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History
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"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a classic musical film. It was produced by James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli and based on a series of stories by Bond author Ian Fleming.
The screenplay was devised by now legendary children's author Roald Dahl along with the film's director Ken Hughes.
Songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman who had just won an Academy Award for their score for "Mary Poppins" were brought in to create the twelve musical numbers for Chitty.
The film was shot in England, France and Germany throughout 1967 and 1968, and premiered world-wide on December 16th, 1968. The UK premiere was nation-wide in association with the Variety Club of Great Britain.
To star alongside Dick van Dyke, Broccoli employed Sally Ann Howes straight from Broadway and West End successes and already a veteran of British cinema. Lionel Jeffries played Grandpa, and an array of British talent filled the other roles, including James Robertson Justice, Benny Hill, Anna Quayle, Arthur Mullard and Barbara Windsor.
Desmond Llewellyn, famous as Q in the Bond films played Mr.Coggins and Gert Fröbe ("Goldfinger") played Baron Bombhurst.
Australian ballet dancer Sir Robert Helpmann played the Childcatcher in scenes, rated in Empire magazine as amongst the 100 most frightening ever filmed.
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was a huge popular success, and although its profits did not make it a blockbuster - this was due to its overwhelming cost rather than lack of audience. It still remains one of the most watched movies of all time and is regarded as a family classic.
Source: Chittygen11.com
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Source: Wikipedia
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Main Title (Instrumental)
You Two
Toot Sweets
Hushabye Mountain
Me Ol' Bam-Boo
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1st reprise--with Truly)
Truly Scrumptious
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2nd reprise--on the water)
Lovely Lonely Man
POSH!
The Roses of Success
Hushabye Mountain (reprise)
Chu-Chi Face
Doll on a Music Box & Truly Scrumptious
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (finale)
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* Because of his comment 'This will out-Disney Disney', Van Dyke was banned from doing Disney productions for several years.
* The late Robert Helpmann, who played the 'Child-Catcher', was well-liked by the child actors. After each day's filming, he would give the children his wax facial add-ons.
* Lionel Jeffries, who played Grandpa, is actually a year younger than Dick Van Dyke.
* Benny Hill, playing the Toymaker, is best known for his self-named comedy series, and is therefore a surprise in this dramatic role.
* The locations for Vulgaria were the Neuschwanstein Castle and the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria.
* The Sherman Brothers, famous for their creation of the word 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' for the film Mary Poppins (1964), also coined a word for the title song of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was 'fantasmagorical'. The descriptive was subsequently used in many of the promotional materials to describe the film and later on, the London West End and Broadway stage musicals.
* Strangely, despite Van Dyke's previous attempt to perform using an English accent (as demonstrated in Mary Poppins), and his character's two children and father all portrayed as being English in the film, his character is apparently American. This is even more unusual when one considers that this film is a production that is British, not American.
* Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the car of the film, was not a pre-1930s car at all. Four cars of this type were purpose-built in 1967 for the film. Different Chittys did different duties (i.e. one was set up for floating out at sea - it was mounted on a speed boat and was remote controlled), and Chitty did actually fly (a partial car - hood only - being mounted underneath a helicopter in certain scenes).
* Truly Scrumptious drives a yellow Humber 1909 in the film, with the registration plate 'CUB 1'. This plate was an in-film wink to Albert R. Broccoli (the film's producer) whose nickname was 'Cubby'. The original car, which was an antique, was a standard shift and proved too difficult for star Sally Ann Howes to drive; it was also a different color and the owners refused to allow the production to repaint it, therefore, a new Humber 1909 was built, and this one was automatic and painted to the production designer's liking.
Source: Wikipedia
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MGM's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Website
- Trailer, pictures, music and soundbites at
MGM.com
- Great
Fansite
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Trailer
- Official site for the
official car
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At The Beach
Me Ol'Bamboo
Toot Sweets
Lovely Lonely Man
Doll On A Music Box
You Two
Chu-Chi Face
Posh!
Happy Ending
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