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Herbie the Volkswagon is one of my childhood favorites and this is the movie I discovered Him.

Seeing this movie again, I ended up loving it all over again and think it is a pretty good family movie.

A weird thing about this movie is that even though it was filmed in 1973, it looks like it was made in the mid sixties. I guess it was Stephanie Powers's character's sense of style and the heavy use of sets and rear projection.

The Volkswagon beatle has always had a persona to it and the Herbie movies highlight it.

"The Love Bug" and "Herbie Rides Again" are great examples of the child like spirit of Disney at their best.

Agreeable Disney's love bug Wolkswagen plenty of action , slapstick , laughs and fun . This comical Herbie story concerns about Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn) who is an ambitious property developer who has bought lots of blocks of land in the Downstreet district in order to build a shopping mall and apartments . There is one obstacle however ; an old woman , firefighter's widow named Steinmetz ( Helen Hayes) who won't sell the one remaining lot that Hawk needs to carry out with his gigantic plot . So Hawk resorts to all manner of traps , legal or otherwise, to get it. Fortunately, the elderly widow Steinmetz has an ace under her sleeve in the form of Herbie , the fantastic car which she receives from her niece , as she takes a magical Wolkswagen Bug named Herbie with a mind of its own . Miraculous Herbie takes her for a ride and stumbles into Hawk's evil hoodlums who pursue through skyscrapers , bridges and buildings . As always, Herbie the love bug , is helping the young couple (Ken Barry , Stefanie Powers) find romance but encountering all sorts of hilarious obstacles along the way . Meanwhile Herbie with the number 53 dreams that intervenes in the biggest race cars located in Daytona to compete in the Grand Prize , a challenge among top competitors circle the world's most famous racing circuits and quickly slipping in the ranking.

This ordinary Disney slapdash film displays great loads of amusement , fun , giggles , race cars and is pretty entertaining . It's an enjoyable movie for kids and for those who like cars racing round and round and bounds and leaps by Herbie . The actors seem to enjoy immensely , as Ken Berry and Stephanie Powers play of sympathetic manner and the mean-spirited owner Keenan Wynn , as excessive villain , is top notch . Colorful cinematography and jolly soundtrack including the lively leitmotif , usual in the Herbie's series. This is a delightful film , the original film turns out to be : ¨The love bug¨ (1969) by Robert Stevenson , followed by ¨ Herbie rides again , Herbie goes to Montecarlo , Herbie goes bananas ¨ among others and a 1997-for-television-movie and a TV series , the most part filmed by Stevenson and Vincent McEveety and usually starred by Dean Jones . Furthermore recent version starred by Linsay Lohan , Justin Long and Matt Dillon , being directed by Angela Robinson. This " Herbie rides again ¨versi on is amusing and with lots of laughs but is a familiar film . The motion picture is correctly directed by Robert Stevenson .Worthwhile seeing , it's a great fun to watch and there are loads of entertainment in this one . It' one of the best and funniest of ¨Herbie¨ series .

Helen Hayes is the single-minded "Mrs. Steinmetz". She is determined not to be forced from her alleged "firetrap" home by the mall-building millionaire "Hawk" (Keenan Wynn). Luckily she has "Nicole" (Stefanie Powers) to help out - and she proves especially useful when "Hawk" sends his gullible nephew "Willoughby" (Ken Berry) to try and charm the old woman from her home. Now she is the aunt of "Tennessee" (from "Love Bug" - 1969) and happens to be the new owner of "Herbie" and it's clear that our honourable VW is unwavering is a desire to help the old girl too. Battle lines are drawn and soon the wrecking balls are at the ready, the cleaning foam hoses are primed and we get ninety minutes of rather predictable slap-stick capers. It's not that this is a bad film, indeed both Hayes and the megalomanic Wynn are both quite good, it's just that there's nowhere near enough of our magical car, and what we do get is all just a bit routine. Berry is a relatively charm free foil for what limited humour there is and the story is all just a bit too thin and procedural. It comes across as a sequel for the sake of it, rather than because anyone involved had any passion for the project, and though perfectly watchable it is equally perfectly forgettable.

I grew up on Herbie movies. I even "met" Herbie in the Panama Canal Zone during the filming of Herbie Goes Bananas. (Thank you Mrs. Kelstom!) I hadn't seen a Herbie movie in 25 years. They're exactly as I remember. These films were made back when Disney still had a keen eye on children's imaginations. Is the film cheesy? Absolutely. Intentionally so. How else could a movie about a "living" car turn out? Helen Hayes is charming. Stephanie Powers is spunky. Keenan Wynn is almost perfect in his role as the over-the-top Disney villain. OK - the flashbacks to Herbie's racing career are too long. But the film is strong enough to succeed despite that setback. This film is classic early Disney - full of impossible fantasy and magical inventions. If you have children - this film is a must.

"The Love Bug" runs this entry a very close second, but the energy of "Herbie Rides Again" makes it perfect for kids. There are many great scenes and sequences that appeal to the younger set, and the normally 'bo-ring' opening credits are spiced up with stock footage of buildings being demolished. That immediately made me pay attention when I was a little whipper-snapper!

Disney should have stopped this series at this point. The next film, "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo," was pedestrian, and only saving grace was that it, A) features Don Knotts, and B) is 1,000 times better than "Herbie Goes Bananas," the only good thing about which is the whacky title.