''Superbug'' is a West German children's comedy film series released between 1971 and 1978, each concerning the adventures of a sentient

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

and his driver companion. The eponymous film series, and its protagonist, is essentially similar to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's ''Herbie the Love Bug'' franchise which also concerned the exploits of a seemingly intelligent car, but unlike

Herbie Herbie, the Love Bug is a fictional sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, who has been featured in several Walt Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film ''The Love Bug''. He has a mind of his own and is capable of driving himself, ...

which uses magic to show off anthropomorphism, the Superbug instead uses modern technology to display signs of sentience. The ''Superbug'' series appeared to be an attempt by director and main actor

Rudolf Zehetgruber Rudolf Zehetgruber (born 16 September 1926) is an Austrian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor who directed 17 films between 1960 and 1985. He is most known for writing and directing the Superbug/Dudu film series that featured his ...

to bring the "Love Bug" concept to Germany, where the Beetle originated, while giving it the flair of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

's gadget-equipped vehicles. The main human character is named ''Jimmy Bondi''. In the first film, which is mainly set in Africa, Bondi inherits a yellow 1963 (1963 in the first film, 1970 in ''Return of Superbug'' and 1968 in ''Superbug, Super Agent'') VW Beetle, which he names "Dudu" (pronounced 'doo doo''as said in the first film's English dub, ''Superbug Goes Wild''), the Swahili word for

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

. The films were dubbed into English and first shown on Saturday and Sunday matinées in theaters in the late 1970s, then on various American UHF TV channels in the 1980s and 1990s. They have since been released on VHS and DVD.

Movies

*Festival Cars 1971 (1971) *The Family Funeral (1972) *Boong Doong vs. Beetle (1973) *When Nerds Collide (1973) *Festival Cars 1975 (1975) * Herbie, The Love Bug (1975) *Dying for Pie (1976) *Space Chicken (1976) *A Superbug Christmas (1977) *Festival Cars 1979 (1979) *The Though Love (1979) *Floraetauto (1980) *Floraetauto 2 (1981) *A Superbug Family Funeral (1983) * ''Superbug Goes Wild'' (original title: ' '"A Beetle Goes All Out"'' 1971) * ''Superbug, Super Agent'' (original title: ' '"A Beetle Goes Full Throttle"'' 1972) * ''Superbug Rides Again'' (original title: ' '"A Beetle Takes A Ride"'' 1973) * ''

The Maddest Car in the World ''The Maddest Car in the World'' (german: Das verrückteste Auto der Welt) is a 1975 West German comedy film directed by Rudolf Zehetgruber starring Zehetgruber, Salvatore Borghese, Kathrin Oginski, and Walter Giller Walter Giller (23 August ...

'' (original title: ' '"The Craziest Car in the World"'' 1975) * ''Return of Superbug'' (original title: ' '"Two Awesome Beetles Clean Up"'' 1978)

Background

The model for the titular Superbug was

from the Disney film franchise that started in 1968. The main difference between the two vehicles is that Herbie is portrayed as a magical Volkswagen in white racing livery, while in most of the Superbug movies, the Superbug is a computerized plain yellow Beetle with some elements of artificial intelligence. Some of the titles of the ''Superbug'' films were related to ''Herbie'' film titles, such as ''Superbug Rides Again'' being inspired by ''

Herbie Rides Again ''Herbie Rides Again'' is a 1974 American comedy film and the second installment of ''The Love Bug'' film series made by Walt Disney Productions starring an anthropomorphic (and quite autonomous) 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. The ...

''. Superbug is portrayed as having countless

gadgets A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was devel ...

and skills. The technological aspects of the Superbug increase as the film series progresses. In the first film, ''Superbug Goes Wild'', the car is still far from being a self-aware high-tech vehicle. In some scenes, it has animated eyes and can speak and cry, thus appealing to children. The popularity of the VW Beetle had plummeted in the mid-1970s and production was discontinued in Germany in 1978. In the final film of the series made in the same year, ''Return of Superbug'', the Beetle body shell was merely hiding a small 6-wheel amphibious

All Terrain Vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is strad ...

that interacted with a small crab-like robot named ''Picho'', both with big eye-like headlights. Director

was also the main actor, under various names, while his Poland-born wife appeared as ''Kathrin Oginski''. However, the films do not use his own voice, but rather dubbed the voices of actors Fred Maire or Klaus Kindler. The ''Superbug'' series was relatively low-budget. However, some well-known German and international actors took part, including

Walter Giller Walter Giller (23 August 1927 – 15 December 2011) was a German actor. He was very successful in the 1950s and 1960s, when he was often seen as a comedic leading man. One of his most successful and more serious roles was in ''Roses for the Pros ...

Heinz Reincke Karl-Heinz Reincke (28 May 1925 – 13 July 2011) was a German-born actor, long-based in Vienna. Selected filmography Films *'' A Heart Returns Home'' (1956) - Besselmann *'' Confessions of Felix Krull'' (1957) - Stanko *''Tolle Nacht'' (1957 ...

, and

Joachim Fuchsberger Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger (pronounced ; 11 March 1927 – 11 September 2014) was a German actor and television host, best known to a wide German-speaking audience as one of the recurring actors in various Edgar Wallace movies (often a Detecti ...

, Kurt Jaggberg, and

Walter Roderer Walter Roderer (3 July 1920 – 8 May 2012) was a Swiss actor and screenwriter. He played several leading film roles including the 1959 comedy '' The Model Husband''.Goble p.228 Selected filmography Actor * '' Der 10. Mai'' (1957) * '' The M ...

. In September 2006, all five ''Superbug'' films were released by

Kinowelt StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

on a five-set DVD "''Dudu Edition"''.

{{anchor, LiteratureSources

* Michael Wenk: '' Walter Roderer - A Life in Pictures ''. Huber & Co. AG, Women 's Field 2007 Comedy film series Children's film series 1970s children's comedy films 1970s road movies German comedy films German road movies West German films 1970s German-language films Films directed by Rudolf Zehetgruber Flying cars in fiction Volkswagen Beetle 1970s German films