Video: VW Gears Up For Super Bowl XLV With Tiny Vader, Beetle Stampede

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Tiny Darth Vader uses the force on a 2012 Volkswagen Passat

The season is upon us: giant rental flat-screen TVs, cheap beer, and every snack under the sun. The Super Bowl is coming. And so are its ads.

We won't spoil the fun for you, but the first of the two ads below features a Darth Vader so small, Rick Moranis must feel like Andre the Giant. It's also so cute you'll want to put a bedazzled collar on it and keep it in your handbag. There's also a 2012 Passat in there, somewhere.

The second, a teaser for the upcoming redesign of the New Beetle, takes a literal turn on the name with a stampede of actual beetles through a CGI forest, set to a version of the rock standard "Black Betty."

As for the cars themselves, the 2012 Volksagen Passat, revealed at last month's Detroit Auto Show, is made in America, for Americans, with a larger cabin, longer wheelbase, and a familiar range of four-, five-, and six-cylinder engines. It will be on sale around March.

The next-generation New Beetle, on the other hand, remains somewhat cloaked in mystery, as only outlines (as seen at the end of the commercial) and spy shots of the car have surfaced. It looks to be going back to its roots in terms of design, though it's sure to keep the front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout as well as Volkswagen's excellent selection of engines. We just hope the TDI diesel version makes a comeback with the new car as well.

[Volkswagen via YouTube]