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{{About|the film}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
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{{Infobox film
| name = Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
| image = Chittychittybangbangposter.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Original cinema release poster
| director = [[Ken Hughes]]
| producer = [[Albert R. Broccoli]]<!-- DO NOT add Stanley Sopel; he was credited as "associate producer". *ONLY* Broccoli was credited as "producer" without qualifiers, as required by the documentation for Template:Infobox film (consistent with industry standards). -->
| screenplay = {{Plainlist|
* [[Roald Dahl]]
* Ken Hughes
}}
| based on = {{based on|''[[Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang]]''<br />1964 novel|[[Ian Fleming]]}}
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Dick Van Dyke]]
* [[Sally Ann Howes]]
* [[Lionel Jeffries]]
* [[James Robertson Justice]]
* [[Robert Helpmann]]
}}
| music = {{Plainlist|
* [[Irwin Kostal]]
* '''Songs:'''
* [[Richard M. Sherman]]
* [[Robert B. Sherman]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Christopher Challis]]
| editing = [[John Shirley]]
| studio = Warfield Productions
| distributor = [[United Artists]]
| released = {{Film date|1968|12|16|London, premiere|1968|12|17|United Kingdom|1968|12|18|United States|df=y}}
| runtime = 145 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 145:37--><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-1970-0 | title=''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' (U) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=18 October 1968 | accessdate=27 August 2016}}</ref>
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = $10 million<ref>http://flickfacts.com/movie/117/chitty-chitty-bang-bang</ref>
| gross = $7.5 million {{small|(Rentals)}}<ref>"Big Rental Films of 1969", ''Variety'', 7 January 1970 p 15</ref>
}}
'''''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''''' is a 1968 British [[Musical film|musical]] [[Adventure film|adventure]] [[fantasy film]] directed by [[Ken Hughes]] and written by [[Roald Dahl]] and Hughes, loosely based on [[Ian Fleming]]'s [[1964 in literature|1964 novel]] ''[[Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang|Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car]]''. The film stars [[Dick Van Dyke]], [[Sally Ann Howes]], [[Lionel Jeffries]], [[James Robertson Justice]], and [[Robert Helpmann]] as the main antagonist, [[the Childcatcher|the evil Childcatcher]].

The film was produced by [[Albert R. Broccoli]] (co-producer of the [[James Bond]] [[James Bond in film|series of films]], also based on Fleming's novels). [[John Stears]] supervised the special effects. [[Irwin Kostal]] supervised and [[Film score|conducted the music]], while the musical numbers, written by [[Sherman Brothers|Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman]] of ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', were staged by [[Marc Breaux]] and [[Dee Dee Wood]]. The song "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was nominated for an Academy Award.<ref>{{cite web  |url=http://www.ianflemingcentenary.com/ian-fleming.asp |title=Ian Fleming Centenary, James Bond, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Devil may care, Sebastian Faulks new novel, Ian Fleming exhibition |publisher=Ianflemingcentenary.com |accessdate=9 February 2012}}</ref>

== Plot ==
Set in the 1910s, the story opens with a montage of European Grand Prix races in which one particular car appears to win every race. In the final race during a thunderstorm, the car swerves to avoid a girl and her dog, crashes and catches fire, ending its racing career. The car ends up in an old garage in rural England, where two children, Jeremy ([[Adrian Hall (actor)|Adrian Hall]]) and Jemima Potts (Heather Ripley), have grown fond of it. However, they are told by a man in the junkyard that he intends to buy the car from the garage owner, Mr. Coggins ([[Desmond Llewelyn]]), for scrap. The children, who live with their widowed father [[Caractacus Potts]] ([[Dick Van Dyke]]), an eccentric inventor, and his equally peculiar father, implore their father to buy the car before the junkman does, but Caractacus can't afford to do so. While playing [[Truancy|truant]] from school, they meet [[Truly Scrumptious]] ([[Sally Ann Howes]]), a beautiful upper-class woman with her very own motorcar. She brings them home to report their truancy to their father. Although Truly is interested in Caractacus' odd inventions, he is affronted by her insistence that his children are supposed to be in school.

One day, Caractacus discovers that the sweets produced by a machine he has invented can be played like a flute. He tries to sell the "Toot Sweets" to Truly's father, Lord Scrumptious ([[James Robertson Justice]]), a major confectionery manufacturer. He is almost successful until the whistle attracts a pack of [[dog]]s who overrun the factory, resulting in Caractacus's proposition being rejected. 

Caractacus next takes his automatic hair-cutting machine to a carnival to raise money, but his invention accidentally ruins the hair of a large, angry customer. Caractacus eludes the man by joining a song-and-dance act, accidentally stealing the show; he earns enough in [[Gratuity|tips]] to buy the car. Potts rebuilds the car in his own eccentric way, using such materials as an old boat hull and a chimney breast. He nicknames the car "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for the noises its engine makes. In the first trip in the car, Potts, the children, and Truly go for a picnic on the beach, where Truly becomes very fond of the Potts family and vice versa. Caractacus tells them a tale about nasty Baron Bomburst ([[Gert Fröbe]]), the [[Tyranny|tyrant]] of fictional [[Vulgaria]], who wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for himself.

As Potts tells his story, the quartet and the car are stranded by high tide, and find themselves under attack by pirates working for the Baron. Chitty suddenly deploys huge flotation devices and transforms into a power boat, and they escape Bomburst's yacht and return to shore. The Baron sends two comical spies to capture the car, but they briefly capture Lord Scrumptious then Grandpa Potts ([[Lionel Jeffries]]), mistaking each for the car's creator. Caractacus, Truly, and the children see Grandpa being taken away by [[Chitty Bang Bang (airship)|airship]], and they give chase. When they accidentally drive off a cliff, Chitty sprouts wings and propellers and begins to fly. They follow the airship to Vulgaria, and find a land without children; the Baroness Bomburst ([[Anna Quayle]]) abhors them and imprisons any she finds. Grandpa has been ordered by the Baron to make another floating car, and he [[:wikt:bluff|bluffs]] his abilities to avoid being tortured. The Potts' party is hidden by the local Toymaker ([[Benny Hill]]), who now works only for the childish Baron. Chitty is discovered and taken to the castle. While Caractacus and the toymaker search for Grandpa and Truly searches for food, the children are soon caught by the Baron's  [[Child Catcher]] ([[Robert Helpmann]]).

The Toymaker takes Truly and Caractacus to a grotto far beneath the castle, where the townspeople have been hiding their children. They concoct a scheme to free the children and the village from the Baron. The Toymaker sneaks them into the castle disguised as life-size dolls for the Baron's birthday. Caractacus snares the Baron and the children swarm into the banquet hall, overcoming the Baron's palace guards and guests. In the ensuing chaos, the Baron, Baroness, and the evil Child Catcher are all captured. The Potts and Truly fly back to England. Jeremy and Jemima finish the story themselves: "And Daddy and Truly were married and lived happily ever after!" Truly seems to find this suggestion appealing, but Caractacus is evasive, believing that the class difference between them is too great. When they arrive home, Caractacus is surprised to find his father and Lord Scrumptious playing a lively game of toy soldiers. Scrumptious surprises him with an offer to buy the Toot Sweet as a canine confection. Caratacus realising that he will be rich rushes to tell Truly the news. They kiss, and Truly agrees to marry him. As they drive home, he acknowledges the importance of pragmatism, as the car takes to the air again.

== Cast ==
[[File:Chitty3.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The main cast after landing in [[Vulgaria]].]]

The cast includes:<ref>[http://www.mgm.com/view/Movie/377/Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang/ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang] from the [[MGM]] website.</ref>
* [[Dick Van Dyke]] as [[Caractacus Pott]]s
* [[Sally Ann Howes]] as [[Truly Scrumptious]]
* [[Adrian Hall (actor)|Adrian Hall]] as Jeremy Potts
* Heather Ripley as Jemima Potts
* [[Lionel Jeffries]] as Grandpa Bungie Potts
* [[Gert Fröbe]] as Baron Bomburst
* [[Anna Quayle]] as Baroness Bomburst
* [[Benny Hill]] as the Toymaker
* [[James Robertson Justice]] as Lord Scrumptious
* [[Robert Helpmann]] as the Evil [[Child Catcher]]
* [[Barbara Windsor]] as Blonde
* [[Davy Kaye]] as Admiral
* [[Stanley Unwin (comedian)|Stanley Unwin]] as the Chancellor
* [[Peter Arne]] as the Captain of Bomburst's Army
* [[Desmond Llewelyn]] as Mr. Coggins
* [[Victor Maddern]] as Junkman
* [[Arthur Mullard]] as Big Man
* [[Max Wall]] as Inventor
* [[Gerald Campion]] as Minister
* [[Max Bacon (actor)|Max Bacon]] as Orchestra Leader
* [[Alexander Doré]] as First Spy
* [[Bernard Spear]] as Second Spy
* [[Richard Wattis]] as Sweet Factory Secretary (uncredited)
* [[Phil Collins]] as Vulgarian Child (scene cut)

The part of Truly Scrumptious had originally been offered to [[Julie Andrews]], to reunite her with Van Dyke after their success in ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]''. Andrews rejected the role specifically because she considered that the part was too close to the Poppins mould.<ref>Stirling, Richard. Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography. St. Martin's Griffin 2009. ISBN 978-0-312-56498-8</ref> Instead, [[Sally Ann Howes]] was given the role. Dick Van Dyke was cast after he turned down the role of [[Fagin]] from another 1968 musical ''[[Oliver! (film)|Oliver!]]'' (which ended up going to [[Ron Moody]]).

== Production ==
The Caractacus Potts inventions in the film were created by [[Rowland Emett]]; by 1976, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, describing Emett's work, said no term other than "Fantasticator...could remotely convey the diverse genius of the perky, pink-cheeked Englishman whose pixilations, in cartoon, watercolor and clanking 3-D reality, range from the celebrated [[Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway|Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Railway]] to the demented thingamabobs that made the 1968 movie ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' a minuscule classic."<ref>{{cite news| work= Modern Living |title= The Gothic-Kinetic Merlin of Wild Goose Cottage|publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url= http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,914642,00.html |date=1 November 1976 | accessdate=5 November 2010}}</ref>

At a 1973 auction in Florida, one of the [[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (car)|''Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang'' cars]] sold for $37,000, equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|37000|1973}}}} today.<ref>{{cite news |work=Modern Living |title=Crazy-Car Craze |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,907135,00.html |date=30 April 1973 |accessdate=5 November 2010}}</ref> The original "hero" car, in a condition described as fully functional and road-going, was offered at auction on 15 May 2011 by a California-based auction house.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to be Sold at Auction |publisher=[http://www.profilesinhistory.com Profiles in History] |url=http://profilesinhistory.com/press-releases/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-to-be-sold-at-auction |date=25 April 2011}}</ref> The car sold for $805,000, less than the $1–2 million it was expected to reach.<ref>{{cite web |title='Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'Car Undersells at Auction |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-car-188721  |accessdate=16 April 2014}}</ref> It was purchased by New Zealand film director Sir [[Peter Jackson]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jackson picks up Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |publisher= The Dominion Post |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/5836316/Jackson-picks-up-Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang |date=22 October 2011|accessdate=16 April 2014}}</ref>

===Locations===
* Scrumptious Sweet Co. factory (exterior) – Kempton Waterworks, Snakey Lane, [[Hanworth]], [[Middlesex]], England.<ref name="british-film-locations">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-film-locations.com/Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang-1968|title=Where was 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' filmed? - British Film Locations|work=British Film Locations}}</ref> This location now includes [[Kempton Park Steam Engines|a steam museum]] open to the public.
* Scrumptious Mansion – [[Heatherden Hall]] at [[Pinewood Studios]] in [[Iver Heath]], Buckinghamshire, England.<ref name="british-film-locations"/>
* Windmill/Cottage – [[Cobstone Windmill]] in [[Ibstone]], near [[Turville]], Buckinghamshire, England.<ref name="british-film-locations"/>
* Duck Pond – [[Russell's Water]], Oxfordshire, England.<ref name="british-film-locations"/>
* Train scene – The [[Longmoor Military Railway]].
* Beach – Cap Taillat in [[St. Tropez]], France.
* Bridge (river) where spies attempt to blow up Chitty – Iver Bridge, [[Iver]], Buckinghamshire, England.
* Bridge (railway) where spies kidnap Lord Scrumptious – Ilmer Bridge, [[Ilmer]], Buckinghamshire, England.
* White rock spires in the ocean and lighthouse – [[The Needles]] stacks, [[Isle of Wight]], England.
* White cliffs – [[Beachy Head]], East Sussex, England.
* Baron Bomburst's castle – [[Neuschwanstein Castle]], Bavaria, Germany.
* Vulgarian village – [[Rothenburg ob der Tauber]], Germany.

== Reception ==

===Box office===
The film was the tenth most popular at the US box office in 1969.<ref>"The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times [London, England] 27 Sept. 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 Apr. 2014</ref>

===Critical===
''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' began its review saying the film is a "picture for the ages—the ages between five and twelve" and ends noting that "At a time when violence and sex are the dual sellers at the box office, ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' looks better than it is simply because it's not not all all bad bad";<!--- Please do not edit "not not all all bad bad" - this is the exact wording in the Time magazine review ---> the film's "eleven songs have all the rich melodic variety of an automobile horn. Persistent [[syncopation]] and some breathless choreography partly redeem it, but most of the film's sporadic success is due to Director Ken Hughes's fantasy scenes, which make up in imagination what they lack in technical facility."<ref>{{cite news| title= New Movies: Chug-Chug, Mug-Mug | publisher= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | url= http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,900470,00.html |date=17 December 1968 | accessdate=5 November 2010}}</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[Renata Adler]] wrote, "in spite of the dreadful title, ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''&nbsp;... is a fast, dense, friendly children's musical, with something of the joys of singing together on a team bus on the way to a game"; Adler called the screenplay "remarkably good" and the film's "preoccupation with sweets and machinery seems ideal for children"; she ends her review on the same note as ''Time'': "There is nothing coy, or stodgy or too frightening about the film; and this year, when it has seemed highly doubtful that children ought to go to the movies at all, ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' sees to it that none of the audience's terrific eagerness to have a good time is betrayed or lost."<ref>{{cite web| title= ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'': Fast, Friendly Musical for Children Bows | date=19 December 1968 | publisher= The New York Times | url= http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E3DF1430E034BC4152DFB4678383679EDE | author= [[Renata Adler]] |accessdate=5 November 2010}}</ref>

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] reviewed the film (''Chicago Sun Times'', 24 December 1968). He wrote: "''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' contains about the best two-hour children's movie you could hope for, with a marvelous magical auto and lots of adventure and a nutty old grandpa and a mean Baron and some funny dances and a couple of [scary] moments."

Film critic and historian [[Leonard Maltin]] considered the picture "one big [[Edsel]], with totally forgettable score and some of the shoddiest special effects ever."<ref>{{cite book| author= [[Leonard Maltin]] | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6EgPDierNGUC&pg=PA242&lpg=PA242&dq=chitty+chitty+bang+bang+leonard+maltin&source=bl&ots=AjJgkQWkwz&sig=1tjWFaw67l6FPs5rvZtYuKub_mY&hl=en&ei=ozM5TMSZEYT58Aa-xPymBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false| title= Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide| page=241 | year=2008 | isbn= 0-452-28978-5 | publisher= [[Penguin Group|Penguin]] }}</ref> In 2008, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' called Helpmann's depiction of the [[Child Catcher]] one of the "50 Most Vile Movie Villains."<ref>{{cite web| title= 50 Most Vile Movie Villains | year=2008 | url= http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20186285_19,00.html | publisher= [[Entertainment Weekly]] |accessdate=5 November 2010}}</ref>

As of March 2014, the film has a 65% "Fresh" rating (17 of 26 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>{{cite web | title= ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chitty_chitty_bang_bang/}}</ref>

===Accolades===
The film is recognized by [[American Film Institute]] in these lists:
* 2006: [[AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals]] – Nominated<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/musicals_ballot.pdf |title= AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2016-08-13}}</ref>

== Soundtrack ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2010}}
The original soundtrack album, as was typical of soundtrack albums, presented mostly songs with very few instrumental tracks. The songs were also edited, with specially recorded intros and outros and most instrumental portions removed, both because of time limitations of the vinyl LP and the belief that listeners would not be interested in listening to long instrumental dance portions during the songs.

The soundtrack has been released on CD four times, the first two releases using the original LP masters rather than going back to the original music masters to compile a more complete soundtrack album with underscoring and complete versions of songs. The 1997 [[Rykodisc]] release included several quick bits of dialogue from the film between some of the tracks and has gone out of circulation. On 24 February 2004, a few short months after MGM released the movie on a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, [[Varèse Sarabande]] reissued a newly remastered soundtrack album without the dialogue tracks, restoring it to its original 1968 LP format.

In 2011, [[Kritzerland]] released the definitive soundtrack album, a 2-CD set featuring the Original Soundtrack Album plus bonus tracks, music from the Song and Picture Book Album on disc 1, and the Richard Sherman Demos, as well as six Playback Tracks (including a long version of international covers of the theme song). Inexplicably, this release was limited to only 1,000 units.

In April 2013, [[Perseverance Records]] re-released the Kritzerland double CD set with expansive new liner notes by John Trujillo and a completely new designed booklet by Perseverance regular James Wingrove.

==Home video releases==
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2010}}
''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' was released numerous times in the [[VHS]] format. In 1998 the film saw its first [[DVD]] release. 2003 brought a two-disc "Special Edition" release. On 2 November 2010, [[20th Century Fox]] released a two-disc [[Blu-ray Disc|Blu-ray]] and DVD combination set featuring the extras from the 2003 release as well as new features. The 1993 LaserDisc release by MGM/UA Home Video was the first home video release with the proper 2.20:1 [[Super Panavision 70]] [[aspect ratio]].

==Novelisation of film==
[[File:Chitty bang.JPG|thumb|Novelization of the film by John Burke, published by [[Pan Books]]]]
The film did not follow Fleming's novel closely. A separate [[novelisation]] of the film was published at the time of the film's release. It basically followed the film's story but with some differences of tone and emphasis, e.g. it mentioned that Caractacus Potts had had difficulty coping after the death of his wife, and it made it clearer that the sequences including Baron Bomburst were extended fantasy sequences. It was written by [[John Burke (author)|John Burke]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Chitty chitty bang bang; the story of the film|url=http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=isbn%3A0330022075|publisher=[[WorldCat]]|accessdate=20 April 2012}}</ref>

==Comic book adaption==
* [[Gold Key Comics|Gold Key]]: ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' (February 1969)<ref>{{gcdb issue|id=22516|title=Gold Key: ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)}}
* {{IMDb title|0062803|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang}}
* {{tcmdb title|15869|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang}}
* {{Allmovie title|9402|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang}}
* {{AFI film|id=23677|title=Chitty Chitty Bang Bang}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|chitty_chitty_bang_bang|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang}}

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[[Category:Chitty Chitty Bang Bang| ]]
[[Category:1968 films]]
[[Category:1960s musical films]]
[[Category:1960s fantasy films]]
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:British musical films]]
[[Category:British fantasy films]]
[[Category:British children's films]]
[[Category:British aviation films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Fantasy-comedy films]]
[[Category:Musical fantasy films]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films about abduction]]
[[Category:Films about automobiles]]
[[Category:Films based on children's books]]
[[Category:Films set in a fictional European country]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1910s]]
[[Category:Films shot in England]]
[[Category:Films shot in Germany]]
[[Category:Films shot in Saint-Tropez]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ken Hughes]]
[[Category:Musicals by the Sherman Brothers]]
[[Category:Screenplays by Roald Dahl]]
[[Category:Varèse Sarabande albums]]
[[Category:Flying cars in fiction]]
[[Category:Films produced by Albert R. Broccoli]]
[[Category:Films shot in Bavaria]]
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