The perfect film to watch at the end of a day strolling around vintage Volkswagens at Stanford Hall, the five Disney-made films about the Beetle with a heart are my equivalent to Nik’s beloved Bond franchise. Originally a series of four made between 1969 and 1981, Herbie Fully Loaded was added to the set in 2005, when like with recent Bonds, the franchise was rebooted (restarted or rebuilt in this case).
I was taken to see all of the films about the lovable Volkswagen when they were originally released in the cinema, but haven’t watched one for years, even though they do occasionally make up part of a Bank Holiday TV billing (clearly when Bond’s not available). I wasn’t expecting anything approaching excitement – these were family films in the 1970s remember – just lots of Disney schmaltz, sentimentality, and fun, which this film delivers in spades.
Released in 1977, nine years after the series opener The Love Bug, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo sees the racing Bug reunited with his original driver, Jim Douglas (Dean Jones). On the premise that it’s 12 years since the duo won their last title, the pair enter the Trans-France race, bringing along Douglas’ rubber-faced mechanic, Wheely Applegate (Don Knotts). Starting in Paris, the race winds down through the French countryside to Monte Carlo, and though fictional, was reportedly based on the Monte Carlo Rally that ran in 1976 or 1977.
Along the way, Herbie becomes the unwitting suspect in a jewel robbery, falls in love with a Lancia Beta Montecarlo (‘Giselle’) – while ‘her’ driver, Diane Darcy (Julie Sommars) is eventually charmed by Jim Douglas – and has many scrapes in the race itself. No, the story isn’t the strongest part of the film; the bits that impress are, as always in a Herbie movie, the sight of the famous 53-wearing Beetle doing all his tricksy stuff.
Not only do we see Herbie take a shower and woo his ‘female’ companion (even ending up riding on the Baton Rouge down the Seine), but he also pirouettes, sighs with admiration, and does the staple Herbie film trick of pulling more than a wheelie or two. It’s all harmless family fun of course, but impressive nevertheless.
It’s interesting watching this set of adventures of the little white car now, as back then I didn’t know what other cars formed the Bug’s opponents in the movie’s race scenes. Now though, 32 years later, and with a fondness for older and more classic machinery, I can tell the DeTomaso Panteras from the Porsche 917s, the Lancia Stratos’ from the BMW 3.0 CSis, and the Ferrari Daytonas from the Datsun 260Zs.
And, back then I no doubt thought that only one car was used for the multi-talented Herbie, when obviously several of differing vintages were used, some with Porsche engines for the faster shots and stunts. Most films like this these days would favour CGI, but Disney kept doing things the long way around; the only way there was. That makes Herbie a much more ‘human’ and believable, if dated, character. Much like the Herbie lookalike that I always used to want in my grown-up garage…
Tags: Cars, Culture, Volkswagen