The Love Bug is the first in a series of comedy films made by Walt Disney Productions that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. It was based on the 1961 book Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford. The movie follows the adventures of Herbie, Herbie's driver Jim Douglas , and Jim's love interest, Carole Bennett . It also features Buddy Hackett as Jim's enlightened, kind-hearted friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, a character who creates "art" from used car parts. English actor David Tomlinson portrays the villainous Peter Thorndyke, owner of... an auto showroom and a SCCA national champion who sells Herbie to Jim and eventually becomes Jim's racing rival. Jim Douglas is a down-on-his luck racing driver, reduced to competing in demolition derby races against drivers half his age. Jim lives in an old fire house overlooking San Francisco Bay with his friend and mechanic, Tennessee Steinmetz, a jolly Brooklynite who constantly extols the virtues of spiritual enlightenment, having spent time amongst Buddhist monks in Tibet, and builds 'art' from car parts.
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| Release date: | December 24, 1968 |
| Directed by: | Robert Stevenson |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 108 Minutes |
| Producer: | Bill Walsh |
| Editor: | Cotton Warburton |
| Music by: | George Bruns |
| Cinematography: | Edward Colman |
| Screenplay by: | Gordon Buford, Don DaGradi, Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi |
| Genre: | Comedy |