbie makes 2 apperences in House of Mouse. To see them, click here.

1. In this episode, Herbie (who is parked next to Susie) tells Max if he wants a car he can get one. (Herbie's honks are really soundclips of him from The Love Bug).

2. In this one, Goofy is put in charge of the intire place. A little later Minnie comes up to Max and says "where's you're dad?" Max nervously points at the parking lot. Goofy has stacked all the cars into a tower! Herbie is stacked on top of a fancy red sports car, and underneath a green Nissan. Goofy stares proudly at his tower and says, "Now that's parallel parkin'!".

• Herbie at IMDb