Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.

Director:

Ken Hughes

Writers:

Ian Fleming (novel), Roald Dahl (screenplay)

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

An eccentric professor invents wacky machinery but can't seem to make ends meet. When he invents a revolutionary car, a foreign government becomes interested in it and resorts to skulduggery to get their hands on it.

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Plot Keywords:

car | children | inventor | baron | england | 

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Taglines:

Get a "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" Out of Life!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German French Latin

Release Date:

18 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tschitti Tschitti Bäng Bäng

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dramatic Features, Warfield

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The current owner of the Chitty car is director Peter Jackson. He could be seen near the WETA Workshop in New Zealand driving cast members of The Hobbit films around in the car while playing the main theme song through a sound system.

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Goofs

At the end of the Toot Sweets song, Lord Scrumptious is on the right side of the camera, near Truly. When they sing the last note, he is on the left side of the camera, alone.

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Quotes

Child Catcher: There are children here somewhere. I can smell them.

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Connections

Referenced in The Inbetweeners: Crystal Springs (2012)

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Soundtracks

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(uncredited)
Written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman
Performed by Dick Van Dyke, Heather Ripley, Adrian Hall, and Sally Ann Howes

User Reviews

Surprised folks wouldn't like this delightful film!

It surprises me that some people think this is a horrible film. I was 3 when this film was released and for as long as I can remember I've loved it! The songs are fun, especially Hushabye Mountian, Chu-chi Face and Me Ole Bamboo. This movie is both light, cheery as well as dark and creepy, the Child Catcher to this day is one of the scariest villians I know! And know it is a fabulous musical in London! Hopefully someday it will come to Broadway, I'd love to see it on stage!.