Every family should have one! (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (DVD))

Member Name: LouiseA

Product:	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (DVD)
Date:	09/01/03 (473 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: entertaining, family film

Disadvantages: not many DVD features

An epic amongst children's entertainment is a good way to describe the 1968 film
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
with a running time of 2 hours and 25 minutes it is extremely long for a children's film.
Remarkably however children as young as two or 3 will watch the entire film with interest such is the level of entertainment it provides.

THE STORY:

Dick Van Dyke takes the lead role as Caractacus Potts, an inventor whose enthusiasm is far greater than his level of success. He lives in a windmill with his children Jeremy and Jemima and his own eccentric father. His latest invention is a sweet, sadly overcooked and indeed full of holes, but wait!
It can play a tune, it is in fact a TOOT SWEET!

Fate, children and bad driving bring a meeting with the delightful Truly Scrumptious, whose father just happens to own a sweet factory. At last things seem to be going well for Potts, on a visit to the factory the owner and his staff are very impressed. A magnificent musical number follows, unfortunately everyone plays the sweets (whistle, whistle, whistle!) and every local dog invades the factory leaving owner and staff less than happy and a factory in utter chaos.

'But what about the car?' I hear you cry!

The children have fallen in love with an abandoned car at the local scrap-yard. At the start of the film you have a glimpse of its glory days, racing in France, but those days are long gone, it is a decaying wreck with scrap value only. The children beg their father to buy the car, but money is tight.
A trip to the fair helps matters and Daddy Potts (remember he is Dick Van Dyke!) ends up in a sideshow and getting a hat-full of money for his performance.

With the purchase of the scrap-yard car secured the adventure can really begin. The next few scenes show Potts working day and night without food or sleep to transform the wrecked car. The result is amazing, (Potts' skil
ls seem to have greatly improved!) a gleaming silver car with gold trim and red wheels emerges, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is born.

Potts and Truly are now firm friends and a trip to the seaside with the children leads to the next part of the story. Stranded due to the tide, Potts begins to tell a story to pass the time, we follow the story in the film. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang can now float and whilst taking a tour on the sea is spotted by Baron Bomburst. He sets his sights on the car and sends two comical henchmen to steal it, they fail, but capture Grandfather Potts instead.

During the pursuit Chitty Chitty Bang Bang begins to fly and ends up at the Bavarian castle and village owned by the above mentioned Baron. It soon becomes clear that all is not well here. There are no children and sadness prevails. The family are befriended by the Toymaker (Benny Hill) who explains that the children have been banished by the pampered Baroness Bomburst (Anna Quayle) who is terrified of them

The worst happens and Jeremy and Jemima are captured by the evil Child Catcher, so brilliantly portrayed by the dancer Robert Helpmann (he still scares me!) Faced with this dire situation, and with the assistance of the Toymaker, Potts and Truly set out to rescue the children. They manage to discover where the local children are being held and find that Jeremy and Jemima are in the castle itself.

A cunning plot is hatched involving mechanical 'dolls', it is a success! Jeremy and Jemima are rescued and all the other children liberated. The Baron and Baroness behaviour is also guaranteed to improve!
Chiity Chitty Bang Bang and Grandfather Potts reclaimed, the family return home triumphantly.
Romance blossoms between Potts and Truly and the spectacular ending makes you wonder if the adventure was just a story after all.
SUMMARY:
The film is enjoyable family entertainment, the writer of the story Ian Flemming an expert on
fantastic gadgets and a screenplay by Roald Dahl, a master of children's writing combine to spectacular effect. Sherman and Sherman wrote the music and lyrics with the theme tune being nominated for an Oscar, but also includes the fantastic Toot Sweet, the pretty Truly Scrumptious and the lyrical Hushabye Mountain.
Sally Ann Howes gives a lovely performance as the sweet and beautiful Truly Scrumptious and Dick Van Dyke brings character to the role of Caractacus Potts (thankfully minus his attempt at a 'Cockney' accent!)

DVD FEATURES:
Not that many to be honest, maybe relying on the length of the film rather than added extras.
It does include the original theatrical trailer. interactive menu screens, language selection and subtitle
options.

The film is shown in its original cinematic format including an intermission, this is actually pretty good as it creates a cliff-hanger within the film.

All in all a good excuse to re-introduce ourselves to our
'Fine Four Fendered Friend!'

Summary: