I've watched this as a kid but only vaguely remember it. My memories of The Love Bug actually come from the kid’s book I had as a kid! I had a collection of 20-30 books in Spanish of various Disney stories, from Mickey Mouse as Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians, and this one: Cupido Motorizado! And I've been reading these to my own kids now, and this one is a favorite of my 4 year old, Leah. Thankfully, the children's book version of The Love Bug leaves out the drunken stupor and attempted suicide! So that part actually came as a surprise to me when I revisited this movie probably 2-3 decades since I last watched it.
It was a lot of fun to see this story come to life. It's got great production design and some incredible practical effects to make Herbie fall out of a tree and split in half. Yes, some of the visual effects are outdated and it's essentially a live action cartoon, but it's one I’m sure my kids would enjoy today and look forward to showing them.
The other surprise for me were the Asian characters in the third act, which aren't in the book. I was glad they weren’t completely racist caricatures but they were still depicted as outsiders and convoluted the plot. Honestly, most of that could've been excised from the movie - tightening up the story and keeping it at under 90 minutes would've been perfect.
Anyway, it was still a fun rewatch and I'm glad it reminded me to pull this book off the shelf and reread it with my kids!
I've watched this as a kid but only vaguely remember it. My memories of The Love Bug actually come from the kid’s book I had as a kid! I had a collection of 20-30 books in Spanish of various Disney stories, from Mickey Mouse as Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians, and this one: Cupido Motorizado! And I've been reading these to my own kids now, and this one is a favorite of my 4 year old, Leah. Thankfully, the children's book version of The Love Bug leaves out the drunken stupor and attempted suicide! So that part actually came as a surprise to me when I revisited this movie probably 2-3 decades since I last watched it.
It was a lot of fun to see this story come to life. It's got great production design and some incredible practical effects to make Herbie fall out of a tree and split in half. Yes, some of the visual effects are outdated and it's essentially a live action cartoon, but it's one I’m sure my kids would enjoy today and look forward to showing them.
The other surprise for me were the Asian characters in the third act, which aren't in the book. I was glad they weren’t completely racist caricatures but they were still depicted as outsiders and convoluted the plot. Honestly, most of that could've been excised from the movie - tightening up the story and keeping it at under 90 minutes would've been perfect.
Anyway, it was still a fun rewatch and I'm glad it reminded me to pull this book off the shelf and reread it with my kids!
