Superbug (film series)

Superbug is a West German children's comedy film series released between 1971 and 1978, each concerning the adventures of a sentient Volkswagen Beetle and his driver companion. The eponymous film series, and its protagonist, is essentially similar to Disney's Herbie the Love Bug franchise which also concerned the exploits of a seemingly intelligent car, but unlike Herbie 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 to bring the "Love Bug" concept to Germany, where the Beetle originated, while giving it the flair of James Bond'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 or beetle.

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.