Herbie Day at Disneyland

When I was conducting research for my book "The Wonderful World of Disney Television", published by Disney, I had complete access to the Studio production files. I also met with a number of retired Disney staffers, and one of them had information on a show not listed in any of the Studio files. The show, "Herbie Day at Disneyland", was described as a promotion for "Herbie Rides Again", a sequel to Disney's hit "The Love Bug". At first people doubted that the show was ever actually filmed. One of the Disney Archivists finally found some information on the show buried away in the Disneyland Publicity Department files. The show was filmed on location at the Park, and somehow no one seemed to think they should keep a copy of it. It's one of the very few Disney TV shows that cannot be located - if anyone does find it please let me or the Disney Archives know!

Here's a description of the show from my book, based on the information in the Disneyland files:

HERBIE DAY AT DISNEYLAND

Airdate: 7/11/74 (Syndicated).

Cast: Bob McAllister, Bob Crane, Helen Hayes, Keenan Wynn, Burl Ives, Binny Barnes, Fred MacMurray, The Kids of the Kingdom, Long Beach Band.

Directed by: Jack Scott. Executive Producer: Dick Stratton. Production Manager: Ray Green. Technical Director: John Westbrook.

To promote the upcoming release of Herbie Rides Again, the Studio sponsors a contest featuring decorated Volkswagens. The show opens with a line of cars waiting to enter the Disneyland parking lot. Herbie gets tired of waiting in the line and veers around the others to sneak into the lot. Hosts Bob McAllister and Bob Crane climb out of Herbie and introduce the theme of the show. By the time they are done, Herbie has vanished. McAllister says he's not surprised at this, for Herbie likes to cause trouble. He mentions the problems Herbie gave Ken Berry in the film and shows some of those scenes.

McAllister and Crane set off after the missing car, unaware that he's making his way through the Park. After he searches the parking lot, McAllister heads to the grand opening of America Sings, Disneyland's newest attraction. Mickey Mouse and Burl Ives are there to open the show, and after a preview of the new musical adventure, the Kids of the Kingdom entertain the crowd by singing Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

McAllister then runs into Helen Hayes, co-star of the film. When McAllister makes fun of Herbie, she defends the car, saying he's her friend. After scenes from the film, she points out Herbie in the grandstand. The car is wearing sunglasses, ready to watch the parade.

After the contestants pass by, along with a colorful gathering of Disney characters and celebrities, Hayes awards the grand prize, a new car, to the winner. The show closes with the Main Street Electrical Parade and fireworks.

Production Notes:

! This one-hour Special was syndicated to more than 80 stations.

! Bob McAllister was the host of television's Wonderama.

! The first "Herbie Day" was held on March 23, 1969 to promote The Love Bug. The promotion was so successful that the Studio held a new contest on June 30, 1974. Twenty-five finalists were selected in each category (Most Patriotic, Most Nostalgic, Most Comical) to be in the parade at Disneyland. The grand prize was a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle.

Happily I had bought the file from the retired publicity agent so some record of it still exists outside the Disney Archives. I have transferred the contents of the file to CD, and there is some fun information there for "Love Bug" fans. This auction is for a copy of the material on CD. Each item has been scanned at full size and is included as a JPG image file. These files can be read by just about every graphic viewing/editing program as well as web browsers. They were scanned at high resolution so they can be printed as well.

$10 plus postage
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