Trivia for
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) More at IMDbPro »

• Dick Van Dyke's character was named for Caractacus, the last independent ruler of England before the Roman conquest of southern England.
  
  
• Lionel Jeffries played Dick Van Dyke's father, despite the fact that Dick Van Dyke is actually seven months older than Jeffries.
  
  
• Phil Collins claims he was one of the children storming the castle at the end of the film but was edited out because of a rather large and unsightly bandage on his head that was covering a cyst.
  
  
• The first non-Disney film to feature songs by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.
  
  
• In addition to several partial mock-ups of the car used for the purposes of filming, one real, custom-built Chitty Chitty Bang Bang automobile was constructed for the film. It survives today, privately owned, and often appears at special events. The car is street-legal and is registered as a motor vehicle in the U.K. with the same license plate seen in the film (GEN 11).
  
  
• Dick Van Dyke had appeared in several Disney movies prior to this. In a press release he quipped, "This will out-Disney Disney."
  
  
• The license number for Truly's car, CUB 1, is a reference to Albert R. Broccoli's nickname, Cubby.
  
  
• Baron Bomburst's castle is Neuschwanstein, built between 1869 and 1886 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II, "The Mad King of Bavaria". This castle is also famously known as the model for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, which was the symbol of the Disney Television programs "Disneyland" (1954) and it's successors "Walt Disney Presents (1958)" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1962)".
  
  
• The colors of the floating Chitty - purple, green, and white - were the colors of the women's suffrage movement of that time.
  
  
• Has the distinction of being the only non-James Bond film produced by Albert R. Broccoli after the Bond series began. This is because the novel on which the movie is based was written by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.
  
  
• The original book "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was written by the creator of "James Bond", Ian Fleming. In "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" two actors from "James Bond" films appear: Gert Fröbe and Desmond Llewelyn.
  
  
• The film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has a different story than the original book by Ian Fleming. The story used in the film was created by author Roald Dahl, who is best known for the children's books James and the Giant Peach (1996) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Ironically, the first James Bond film not to follow the original book was You Only Live Twice (1967), which also used an original story by Dahl.
  
  
• Voted number 14 in Channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films".
  
  
• Helpmann's character has often been named as one of the scariest characters ever to be brought on screen. Not only did it make it into Empire magazine, but also onto Channel 4's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. The Child Catcher was the inspiration for Marilyn Manson's "Smells Like Children" EP. The title and cover art, as well as Manson's outfit and appearance during the album, reference the Robert Helpmann character.
  
  
• Director Ken Hughes reportedly hated the finished film.
  
  
• Heather Ripley recalled that she did not realize until much later that Dick Van Dyke was an alcoholic when the film was made.
  
  
• Seven different Chitties were built: a worn-out one, a restored one, one for the flying scenes, one for the water scenes and three partial models for various other scenes.
  
  
• The musical number 'Toot Sweets' took three weeks to film and involved 38 dancers, 40 singers, 85 musicians and 100 dogs.
  
  
• The scenes in and around Baron Bomburst's castle in Vulgaria were shot on location at King Ludwig II's Castle Neuschwanstein, located at the foot of the Alps on the Bavarian-Austrian border.
  
  
• When the production filmed in the Bavarian town of Rothenberg on the Tauber, some locals were used. Senior citizens were cast as the townspeople of Vulgaria, while the local university's riding teams played the Vulgarian soldiers.
  
  
• The original Broadway production of the stage musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" opened at the Hilton Theater in New York on April 28, 2005 and ran for 285 performances.
  
  
• The name Toot Sweet is a play on "tout suite", a French expression meaning "right away" or "quickly".
  
  
• The role of Truly Scrumptious was originally intended for Julie Andrews, but she was unavailable. Dick Van Dyke helped choose Sally Ann Howes because he thought her singing voice was ideal for the part. Ironically, one of the major complaints when the film was released concerned Howes' acting ability.
  
  

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