Metacritic reviews

For sheer inventiveness of situation and the charm that such an idea projects, The Love Bug rates as one of the better entries of the Disney organization.

The entire cast give standout performances, but Herbie steals the show in this well-directed, funny picture.

Herbie and his plucky stunt drivers steal the show in this agreeable family entertainment.

Such a vulnerable movie that if it were a little less sappy, one might feel compelled to protect it, as if it were someone under 7 or over 65 -- that portion of the public for which it is intended.

The first of the silly VW Beetle with a cute personality comedies, is as childish dated and occasionally sweet as the others.

What this autopopathism means in terms of American culture is a subject I neither understand nor wish to.

The outcome of all this is about as predictable as the benumbing succession of autopomorphic gags. Connoisseurs of camp may enjoy watching Tomlinson ranting at the Volkswagen, but The Love Bug is surely the first film in which the actors (Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett) are so meticulously insipid that a car can handily steal the show.