Herbie
Herbie is the name of a pearl white VW Beetle with sunroof as a " protagonist " of a movie series of the 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 speed limits on the road and can up walls and along drive. Characteristic is the mounted on the front hood, hood and the doors start number " 53 " and the asymmetrically extending on the left half of auto red-white- blue ( from the front) stripes.
The film series
How can I find only in the fifth film version of 1997, Herbie was built in 1963 by the German mechanic Dr. Stumpfel, who designed the car for the Americans. He received his supernatural powers by accident when a framed photograph of Stump rock wife fell into the still liquid metal alloy. A plaque on the front hood is reminiscent of the year and the designer. In the first and second film, however, repeatedly asserted, Herbie and other items such as street lights that annähmen through a natural process of development of human traits. Therefore, the statement in the TV movie from 1997 is contradictory.
The first movie " The Love Bug " ( The Love Bug - literally translated as " The Love Bug " ) dates back to 1968 and is still one of the most successful live-action movies from Disney. It was followed by the sequels " Herbie ride " ( Herbie Rides Again, 1974), " The great beetle in the Rally Monte Carlo" ( Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo, 1976), "Herbie turns by" ( Herbie Goes Bananas, 1980), a television series ( five parts) under the title "Herbie, the Love Bug " (1982 ) and a television film under the title " the Love Bug returns " ( the Love Bug, 1997). Was released in 2005 after 25 years of a sequel for the movie " Herbie: Fully Loaded - The Love Bug takes off " with Lindsay Lohan, Matt Dillon and Michael Keaton in the lead roles. On the occasion of this new Herbie film took place on 30 July 2005 that the " Strasse des 17 Juni " in Berlin, the great "Herbie -Parade " takes place, in which a new record with 3,000 VW Beetles and New Beetles should be placed. However, this was just a new European record with around 1,950 vehicles. Following the parade was Herbie: Fully Loaded premiere at the forest stage in the presence of the actor and the original Beetle "Herbie " in the Federal Republic of Germany.
In Disneyland himself had already given to previous occasions so-called "Herbie Days", so on 23 March 1969 on the application of the first movie and on July 11, 1974 theatrical release of the sequel. To this day, a snack car in Disney World Orlando in Herbie paint on the success of Herbie. The Disneyland Paris that is cut in the middle Herbie is at a Suntrust show used and issued another beetle in Herbielook as decoration in a gift shop.
The script for the first Herbie film based on the short story " Car - Boy - Girl" by Gordon Buford.
Herbie is a white (exactly: Volkswagen L87 Pearl White ) Volkswagen export model, built in 1963 with sun roof. In contrast to the standard road model, the entire interior was decorated in gray, because gray for the filming, as opposed to white, prepared fewer problems.
Even Herbie was first " cast " and almost became no Volkswagen. In preparation for the film was producer Bill Walsh put various vehicles on the parking lot to watch the reactions of the people passing by. All of the cars were viewed critically, many people were against the wheels, and only with the Volkswagen caught some passers-by to smile and caressed the car sometimes. After that was decided: the " Beetle" (beetles) has made the race.
Product placement was still a foreign word and so, the only involvement of the Volkswagen plant to support the production with the delivery of the required VW models. In the first film, " The Love Bug ", therefore, one is struck that both the characteristic VW emblem missing on the front hood and that is always spoken only by a "small car ". Even in the racing scenes of the car is described as " Douglas Special" ( according to Jim Douglas, the film character of Herbie - owner ).
The start number
The start number 53 received Herbie from producer of the first two movies, Bill Walsh. This indicated that he was very often encountered the number 53 at the time and that also a favorite of his baseball players wore this number.
According to the website of the 1961 fatalities Graf Berghe von Trips, the number 53 is an homage to the beginnings of the racer. It has been shown that Graf Berghe von Trips his first success in a bright VW 1300 with the start number 53 in 1954 at the Intern. Rhine country tour of the ADAC experienced at the Nürburgring before he fell back to the vehicles of the company Porsche.