Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Synopsis of Movie

Two great influences on 1960’s film combined in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: the story came from Ian Fleming, creator of superspy James Bond; and the setting, composers and lead actor Dick Van Dyke came from Disney’s classic Mary Poppins. The result was a quirky children’s adventure story complete with precocious tots, bombastic song and dance routines and a flying car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts (Van Dyke) and his two children, Jemima and Jeremy, purchase a broken-down wreck of a motorcar, and Potts immediately goes to work on it. When he’s finished, the car is a shiny, purring beauty. Potts takes his kids and the truly scrumptious Truly Scrumptious (daughter of candymaker Lord Scrumptious, of course) out for a picnic, where he spins a tale of the car’s magical abilities to float and fly.

In the story, Baron Bomburt, ruler of a tiny potentate where children are illegal, covets Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and sets out to kidnap both car and inventor. The bullyish Baron gets the wrong man and car, abducting Pott’s loony father instead, forcing Potts, kids and Truly to fly to the rescue.

While not the spectacular success that Mary Poppins was (or that the Bond franchise was, for that matter), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang performed admirably, earning an Oscar nomination for its title song.

Movie Release History

1968 - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Movie Sub Categories

live-action
sci-fi/fantasy
musical

Movie Studio

United Artists

Cast

Caractacus Potts Dick Van Dyke
Truly Scrumptious Sally Ann Howes
Grandpa Potts Lionel Jeffries
Baron Bomburst Gert Frobe
Baroness Bomburst Anna Quayle
Toymaker Benny Hill
Lord Scrumptious James Robertson Justice
Child Catcher Robert Helpmann
Jemima Heather Ripley
Jeremy Adrian Hall
Blonde Barbara Windsor
Admiral Davy Kaye
First Spy Alexander Dore
Second Spy Bernard Spear
Chancellor Stanley Unwin

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