Did You Know?
Dick Van Dyke's character was named for Caractacus, the last independent ruler of England before the Roman conquest of southern England.
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Lionel Jeffries played Dick Van Dyke's father, despite the fact that Dick Van Dyke is actually six months older than Jeffries.
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Phil Collins claims he was one of the children storming the castle at the end of the film but was edited out because of a rather large and unsightly bandage on his head that was covering a cyst.
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Dick Van Dyke had appeared in several Disney movies prior to this. In a press release he quipped, "This will out-Disney Disney." This comment angered the Disney studio and, as a result of this, he did not appear in any Disney film for a number of years.
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The license number for Truly's car, CUB 1, is a reference to Albert R. Broccoli's nickname, Cubby.
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Baron Bomburst's castle is Neuschwanstein, built between 1869 and 1886 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II, "The Mad King of Bavaria". This castle is also famously known as the model for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, which was the symbol of the Disney Television programs Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and it's successors "Walt Disney Presents (1958)" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1962)".
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The colors of the floating Chitty - purple, green, and white - were the colors of the women's suffrage movement of that time.
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Has the distinction of being the only non-James Bond film produced by Albert R. Broccoli after the Bond series began. This is because the novel on which the movie is based was written by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.
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The original book "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was written by the creator of "James Bond", Ian Fleming. In "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" three actors from "James Bond" films appear: Gert Fröbe and Desmond Llewelyn and Anna Quayle
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The film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has a different story than the original book by Ian Fleming. The story used in the film was created by author Roald Dahl, who is best known for the children's books James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ironically, the first James Bond film not to follow the original book was You Only Live Twice, which also used an original story by Dahl.
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Helpmann's character has often been named as one of the scariest characters ever to be brought on screen. Not only did it make it into Empire magazine, but also onto Channel 4's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. The Child Catcher was the inspiration for Marilyn Manson's "Smells Like Children" EP. The title and cover art, as well as Manson's outfit and appearance during the album, reference the Robert Helpmann character.
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Heather Ripley recalled that she did not realize until much later that Dick Van Dyke was an alcoholic when the film was made.
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Seven different Chitties were built: a worn-out one, a restored one, one for the flying scenes, one for the water scenes and three partial models for various other scenes.
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The musical number 'Toot Sweets' took three weeks to film and involved 38 dancers, 40 singers, 85 musicians and 100 dogs.
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The scenes in and around Baron Bomburst's castle in Vulgaria were shot on location at King Ludwig II's Castle Neuschwanstein, located at the foot of the Alps on the German-Austrian border.
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When the production filmed in the German town of Rothenberg on the Tauber, some locals were used. Senior citizens were cast as the townspeople of Vulgaria, while the local university's riding teams played the Vulgarian soldiers.
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The original Broadway production of the stage musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" opened at the Hilton Theater in New York on April 28, 2005 and ran for 285 performances.
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The name Toot Sweet is a play on "tout suite", a French expression meaning "right away" or "quickly".
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The role of Truly Scrumptious was originally offered to Julie Andrews, but she declined. Sally Ann Howes had replaced Julie Andrews in the Broadway company of "My Fair Lady" when Andrews went to London in the musical, so Howes was offered the role.
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In an interview during filming in October 1967 Dick Van Dyke revealed that he only accepted the role of Caracatus Potts on the condition that he would not have to attempt an English accent.
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While not the huge financial failure it had often been described as, the film did nevertheless lose money on its release and received generally negative reviews.
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Whilst filming one of the scenes where the Child Catcher rides his horse and carriage out of the village, the Cage/Carriage uptilted with Robert Helpmann on board. Dick Van Dyke recalls Helpmann being able to swing out of the carriage and literally skip across the crashing vehicle. Van Dyke claims Helpmann did this with incredible grace and much like a dancer - which was Helpmann's original claim to fame.
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Robert Helpmann (the Child Catcher) took his top set of false teeth out to aid his gaunt pinched face. It also helped produce his creepy voice, as he 'hisses' whenever he speaks.
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The number plate on Truly's car is CUB 1. This is Albert R. Broccoli's personal number for his own his car.
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When the balloon arrives in Vulgaria, Grandpa Pott's shack in on the ground. A set of steps is wheeled up to the gondola so the Admiral and crew can disembark. On the side of the steps is printed "VULG-AIR."
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's main song was used as a wake up call for Commander Pamela Ann Melroy and the Space Shuttle Discovery crew on November 7, 2007.
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In a 2011 episode of SyFy Channel's Hollywood Treasure Dick Van Dyke got to sit in the "hero" car for the first time in over 40 years, and noted that he could have purchased it for $30,000 after the movie wrapped. This is the car that was offered on eBay for $1,000,000. Later in the episode, the car auction was expanded to bidders at the auction house, but failed to receive any bids. However, after auction negotiations, Chitty-Chitty sold for a reported $800,000.
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The name "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was inspired by a series of actual race cars named "Chitty Bang Bang" - I, II, etc - in the early 1920s, notable for their use of enormous aircraft engines.
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In his 2011 autobiography "Dick Van Dyke: My Lucky Life In and Out Of Show Business", Dick Van Dyke revealed that he did not get along with producer Albert R. Broccoli or director Ken Hughes during filming.
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