Like most of Disney’s best family films, the Herbie series didn’t start out geared solely for children. Released in 1968, The Love Bug featured well developed adult characters dealing with pretty heavy issues. In the film, race car driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) struggles with his own pride and a deep seated fear of failure. With Herbie, he wins races but he has to come to grips with the fact that it isn’t because of his driving. He pushes the strange little car away, screams at it, tries to replace it with a flashy racer. Herbie, in a fit of jealousy repeatedly rams Jim’s shiny new sports car, and after a bitter moment between the two (even though Herbie can’t talk, somehow he says volumes with a beep) Jim casts Herbie off into the streets on his own where the little car, in a gut wrenching scene tries to commit suicide. Pretty serious stuff for a movie about a self-aware Volkswagen.