One of the most beloved children’s movies of all time, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is a fanciful tale based on the novel by Ian Fleming, which was published in 1964.
Our main character is Caractacus Potts, played by Dick Van Dyke. Potts is a widower, struggling to raise his two imaginative children on his own. However, they come by their imaginations honestly – Potts is an inventor, and his creations are anything but ordinary.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a broken down race car that once held a place of honor as a three-time Grand Prix winner. Jeremy and Jemima Potts love to play in the car and pretend to be driving. But the car is about to be sold for scrap.
One day as they scamper home from playing, they are nearly run over by a young woman named Truly Scrumptious, played by Sally Ann Howes. (I’m really not sure where the author got these names.) She escorts them home with the intention of reaming out their father for being so careless with them. It’s hardly necessary to state that there was an instant connection between the two, even with the reaming out.
When the children tell their father that the car is going to be sold, he tries to come up with the money to buy it for them, but finances have been tight for quite a while in the Potts household. Ah! He’ll use his inventions to raise the money. But he can’t sell his Toot-Sweets, candy sticks that toot like whistles, because they attract dogs and he can’t use his automatic haircut machine, for reasons I’ll just let you figure out. Finally, in a quirky twist of fate, the money is literally handed to him, and he buys the car. After repairing it, he finds it’s actually a functional automobile, and he takes the children off to the beach for a picnic, taking Truly along as well.
This is where the fantasy portion of the movie takes over. Potts tells the children a story about pirates while they are resting on the beach, and it comes to life all around them.
These pirates are from a land called Vulgaria, and they badly want to steal the car. Kidnapping Grandpa Potts to use as bait, they lure Potts, Truly, and the children to their land. There’s just one problem, though – the Baroness of Vulgaria hates children, and they are outlawed. In fact, there is a child catcher who goes around collecting children with his net, throwing them into cages and treating them much like stray dogs. Of course, the Potts manage to bring the evil Baron and Baroness to their knees, and upon returning to England, Potts and Truly decide to get married.
In a nutshell, that’s the outline of the plot. There are some very cute scenes that help to illustrate the story – when Potts goes in to pitch his Toot Sweets to the candy manufacturer, a cute musical number ensues. Another such one is performed when Potts and Truly infiltrate the Baron’s palace dressed as dolls. However, there were portions of the film that I found a little bit disturbing for young viewers, such as the premise of the child catcher. That was frightening to me and I’m in my thirties! (Okay, early thirties – couldn’t let you think I was in my late thirties or something like that.)
Regardless, Dick Van Dyke is at his best in this film. The character of Potts allows him to be funny, to use his singing and dancing to best advantage, and also shows off his gentle nature as father to these children. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is a film you should at least see once, just for the experience.
As an interesting side note, Roald Dahl co-wrote the screenplay for the movie.
This film is rated G.
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