Herbie Rides Again

Herbie is back in gear -- revved up and ready for more madcap comedy adventure in this sidesplitting sequel to Disney's popular smash hit, THE LOVE BUG! This time Herbie's leading lady is award-winning actress Helen Hayes, superb in the very first screen comedy of her illustrious career. Aided by co-stars Ken Berry and Stefanie Powers, she's out to save her beloved Victorian firehouse home from the wrecking ball of greedy real estate tycoon Keenan Wynn, Disney's most lovable villain. It's up to Herbie and his bug battalion to "come through in the clutch"! Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a really great time!|In San Francisco, Alonzo Hawk's dream of building a skyscraper in his name is thwarted by Grandma Steinmetz, who sits stubbornly in her firehouse home on the property he needs. Hawk sends his nephew, Willoughby, to charm Mrs. Steinmetz who, along with a beautiful airline hostess boarder and the magical Volkswagen Herbie, convinces to stay out of the whole mess. After many chases and confrontations, Herbie emerges victorious, and both Mrs. Steinmetz and Willoughby find romance.|This first sequel to the Disney favorite THE LOVE BUG was filmed on location in San Francisco in an obsolete cable car at the Garden Court of the Sheraton Palace Hotel and on the Golden Gate Bridge. While the cast was quite different from the first film, the car, Herbie -- a 1963 sunroof model 1200 Volkswagen -- was the same.|Bill Walsh, the movie's producer and writer, explained where he got Herbie's number, 53, from: "I was seeing lots of 53 on television while I was developing Herbie as a character. It was [Los Angeles Dodgers] pitcher Don Drysdale's number, among other things."|Keenan Wynn reprises the role of the evil Alonzo Hawk in this film, a role he played in '60s THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR and SON OF FLUBBER â??- two films that were not part of the LOVE BUG series.