Walt famously once said “You can’t top pigs with pigs.” Which the world has since interpreted as Walt saying that “… I don’t like sequels.”
Which simply isn’t true. In Walt’s lifetime, his studio turned out at least two sets of sequels.
- “The Absent Minded Professor” — which was released to theaters in March of 1961
- and its sequel, “Son of Flubber” — which was released to theaters in January of 1963 (less than two years later)
And:
- “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones” — which was released to theaters in March of 1964
- and its sequel, “The Monkey’s Uncle” — which was released to theaters in August of 1964 (just 17 months later).
Walt was obviously an innovator and a storyteller.
But by the early 1960s, he was also a practical businessman who was always on the lookout for additional revenue streams – which Disney could then funnel into expanding his family fun park in Anaheim, CA.
Likewise underwrite the cost of developing Project Sunshine in Florida (which eventually became The Walt Disney World Resort).
Walt Disney Movies About Dogs
Walt detected a pattern — a certain type of Disney-produced film that audiences then seemed to respond to — he’d then have this Studio lean into that pattern.
Case in point:
- “Old Yeller” came out in December of 1957 and did big business, Walt made note of that.
- Then when “The Shaggy Dog” came out in March of 1959 and did even bigger business at the box office
… Walt said “Okay. That’s officially a thing. People like Disney-produced movies about dogs.”
He then had his Studio’s literary acquisition team go out and snatch up the movie rights to a bunch of books about dogs.
And then over the next five years, Walt Disney Productions released:
- “Nikki: Wild Dog of the North” — in July of 1961
- “Greyfriars Bobby” — later that same month
- “Big Red” — in June of 1962
- “Savage Sam” in — June of 1963
- “The Incredible Journey” — in November of 1963
- “The Ugly Dachshund” — in February of 1966
That’s six dog-based movies in just five years time. And every one of these films turned a tidy profit for Walt Disney Studios. Likewise gave Walt a movie that he could eventually turn into a two part episode of his “Wonderful World of Color” anthology series (which aired on NBC on Sunday nights).
Disney Films Starring Fred McMurray
Okay. So this is Walt Disney, the guy with an eye out for a new trend at the box office. So as soon as “The Absent Minded Professor” comes and does big box office, Walt asks himself “Was that because people like movies with Fred McMurray in them or was that because people like movies with flying cars in them?”
Given that Fred had previously starred in “The Shaggy Dog” for Disney Studios (which had also been a huge hit for the Mouse House), Walt hedged his bet. He had his Studio produce a series of new movies that starred McMurray:
- “Bon Voyage!” — released in May of 1962
- “Son of Flubber,” the sequel to “Absent Minded Professor” — released in January of 1963
- “Follow Me, Boys!” — released to theaters in December of 1966
- and “The Happiest Millionaire” — released to theaters in November of 1967
And since all but one of those movies (i.e., “Son of Flubber”) seriously under-performed at the box office, it was clear that Fred McMurray wasn’t exactly the huge movie star that Walt had hoped he’d be.
Disney Movies About Cars & “Magical Things”
Remember that Walt was hedging his bet here. So — while he was ordering his studio to make a bunch of Fred McMurray movies — Walt was also telling Disney’s literary acquisitions team to “ … find me a bunch of books about cars that do weird & magical things.”
During this time, Disney Studios’ acquired the film rights to Upton Sinclair’s “The Gnomobile” (His 1936 novel which Disney would then release to theaters in July of 1967) as well as … Well, not a book. And not a script really. More of a treatment for a film which Gordon Buford had written called “Car, Boy, Girl.”
“Car, Boy, Girl” – Herbie, The Love Bug Origin Story
This story can out of Buford’s childhood growing up on a farm in Colorado. Where he watched his mother & father regularly fight with the family car. Which — seemingly on a whim — would sometimes run and transport the family into town and back. And sometimes not.
Buford described how “ … Neither my mother’s gentle persuasion nor my father’s cussing could persuade this automobile out of its quiet, stubborn rebellion.” Gordon added fun details like how his mother would always hold her breath as she went to press her foot down on the starter. As if that would somehow placate the car. Convince it to start for her.
Walt liked the potential he saw in “Car, Boy, Girl.” How a stubborn little car with a mind of its own could eventually bring a couple together. He thought that this sounded like just the sort of story that Walt Disney Productions should make. The sort of movie that his audience would eat right up. So Walt had Disney acquire the film rights to “Car, Boy, Girl.”
But then Walt died in December of 1966. And “Car, Boy, Girl” sat in a slush pile of scripts on Walt’s desk as the studio’s employees mourned and the Company tried to figure out how it would carry on without its founder.
“Car, Boy, Girl” Gets New Life
Luckily Walt has left behind a cadre of loyal creative lieutenant. People like Bill Walsh, the producer of previous Disney hits like “The Shaggy Dog,” “The Absent Minded Professor,” “Son of Flubber,” and — more importantly — Disney Studio’s biggest hit to date, “Mary Poppins.”
At that point, Bill was pretty sure that he had the formula for a successful Disney film down pat. As he said in a 1970 interview:
“I make movies for people between the ages of nine and fourteen. It’s a very intelligent and very honest audience. I don’t make movies to make personal statements. I make movies hoping they’ll make money so I’ll be able to make more movies.”
Bill Walsh
So with this goal in mind, Bill got access to Walt’s office in the Summer of 1967 (The place had been locked up tight since his passing in December of 1966) and started going through that slush pile of scripts on Walt’s desk. With the goal of finding a film that would appeal to nine to 14 year-olds that would also make some money for the Mouse. And there — in the pile — was “Car, Boy, Girl.”
Walsh read through Buford’s script treatment and thought “A stubborn little car that bring a couple together. I can do something with that.”
But the question now was: Which small car should be the star of Walsh’s next project for Disney Studios?
How Herbie Became a Volkswagen Beetle and the Love Bug
To get the answer to that, Bill did something unusual. Early one morning, he had a dozen or so small cars — a couple of Toyotas, a handful of Volvos, an MG and one pearl white Volkswagen Beetle — parked out in front of the studio commissary. Then Walsh got himself a cup of coffee, sat out on the commissary patio and then watched Disney employees arrived to work that day.
What they’d do when they saw all of these small cars parked out in front of the commissary.
What Bill noticed that morning proved to be significant. For while those Disney employees admired the Volvos & that MG & the Toyotas, the only car that they petted was the Volkswagen.
So that small car wound up being the star of … Well, this movie had a lot of names as it went into production in the Fall of 1967. At various times, it was called:
- “Beetlebomb”
- “Wonderbeetle”
- “Bugboom”
- “Thunderbug”
- “The Magic Volksy”
- and “The Runaway Wagen”
What made coming up with a title especially difficult was that Volkswagen wouldn’t allow Disney to use the real name of this car in their movie. This is why — when you watch the first Herbie movie — you’ll hear him called “the small car,” “the Douglas special,” and the “compact car.” But they never call him what he actually is. Which is a Volkswagen Bug.
Finally … Well, Walsh needed to call the title character of his new movie something. So — since they started shooting this movie’s racing scenes in the Fall of 1967 and that Summer had supposedly been “The Summer of Love” … Bill took those two ideas and mashed them together, winding up with the name “The Love Bug.”
Disney Releases of “The Love Bug”
By the Summer of 1968 (when Walsh finished shooting all of the scenes for “The Love Bug” with Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett and David Tomlinson on the Disney Lot and they began roughly assembling that footage), it became apparent that “The Love Bug” was something special. The sort of film that — if promoted properly — could be a huge, huge hit for the Studio.
So Disney’s PR team assembled an elaborate release plan for “The Love Bug.” It would first be released in just 50 cities around the US in late March of 1969. They’d let word-of-mouth build for a few weeks. And then — just as drive-in movie season arrived — make hundreds of other prints of this family comedy available to screen.
But to help make sure that “The Love Bug” stayed front-of-mind in April, May & June, Disney Studios’ PR team staged an amazing stunt. They contacted thousands of Volkswagen owners in Southern California in February of 1969 and invited them to come to Disneyland Park to take part in a “Most Lovable Bug” contest.
Disneyland’s “Most Lovable Bug” Contest – The Love Bug Parade
The idea was that the owners of all of these Volkswagen Bugs would first decorate their cars and then drive them down to Anaheim. Then 1200 of these vehicles would be parked in the Disneyland parking lot on March 23, 1969. 300 entries would be allowed in four different categories:
- Best Personality
- Most Toy-Like
- Most Comical
- and Most Psychedelic (It was the 1960s after all)
25 finalists would then be selected in each of the four categories. And then those 100 cars would be paraded through Disneyland Park (rolling in from backstage right onto Main Street, U.S.A. Then driving up to the Hub, taking a right onto Matterhorn Way and motoring on through Fantasyland. Eventually exiting backstage to the left of “it’s a small world”).
At the end of the day, the four winners in each category would be parked in front of “it’s a small world.” With the owner / owners of the winning entry in Disneyland’s first-ever “most Lovable Bug” contest then being given the keys to a brand-new 1969 Volkswagen Beetle by Dean Jones himself (the star of “The Love Bug”).
March 23, 1969 started off as a cold grey day but eventually brightened up. That was honestly the only thing that went wrong of “Love Bug Day” at Disneyland. Over a thousand Volkswagen owners showed up to take part in that day’s “Most Lovable Bug” contest. They filled the “X” section in this theme park’s parking lot.
Major media outlets & publications from around the country turned out to cover the event. You can watch a 12 minute-long film taken on that day which shows a wide variety of the entrants as well as covering the actual Love Bug parade through Disneyland Park (footage take from the Skyway shows all of these decorated Volkswagens rolling around the Hub and then drive up Matterhorn Way). Closes up with footage of Dean Jones handing the keys to a new Volkswagen to Morton & Barbara Allen of Studio City, CA.
Hugely successful PR stunt. Did just what Disney hoped it would do. Photos from the event turned up in all sort of national magazines (“Time, “Life,” “Look”) plus footage take on that day aired on TV news shows around the country.
The Success of “The Love Bug” Franchise
The PR helped turn “The Love Bug” into Disney’s largest hit since … Well, “Mary Poppins.” Of all the movies that were released in 1969, only “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” sold more tickets / earned more money than “The Love Bug.”
Which is why the Company — of course — greenlit a sequel (the first of three, actually. Not to mention that “Love Bug” reboot starring Lindsay Lohan — “Herbie: Fully Loaded” — that Disney sent out into theaters in June of 2005). “Herbie Rides Again” arrived in theaters in June of 1974.
Another Disneyland Love Bug Contest
With the hope that lightning might strikes twice, Disneyland Park staged another “Love Bug” -related contest. This time, Southern California VW owners were invited to “Beautify their Bug.” And the cars were judged in three categories, rather than 4:
- Most Comical
- Most Nostalgic
- And Most Patriotic (We were just two years away from the start of American Bicentennial after all. And earlier that same month, “America on Parade” had just premiered at Disneyland Park & WDW’s Magic Kingdom
This contest was held on June 30, 1974. And — once again — almost a thousand VW owners turned up to participate. With the 25 finalists in each category then being allowed to parade through Disneyland.
By the way, the footage that was take at this “Herbie Rides Again” promotional event was then edited together and turned into a syndicated TV special, which then aired on over 80 TV stations around the country.
These “Love Bug” contests became so well known that … Well, if you watch that “Disneyland Showtime” episode of the “Wonderful World of Color” TV show (the one which originally aired on March 22, 1970. where Kurt Russell & the Osmond Brothers visit that theme park to commemorate the grand opening of the Haunted Mansion), E.J. Peaker shows up in that program with a VW Bug that she’s supposedly decorated herself. Only to then be told that Disneyland’s “Most Lovable Bug” contest was held the year previous.
Disney Parks Love Bug Attraction
By the way, it’s worth noting that “Herbie Rides Again” did so well at the box office in the Summer of 1974, that — in early 1975 — the Imagineers were tasked with coming up with a “Love Bug” attraction for the Disney Parks.
There are a few pieces of concept art for this proposed attraction that have popped up online. One shows this “Love Bug” ride recreating that moment from “Herbie Rides Again” where that VW rolls up the support cables of the Golden Gate ‘til he reaches the very top of that bridge. Whereas another piece of concept art shows the proposed finale for this attraction. Which echoes the ending of the original “Love Bug” movie, in that — just before the finish line of a race — this VW-shaped ride vehicle would then split in half. And the Guests seated in the back seat would suddenly find themselves competing with the people in the front seat to see who would get the checkered flag.
From what WDI insiders have told me, Disney Company managers thought that the Imagineers’ plans for a “Herbie” ride were cute, but not necessarily strong enough to warrant the construction of an actual attraction.
The Love Bug would eventually find his way into a Disney theme park, though. How many of you remember — as you were experiencing the Backstage Tram Tour at Disney-MGM Studios — how you’d encounter Herbie popping a wheelie and then revving his edge / blowing out clouds of exhaust as he sat in a driveway on Residential Street.
Really tricked out. Lights would flash. Horn would honk. Car doors & hood would open. Passengers on the tram would be squirted with water spraying from Herbie’s windshield wipers.
Herbie was there on display from May of 1989 (when the Tram Tour first opened) ‘til the early 2000s when this tricked-out vehicle suffered an electrical fire and basically burned up in front of hundreds of tourists. It was later replaced with a static prop car from “Herbie: Fully Loaded.” Backstage Tram Tour closed September of 2014.
If you’re at WDW these days and want to see “The Love Bug,” you need to go to the All-Star Movies Resort and seek out Buildings 6 & 7. Those two wings of this hotel are bisected by an oversized Herbie.
This article is based on research for The Disney Dish Podcast “Episode 368”, published on April 4, 2022. The Disney Dish Podcast is part of the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network.