{ "id": "epyjbd1mx0", "slug": "chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0", "title": "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "label": "Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations", "label": "Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-early-20th-century-litera", "label": "Films based on early 20th-century literature", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-early-20th-century-litera" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations", "label": "Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations", "label": "Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 Ken Hughes musical fantasy produced by Albert R. Broccoli, adapted by Roald Dahl from Ian Fleming's 1964 children's novel, starring Dick Van Dyke, with Sherman Brothers songs and an Oscar-nominated title song.", "snippet": "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 Ken Hughes musical fantasy produced by Albert R. Broccoli, adapted by Roald Dahl from Ian Fleming's 1964 children's novel, starring Dick Van Dyke, with Sherman Brothers songs and an Oscar-nominated title song.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.adaptations.novel-and-short-fiction-adaptations.films-based-on-early-20th-century-litera", "markdown": "# Chitty Chitty Bang Bang\n\n**Chitty Chitty Bang Bang** is a 1968 British-American musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes, produced by [Albert R. Broccoli](https://www.edgepedia.org/albert-r-broccoli), and written by [Roald Dahl](https://www.edgepedia.org/roald-dahl) and Hughes from [Ian Fleming](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-fleming)'s 1964 children's novel *Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). It stars Dick Van Dyke as the inventor Caractacus Potts, Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious, and Lionel Jeffries as Grandpa Potts, and follows the family's magical rebuilt car on an adventure to the fictional kingdom of Vulgaria[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chitty_chitty_bang_bang/cast-and-crew). The film was released by United Artists on 18 December 1968[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 18 December 1968 (United Artists); London premiere 16 December, New York opening 18 December, Los Angeles premiere 19 December[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) |\n| Running time | 145 minutes per the AFI Catalog and BFI; 144 minutes per IMDb[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) • [3](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/c4de98c5-d1af-5671-a66f-6d2dd6ebf999/chitty-chitty-bang-bang) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803) |\n| Format | Technicolor, 35 and 70 mm, Super Panavision 70; rated G[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) |\n| Budget and gross | Budget reported at $10 million (Variety) and $12 million (New York Times); US gross $7,500,000[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803) |\n| Songs | Twelve original songs by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman; the title song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) |\n| Principal cast | Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, Benny Hill, James Robertson Justice, Robert Helpmann[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chitty_chitty_bang_bang/cast-and-crew) |\n| Stage musical | Premiered in London on 16 April 2002; Broadway debut 28 April 2005 at the Hilton Theatre, running until 31 December 2005[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nCaractacus Potts, an unsuccessful inventor living in an Edwardian mill house with his children Jemima and Jeremy and their eccentric grandfather, buys a dilapidated racing car from a junk dealer and rebuilds it into \"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.\" On a seaside picnic he tells a story in which the car can sail and fly, drawing the attention of Baron Bomburst of Vulgaria, who wants a duplicate. The Baron's pirates kidnap Grandpa Potts by mistake and carry him off by airship, and the family pursues them to Vulgaria, where the Baroness has forbidden children in the kingdom. Jemima and Jeremy fall to the royal [Child Catcher](https://www.edgepedia.org/child-catcher) and are imprisoned in the castle, until the village toymaker and children who have escaped capture help[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\n[Robert Helpmann](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-helpmann), an Australian ballet dancer who had trained with [Anna Pavlova](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-pavlova)'s touring company, played the Child Catcher, a character an English magazine survey voted among the most frightening onscreen[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang). The Bond connection extended to the cast: [Gert Fröbe](https://www.edgepedia.org/gert-frobe), the villain Goldfinger (1964), played Baron Bomburst, and Desmond Llewelyn, the Q of the Bond series, appeared as Coggins[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang) • [8](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang).\n\n## Origin and development\n\nIan Fleming, best known as the creator of [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond), wrote *Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang* as the written version of bedtime stories he had made up for his son Caspar, naming the magical car after Count Louis Zborowski's 1920s racing car of the same name. Fleming died in 1964, the year the book was published[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) • [6](https://ianfleming.com/tag/chitty-chitty-bang-bang/).\n\nIn August 1965 the Bond co-producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman announced plans to adapt the novel. According to a 1967 New York Times article, Broccoli was initially uninterested in the book but changed his mind after the success of the children's musical *Mary Poppins* (1964)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists) backed the picture, first budgeted at $8 million; later figures cited a final budget of $10 million in Variety and $12 million in the New York Times[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\n**Screenplay.** Earl Hamner, Jr. finished a script by December 1965 but was replaced the following year by Roald Dahl, who had just scripted the Bond film *You Only Live Twice* (1967). The final screenplay was described in the New York Times as a \"flagrant rewrite\" of the novel: the wife character was excised, making Caractacus Potts a widower and allowing a love story with Truly Scrumptious, and Potts's whistling \"Toot Sweet\" candies were an invention of the screenwriters. Hughes, who received a co-writing credit, complained that Dahl was not around at the start of filming, saying he \"had to rewrite the whole bleedin' scenario\"[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). The Roald Dahl Archive holds the final shooting script, dated 19 July 1967 to 26 April 1968, in which the character Jennifer returned to being Jemima as in Dahl's first draft[7](https://www.calmview.co.uk/dahl/calmview/Record.aspx?id=RD%2F8%2F7%2F13&src=CalmView.Catalog).\n\n## Production\n\n[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in England on 17 July 1967, with interiors filmed at [Pinewood Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/pinewood-studios). Location shooting outside England took place in Bavaria, Germany, where [Neuschwanstein Castle](https://www.edgepedia.org/neuschwanstein-castle) stood in for Baron Bomburst's home and Rothenburg ob der Tauber provided exteriors; a 1968 Los Angeles Times review also listed the south of France as a filming site[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). Dick Van Dyke suffered a leg injury during production, forcing a revised seven-day shooting schedule beginning in late August 1967[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\nSeveral *Mary Poppins* crew members returned: the songwriting brothers Richard M. and [Robert B. Sherman](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-b-sherman), music supervisor and conductor Irwin Kostal, and choreographers Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). The Shermans, then under exclusive contract to Disney, were permitted one outside project and took this one with [Walt Disney](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney)'s blessing[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang). Production designer Ken Adam, cinematographer Christopher Challis, and editor John Shirley completed the key crew[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\n**The car.** Ken Adam noted that four vehicles were built for the shoot: a worn-out version of Chitty, a restored version styled as a 1910 racing car (earlier in look than the 1920s Zborowski original Fleming had referenced), a speedboat version, and Baron Bomburst's zeppelin[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). The main car was designed and built as a working vehicle rather than a prop: over seventeen feet long, weighing over two tons, street legal and fully licensed, with the license plate GEN 11, the closest the UK licensing office could get to \"Genie.\" Three prop cars were also built for studio shots and water sequences. The car is currently owned by Pierre Picton, who maintained it during production and drove in some film sequences[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang).\n\n## Songs and music\n\nThe [Sherman Brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/sherman-brothers) wrote twelve original songs, including \"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,\" \"Hushabye Mountain,\" \"Toot Sweets,\" \"Truly Scrumptious,\" \"Chu-Chi Face,\" \"Doll on a Music Box,\" \"Me Ol' Bam-Boo,\" \"Posh!,\" \"The Roses of Success,\" \"Lovely Lonely Man,\" and \"You Two\"[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). In an unusual move, Columbia Records released Tony Bennett's recording of \"Hushabye Mountain\" before 1 September 1968, ahead of the twelve-song soundtrack[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). The title song received an Academy Award nomination for Music (Song – Original for the Picture) but lost to \"The Windmills of Your Mind\" from *The Thomas Crown Affair* (1968)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) • [5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang).\n\n## Reception and box office\n\nAdvance ticket sales set a record in the United Kingdom for United Artists, reaching $108,000 by 13 December 1968. After twenty-three weeks in US release, cumulative earnings in five cities were listed at $3,616,170[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). Lifetime domestic gross was recorded at $7,500,000[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803), against budgets reported at $10 million to $12 million[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\nCritical reception was mixed. Variety unfavorably compared the film to *Mary Poppins* and criticized the special-effects compositing, while a positive New York Times review suggested the deliberately obvious \"paper cut-out\" effects helped viewers separate real-life from fantasy sequences[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677). Time wrote that the film was \"a picture for the ages - the ages between five and twelve,\" while the New York Times called it \"a fast, dense, friendly children's musical\"[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang). On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 70% Tomatometer from 30 reviews and a 71% audience score from more than 250,000 ratings[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chitty_chitty_bang_bang). Some critics theorized that Disney's car film *The Love Bug* (1968) eclipsed it because of its contemporary setting, whereas *Chitty* was set around 1910; Fleming's original story had been set in the present[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang).\n\n## Marketing and later life\n\nA teaser campaign launched in late April 1968 in sixteen cities cost United Artists $620,000, which a studio executive claimed was the largest advertising effort any studio had made that far in advance of a release. About 150 tie-in items, among them model cars, General Foods and Campbell Soup products, clothing, and 35 to 40 distinct editions of the book, were sold in conjunction with the film's launch from publishers such as Random House, Signet, Scholastic Book Service, and Western Publishing[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677).\n\n**Stage musical.** A musical based on the film, produced by Broccoli's widow Dana Broccoli and daughter Barbara Broccoli, premiered in London on 16 April 2002 and reached Broadway on 28 April 2005 at the Hilton Theatre, running until 31 December 2005. The Sherman brothers added new lyrics and four new songs for the Broadway staging[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677) • [10](https://apnews.com/article/19bb30ab3af649c480153133c1faa307). The film has remained in circulation: it ranked ninth among UK independent films on terrestrial television in 2018 with 1.6 million viewers for a single Channel 5 transmission[11](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-2019.pdf), and it was re-released theatrically in New Zealand in 2020 and Australia in 2025[12](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0062803/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23677)\n2. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chitty_chitty_bang_bang/cast-and-crew)\n3. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/c4de98c5-d1af-5671-a66f-6d2dd6ebf999/chitty-chitty-bang-bang)\n4. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803)\n5. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Turner Classic Movies article by Eleanor Quin (2003)](https://www.tcm.com/articles/21738/chitty-chitty-bang-bang)\n6. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang archives, Ian Fleming Publications](https://ianfleming.com/tag/chitty-chitty-bang-bang/)\n7. ['Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' Final Shooting Script, The Roald Dahl Archive](https://www.calmview.co.uk/dahl/calmview/Record.aspx?id=RD%2F8%2F7%2F13&src=CalmView.Catalog)\n8. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang)\n9. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chitty_chitty_bang_bang)\n10. [Richard M. Sherman obituary, Associated Press (2024)](https://apnews.com/article/19bb30ab3af649c480153133c1faa307)\n11. [BFI Statistical Yearbook 2019](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-2019.pdf)\n12. [Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0062803/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction › Films based on early 20th-century literature*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang](https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0](https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-epyjbd1mx0. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 Ken Hughes musical fantasy produced by Albert R." }