Yellow Bug

"I stole a stolen car?"

- Emma Swan to Neal Cassidy

The Yellow Bug is a vehicle featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.

Known Users

 * Aladdin
 * Ashley Boyd
 * August Booth (presumably)
 * David Nolan
 * Elsa
 * Emma Swan
 * Hook
 * Henry Mills


 * Jefferson
 * Lily Page
 * Neal Cassidy †
 * Regina Mills
 * Ruby
 * Sidney Glass
 * Violet Morgan
 * Zelena

Trivia

 * -|On-Screen Notes=

On-Screen Notes

 * The yellow bug is featured in the title card of "Going Home", "Smash the Mirror", "Lily" and "Firebird".
 * The car is a 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle Type 1.
 * However, the Storybrooke Daily Mirror refers to the car as a 1979 Volkswagen Beetle.
 * The yellow bug's Massachusetts license plate number is 836 M4X.
 * This is unique, as the state of Massachusetts only issued license plates with the letters X and Y as the final digit between 1972 and 1977, meaning the plates on the vehicle were manufactured during that time. The letter X as the final digit of the plate number indicates a December registration renewal, matching the sticker on the plate.
 * The license plate number on Emma's stolen car was originally E83 KAE.
 * When Emma arrives in Storybrooke in "Pilot", the expiration date on her license plate is December 2011. When she finds Henry's storybook next to her car in "What Happened to Frederick", the date is still the same. Since "Selfless, Brave and True" establishes that Emma came to Storybrooke in October 2011, and "What Happened to Frederick" takes place after "Skin Deep" (which takes place on Valentine's Day 2012), this means that Emma has neglected to renew her Massachusetts registration, nor has she registered her car in Maine.
 * In "Lily", which takes place two years later, Emma has renewed her Massachusetts registration: It now expires in 2014.
 * According to Emma, she picked the car because she likes the color yellow.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * For the scene where Emma first arrives in Storybrooke, the yellow bug represents the first bright little bit of color that is coming into the town.
 * Two different cars are used as Emma's vehicle on the show.


 * -|Cultural References=

Lost

 * There is a Geronimo Jackson sticker on the back of the car, a reference to the fictional band on Lost. The motif is from "Dharma Lady", a single by the band.


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * In the Season Six episode "Murder Most Foul", the expiration date on Emma's license plate says 2009, even though it said December 2011 five seasons earlier in the Season One episode "Pilot" (which takes place in 2011), and 2014 in the Season Four episode "Lily".

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.