Though not held in as high regard as some of its more popular kiddie matinee brethren such as The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, or even Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the 1968 film adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel about a magical flying car is still one of the great children's live action films of all time, full of song, spectacle and adventure.
With a 144 minute long running time though, it could be considered a bit too epic for especially hyperactive children or fidgety adults to sit through without squirming; but there is much to delight in here, notably the elaborate, Rube Goldbergesque proto-steampunk mechanical inventions of Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) and some beautiful Technicolor widescreen aerial cinematography as the winged motorcar soars above the English countryside and the working windmill the Potts family live in all the way to a fairytale castle located in Vulgaria, the mythical European country of the stock villain Baron Bomburst--and that's a real windmill, real castle, and real aerial photography, no CGI scenery here. If only the character of Caractacus Potts were a preteen girl yearning for the freedom of flight instead of good old middle aged Dick Van Dyke, this could almost be a Miyazaki film come to life.
Special mention must be made of the truly scrumptious Sally Ann Howes. After watching her performance of "Doll on a Music Box" as a young boy, I would never again look at a package of Swiss Miss quite the same way.
And to top it all off, there is the Child Catcher. Created especially for the film by screenwriter Roald Dahl and played by ballet dancer Robert Helpmann, the Child Catcher is simply one of the most terrifying film characters of all time:
Here's the trailer:
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