Well, we have made it to the final review of Automobile Month. Today, I'll be taking on my first ever live action film from Disney as I review...
The Love Bug
The Plot
On the surface, The Love Bug may look to be a racing film and while that is part of the movie, there is much more to it than that. As this film takes the concept of a relationship between man and car and explores it even further. They go past that and actually give the car, a personality and more importantly heart.
Characters
Now this is where the film really shines as the characters are the strongest part of the film and they help to keep the film interesting and exciting.
Important Characters
Herbie played by Himself
Okay, let's be honest. What is the real reason, we watched this movie? It was for Herbie and to see all the cool tricks that he did. Oh sure, the human characters are nice and all but Herbie steals the show. In many ways, Herbie is like that of a child and scared easily by many things. He also gets jealous quite easily and he isn't above pulling tricks on his rivals. Herbie is quite an amazing feat in how this film was able to take a car set in a live action film and give him a personality. As I said he is very childlike and some ways it is almost as though he thinks of Jim and Tennessee as his caretakers. Two scenes that amazed me were when Herbie was being towed away and his honking actually sounded as though he was crying. The other scene that really surprised me was when Herbie was on the edge of the bridge and he was about to commit suicide and I really felt bad that he was going to go ahead and kill himself until Jim stopped him. Something that amazed me was for a character that isn't human, Herbie actually had the best range of emotion. When he was jealous, you could feel his jealousy and as I stated when he was sad, I felt bad for him and when he was happy, I had the biggest grin on my face. For those of you wondering about the credit, in the film Herbie was credited as playing himself.
Jim Douglas played by Dean Jones
Now Jim is the most important human character in this film. When the film starts, he is a down on his luck driver that hasn't won a race in a long time and everybody is telling that he should stop and get a real job. He first comes across Herbie at a car shop owned by the snooty Mr. Thorndyke and he is angered by the way he is seeing Thorndyke treat the little car and he sticks up for it. Later on, he takes Herbie home and that starts the wacky antics and he doesn't know what is going on. For the longest time, he doesn't believe Herbie is alive and that he is winning all the big races on his own. It takes Herbie running away for him to realize that Herbie is real and has heart. When he finally realizes this, he warms up to Herbie and in some aspects starts to treat him like a friend. In the end, Jim is a character that isn't a jerk but he isn't the biggest jerk in the world. Though I think he does go through some character development thanks in part to Herbie. When he starts to open to the belief that Herbie is real, he becomes a more likable character. Granted, he was easy to like before hand but at the start of the film, he just seemed to off a chip on his shoulder. Granted, that is understandable as I'd be upset if I had lost that many races. Now in some regards, it does feel like his character was a little generic in areas but not so much that I couldn't enjoy his character. Not my favorite human character but still a fairly strong character in the end and he perhaps has one of the best lines that shows he truly believes in Herbie would be
“They make ten thousand cars, they make them exactly the same way, and one or two of 'em turn out to be something special. Nobody knows why”.
Supporting Characters
Tennessee Steinmetz played by Buddy Hackett
Well, well we come to another film starring Buddy Hackett. However unlike Scuttle in The Little Mermaid, I actually liked the character of Tennessee. He is quite likable and he doesn't get on my nerves. Tennessee may not be the brightest character but he has a lot of heart and he is the first person to believe in Herbie and he knows that Herbie is something special. I think part of the reason he is so likable would be his charm and how much he cares for Herbie. I think part of the reason that Tennessee is my favorite human character comes from how protective of Herbie he is and how he is able to understand and care for the little car. Also in some ways, he reminds me of Mater, he doesn't look too sharp but he proves that there is more to him than his looking like a fool.
Carole Bennett played by Michelle Lee
Now while Carole does serve the role of love interest but there is much more to her than just that as she is much more than that as she is a strong, independent woman willing to stand up for herself. Maybe a little too strong as she comes off rather cold in the beginning but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was rooting for her and Jim to end up together. (Even if I have seen the movie multiple times) She is the second person to believe in Herbie. I do appreciate the fact that Carole is a strong willed female but should come as no surprise considering most of the female characters I have talked about in the past.
Mr. Wu played by Benson Fong
Mr. Wu doesn't come into the film later on about midway through the film. Once again, I refer to my term as misleading character. With Mr. Wu, though he started off as a character that I thought was going to be an antagonist. And while he wasn't very kind to Jim and Tennessee when they first met, his tune changed after he talked with Tennessee and it was shown that he's an all right guy. Part of me feels like he was meant to be the wise old man and that worked for the most part. He was shown to be a gentle old man with a lot of heart and that worked. He felt like a character that someone could go to for advice and they would get sound advice from this character.
Music
The Love Bug Theme
Ah, The Love Bug theme. Quite a great and perhaps underrated piece of Disney music, if I may say so. It is just so much fun and it fits well with that lovable car. It just makes me more excited to see Herbie and I love how it sounds as though the engine. That is just some genius work on George Bruns, the composer of this theme. It may be a bit simple but it is fun and it works to get me excited to watch this film.
The Rival
Mr. Peter Thorndyke played by David Tomlinson
Now I'm labeling Thorndyke as a rival not because he wasn't a threat but because the title of rival suits him better. Some of you may recognize the face and name. That is because he played Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins. Anyways, the character of Thorndyke is best described as being snooty, uptight and hates Herbie. Though admittedly he does cause one funny scene when he pours Irish Coffee into Herbie and that causes Herbie to get drunk. That is just one example of how he tries to sabotage the heroes. His actions are certainly ruthless and over the top but that works in this type of film.
My Final Thoughts
As I said when talking about the plot, this film at it's core is a racing movie. But it has a lot of heart and likable characters. The story may be on the simple side but here again, I feel that the characters are more important and they help to keep the movie interesting. I'd say if you haven't seen any of the Herbie films, give this one a watch but avoid the '97 made-for-TV remake/reboot. It's not the greatest film but it does have a nice cameo from the original cast. I'd say if you want to watch any Herbie films, seek out the classic 4 and Fully Loaded isn't that bad. In the end though, this was a good start to the Herbie franchise and it introduced a lovable little bug.
So ends, Automobile Month. I hope you have enjoyed this special look at all of this Disney automobile stuff.
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