Today in History: ‘The Love Bug’ opens in American cinemas
'The Love Bug' was released just as VW Beetles were gaining widespread popularity in the United States.
On this day in 1969, The Love Bug, a Walt Disney movie about the adventures of a Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie, opened in theatres across the United States.
The film, which was based on a 1961 book called Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford, centred on down-on-his-luck racer Jim (played by Dean Jones) who goes on a winning streak after teaming up with Herbie. Other characters in the film include the evil Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson), Jim’s rival on the racetrack; Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett), Jim’s friend who makes art from used auto parts and Jim’s girlfriend Carole (Michele Lee).
The Love Bug was a box-office success and spawned the cinematic spin-offs Herbie Rides Again (1974), Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977), Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) and Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), with the latter starring Lindsay Lohan.
According to Bug by Phil Patton, the movie was a hit “due in large part to its PG rating and the fact that the great baby boom had peaked in 1960, providing Disney with a bumper crop of nine-year-olds”. Patton also noted that The Love Bug offered an escape for Americans: “The day the film opened, the news was full of the costs of Vietnam: 432 Americans had died in the most recent Vietcong offensive and Defense Secretary Melvin Laird was asking for increased spending on the war”.
Information courtesy of: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-love-bug-opens-in-theaters.
