Herbie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Replica with the characteristic number plate
Younger Herbie replica; the "original" herbies used in the films always had a folding roof or a corresponding dummy
Herbie Logo (from The Great Beetle in the Monte Carlo Rally )

Herbie is the name of a pearly white VW Beetle with a folding roof as the " leading actor " in a series of films by Walt Disney Studios . Herbie is no ordinary car , but a "personality" with its own will and special abilities: The vehicle can drive itself, brings considerable top speeds to the road, scares its opponents with a wheelie and is extremely happy to drain oil on indecent people . His way of dealing with literally overwhelming situations is characterized by his helpfulness and warmth as Herbie's strength of character, as mentioned by Jim Douglas ( Dean Jones ) as the leading actor in the TV series Herbie, The Love Bug .

The start number "53" on the front hood, bonnet and doors and the asymmetrical red, white and blue (from the front) longitudinal stripe on the left side of the car are characteristic.

The film series

As you only find out in the fourth film version from 1997, Herbie was born in 1963 by the German mechanic Dr. Stumpfel built the car for the Americans. He acquired his supernatural powers by chance when a framed photograph of Stumpfel's wife got caught in the molten metal alloy . A badge in the front hood reminds of the year of construction and the designer. In the first and second films, however, it is repeatedly claimed that Herbie and other objects such as traffic lights take on human features through a natural process of development. Hence the explanation in the 1997 television film is contradicting itself.

The first film Ein toller Käfer ( The Love Bug - literally translated as "The love bug") was made in 1968 and is still one of the most successful real-life films from Disney. This was followed by the sequels Herbie Rides Again ( Herbie Rides Again , 1974), Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo ( Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo , 1976), Herbie Goes Bananas ( Herbie Goes Bananas , 1980), a television series (five parts ) under the title Herbie, The Love Bug (1982) and a television film under the title A Great Beetle Returns ( The Love Bug , 1997). In 2005, after 25 years, a sequel was released for the cinema: Herbie: Fully Loaded - A great beetle takes off with Lindsay Lohan , Matt Dillon and Michael Keaton in the leading roles. On the occasion of this new Herbie film, the great Herbie Parade took place on July 30, 2005 on the Straße des 17. Juni in Berlin , during which a new record with 3000 VW Beetles and New Beetles was to be set. However, this only resulted in a new European record with around 1950 vehicles. Following the parade, Herbie: Fully Loaded was premiered on the Waldbühne in the presence of the main actors and the original Beetle “Herbie” in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In Disneyland itself there had already been so-called Herbie Days on earlier occasions , for example on March 23, 1969 for the application of the first feature film and on July 11, 1974 for the release of the sequel. Even today, a food truck in Disney World Orlando in Herbie livery is a reminder of Herbie's successes. At Disneyland Paris, a Herbie cut in the middle is used in a stunt show and another Herbie-look beetle is displayed as a decoration in a souvenir shop.

The script for the first Herbie film is based on the short story Car - Boy - Girl by Gordon Buford .

Herbie is a white (exactly: L87 Volkswagen Pearl White ) Volkswagen export model, built in 1963 with a folding roof. In contrast to the common street model, the entire interior was kept gray because gray, unlike white, caused fewer problems for filming.

Herbie was also initially " cast " and almost didn't become a Volkswagen. In preparation for the film, the producer Bill Walsh had various vehicles parked in the parking lot to watch the reactions of the employees passing by. All cars were eyed critically, a lot of people kicked the wheels, and only at the Volkswagen did a few passers-by start smiling and sometimes even petting the car. Then it was decided: the “Beetle” (Beetle) won the race.

Product placement was not yet common at that time, and so the Volkswagen plant's only involvement was to support production with the delivery of the VW models required. In the first film, A great Beetle , it is noticeable that the characteristic VW emblem on the front hood is missing and that there is only ever talk of a “small car”. Even in the racing scenes, the car is only referred to as the Douglas Special (after Jim Douglas, the film character of the Herbie owner).

A Herbie replica at the MESAP 2013 trade fair in Nedelišće , Northern Croatia

The start number

Herbie got the start number 53 from the producer of the first two movies, Bill Walsh. He stated that at that time he had come across the number 53 very often and that one of his favorite baseball players also wore this number.

According to the website of Count Berghe von Trips , who died in an accident in 1961 , the number 53 pays homage to the early days of the racing driver. It is documented that Graf Berghe von Trips achieved his first successes in a bright VW 1300 with starting number 53 in 1954 at the Intern. Experience the Rhineland Tour of the ADAC on the Nürburgring before using Porsche vehicles .

On his Formula 1 debut in September 2015, Alexander Rossi decided, based on Herbie, to choose # 53 as his personal starting number.

The license plate

Herbie's license plate remained the same in all films: California OFP 857 .

At first it doesn't seem to have any specific reference to Herbie, but there is also some secret information hidden here: Robert Stevenson, the producer of the first Herbie film A Great Beetle , began working with Walt Disney on that film for the first time in August 1957. Herbie's license plate reads California O ur F irst P roduction 8 - 19 57 .

Others

Herbie served as a model for the "main actor" in a German film series about an "intelligent" VW Beetle named Dudu .

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Herbie  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Trips-VW as Herbie's ancestor. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012 ; accessed on November 29, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Alexander Rossi on Twitter. twitter.com, September 17, 2015, accessed September 19, 2015 .
Herbie
Movies

A great Beetle (1968) • Herbie is on the move (1974) • The great Beetle in the Monte Carlo Rally (1976) • Herbie goes crazy (1980) • A great Beetle returns (TV film; 1997) • Herbie: Fully Loaded - A great beetle takes off (2005)

Television series

Herbie, The Love Bug (1982)