Vinylmation Vault – Park 3 Series “Herbie”
This weeks Vinylmation Vault comes from the old Engine No. 3 firehouse and a very special VW Beetle from Herbie and his doppelganger Vinylmation from Park Series 3 Herbie!
For some reason the Park 3 Series was not as popular as other Park Series have enjoyed for some reason or another. Regardless if you are a friend of Herbie then this little Vinylmation is for you!
For some reason the Park 3 Series was not as popular as other Park Series have enjoyed for some reason or another. Regardless if you are a friend of Herbie then this little Vinylmation is for you!
Herbie the Love Bug was one of my 1st memories I can recall being a kid and watching it on a HUGE VCR that the Library lent out to watch VHS movies.
But even a further back might have been from my Mothers 1963 White VW Beetle that I absolutely loved as a kid, I loved sitting in the way back just above the cars rear engine where I could hear it purr along the road. I think that is where I also fell in love with automobiles in general as well. All right lets get back to Herbie.
Vinylmation Herbie is a great homage to the big screen Herbie in many ways. Catching my eye almost immediately are the tires in great detail including the white rim and silver gray hubcaps and even the yellow strip as well.
Mickey’s head houses the cab portion of Herbie with front and rear windows along with the patriotic Red, White and Blue Racing Stripes.
Mickey’s Body houses the hood and Trunk of the car with the continued red, white and blue, stripe along with the #53 proudly displayed along Mickey’s chest.
The number 53 comes from the producer of the film, Bill Walsh, who was a big Dodgers fan and picked the number after the pitcher of the team, Don Drysdale. With a neat addition of the Californian License plate with the tag reading OFP 857 which comes from The Love Bug’s producer, Robert Stevenson, who first worked with Walt Disney in August of 1957, so OFP 857 represents: Our First Production, 8-57.
Some nice touches are on the feet with the front of Mickey’s feet housing the headlight and even the turn signals just above them. And on the back of Mickey’s shoes are the distinguished taillights.
Herbie, the actual car is as everyone knows is a VW Beetle.The back-story how the VW won the role of Herbie is rather an interesting story. Walt and his team wanted to find a car with as much personality as possible that people would relate to. So they put a, bunch of different cars on the studio lot and watched how different members of the staff at the studio, would interact with the different cars. When people would get to the Beetle, nearly every person would give the little car a little pat on the car indicating that people were gravitated towards its cuteness and its personality of the car.
However, if you can tell in earlier films all VW logos were removed for copyright infringement. Funny that today companies will pay big to have their product placed in a movie especially if the main product in this case the VW Beatle is the star of the movie.
The internet is filled will some great movie tidbits about the Herbie, from how many cars were used in a certain movie, how some effects created and probably the most fun bit of research are all of the Disney Clubs are out there for people who own a Beetle themselves.
My friend Brent FromScreentotheme.com has a Beetle though in the new body style but the car turns head almost anywhere he goes. Some of the perks of owning a Herbie are that wherever he goes waves an car honks sound as he drives along the road. A nice perk is how the car is treated when he parks it at the Parks and the Cast Members usually send Herbie to a closer parking spot as most Cast Member say Herbie is Family and Family get special parking privileges! Having ridden in Herbie along with my son we have experienced these perks along the way. Another Favorite is when we usually return to the car after a day at the park it is not uncommon to find people posing for pictures in front of Herbie. But one of the greatest things to see is when a young child gives Herbie a big warm hug, that right there is a wonderful feeling to see a little fan of Herbie embrace the car for the real Herbie.
That’s all the time we have for this weeks episode of Vinylmation Vault I hope you enjoyed the story of one of my favorite Disney Automobiles. See you next time!
Credit:
www.redbubble.com/people/stitzerb/works/9449134-herbie-the-love-bug-vinylmation