Movie Musings: Disney and More

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s 50th part 2

One might easily confuse “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” for being a Disney movie, because like most Disney movies, it is a family-oriented movie-musical with an imaginative and heartwarming story with memorable characters and brilliantly well-written music. But while it is not Disney, it can easily be ranked in the legacy of family movie-musicals created by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) with the likes of The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952). And it’s timeless. This blog continues our tribute to MGM’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) with the last 25 facts. Please feel free to comment if you’d like.

• Musician/actor Phil Collins says that he was one of the children who stormed the castle during Baron Bomburts’s birthday, but his part was edited out of the movie, because at the time he was wearing a bandage on his head that was covering a cyst.
• This film was negatively reviewed by critics and audiences at the time, and was also a financial flop, having a budget of $10 million and grossing only $7.5 million at the box office.
• Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for this movie also wrote the screenplay for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967).
• Around the time that he was offered to star in “Chitty,” Dick Van Dyke was also offered the role of Fagin in Columbia Pictures’ adaptation of Oliver! (1968). Van Dyke ultimately chose to star in “Chitty,” and Ron Moody, who had originated the role of Fagin in London’s West End Production, was cast in the film. (Moody also received a Best Actor Oscar Nomination for his performance in the film.)
• Prior to making “Chitty,” Dick Van Dyke also made the live-action Disney films, Lt. Robin Crusoe (1966) and Never a Dull Moment (1968) which was released the same year. Van Dyke would later say “This will out-Disney Disney,” about “Chitty.”   
• “Chitty,” is the first non-Disney film ever to feature songs by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The second was Paramount’s animated musical adaptation of the classic children’s book Charlotte’s Web (1973).
• Ian Fleming’s original book of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car told a slightly different story from the movie. It was about a family whose name was Pott, and how a man named Caractacus Pott and his wife Mimsie, and their two children, Jeremy and Jemima, and how they use the car to rescue a French candy maker and his family who are being held hostage by gangsters. 
• Roald Dahl’s screenplay revised the story into what it is in the movie. Dahl came up with the fictional country of “Vulgaria,” and everything about it, as well as the character name, Truly Scrumptious.
• It’s a possibility that the name Truly Scrumptious is actually a tribute to the names of “Bond girls,” i.e.: Honey Ryder, Pussy Galore, and Kissy Suzuki.
• Dick Van Dyke was also offered the chance to play Grandpa Potts in the original Broadway production of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” but declined.
• Sally Ann Howes was interviewed by Rosie O’Donnell about “Chitty,” on The Rosie O’Donnell Show (1996-2002). During the interview, she explained that the “Doll on a Music Box,” sequence was difficult to film, but she was still able to film it in only one take.
• The character Caractacus Potts was named after the last independent ruler of England before the Roman conquest of Southern England.
• Prior to appearing in this movie-musical, Lionel Jeffries (Grandpa Potts) had also appeared as King Pellinore in Warner Bros. film adaptation of Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot (1967).
• “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s” title song was used as a wake up call for Commander Pamela Ann Melroy and the Space Shuttle Discover crew on November 7, 2007.
• The song title “Toot Sweet,” is a play on the french expression “tout de suite,” which translates to “right away,” or “quickly.”
• Gert Frobe is not the only “James Bond,” actor to appear in “Chitty.” Desmond Llewelyn, who was the first actor to play “Q,” in James Bond played Coggins in “Chitty,” and Anna Quayle who played Frau Hoffner in Casino Royale (1967) played the Baroness Bomburst in “Chitty.”
• When The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014) was in production, Peter Jackson, who is one of the current owners of the “Chitty” cars used was frequently seen near the WETA Workshop in New Zealand driving cast members of the trilogy in the car while playing the film’s title song through a sound system.
• Robert Helpmann played the Child Catcher and wore a top set of false teeth which he took out to make his face look more thin and bony. Not wearing his teeth also helped make his voice sound more creepy.
• The character of the Child Catcher was the inspiration for Marilyn Manson’s “Smells Like Children,” extended play record as well as the outfit that Manson wears on the cover of the record.
• The license plate on the Chitty car says “GEN 11” though it is pronounced “Genie,” a nod to the car’s magical capabilities.
• While making this movie, Dick Van Dyke was also offered the next James Bond role by Albert R. “Cubby,” Broccoli. Van Dyke said no and jokingly asked Broccoli if he had heard Van Dyke’s Cockney accent. Broccoli replied “Oh yeah, that’s right,” and he revoked the offer.
• Broccoli wanted to produce “Chitty,” primarily because he wanted to duplicate the success that Walt Disney had four years earlier with Mary Poppins (1964). It is because of Broccoli that “Poppins,” composers/lyricists Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman came onto the film along with conductor Irwin Kostal and choreographers Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood. Broccoli had hoped to re-team Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews, but while Dick Van Dyke signed on, for unknown reasons, Andrews said no.
• In the movie, the car can be seen driving around the English countryside. Those scenes were actually filmed in France simply for the sunshine.
• 20th Century Fox’s Family Guy (1998-present) parodied the “Me Ol’ Bamboo,” number from “Chitty,” in the “420th,” episode of the show which aired on April 19th, 2009.
• Truly Scumptious’ license plate reads “CUB 1,” which was inspired by Albert R. Broccoli’s nickname “Cubby.”