WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HOPE THE NEW YEAR BRINGS YOU LOTS OF JOY AND GOOD FORTUN...
WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HOPE THE NEW YEAR BRINGS YOU LOTS OF JOY AND GOOD FORTUNE X X
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Well I must be one of the very few people who had never seen this film and my husband thought it was tragic so he bought me the special edition of the film to watch. The special edition consists of 2 discs. The first of which has the film on.
THE FILM
The film is about an eccentric inventor, Caractacus Potts, who has 2 children, Jemima and Jeremy. The children have fallen in love with an old racing car which is going to be sold. We see the racing car winning the Grand Prix around the world at the beginning of the film. As the children are running home to ask their father for the money they are nearly run over by a very pretty lady called Truly Scrumptious, she takes it upon herself to speak to the children's father about why they are not in school. She takes a shine to Potts.
Potts soon finds, with the help of his dog, that the candy he has invented whistles. He takes the candy to the local sweet factory to see if he can sell it to raise the money for the car. It is hear that he finds out Truly Scrumptious is the daughter of the factory owner and she helps him try to sell the candy. All seems to be going well until the factory is over run with dogs and the candy is not sold. Potts goes to the circus to raise the money for the children to get the car.
The following morning the children see their father arrive home with the car and he promises to make it like new
for them. The children are warned by their Grandpa not to get excited as their father will never be able top make the car work. As the children wait and wait they keep their belief that their father will make the car go. Eventually the car is revealed and indeed it does work and it looks wonderful. They go off for a picnic in the car and along the way they bump into Truly again where they invite her to join them . As they are driving along they decide that the car makes a chitty chitty bang bang noise and this is where they decide to call the car Chitty.
They all spend a wonderful day at the beach and as they are preparing to leave they start to hear a story from Potts. It is during this story where Chitty flies and floats. The story begins with a pirate ship coming to steal their car. The story takes the children, Potts and Truly to a magical place which is run by the Baron and Baroness Bomburst. The Baroness hates all children so they are not allowed to live in their town, it is here where we meet the nasty child catcher and the toymaker who helps them. Grandpa has also been kidnapped by the Baron as he believes that he is the inventor of the flying and floating car.
Will the children be able to escape the child catcher and will Potts and Truly rescue Grandpa and will they ever get home?
DISC 2
The second disc is packed full of extra features, these include:-
A phantasmagorical Motor Car Featurettes Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Band with Dick Van Dyke Vintage Featurettes The real Caractacus Potts Dick Van Dyke press Interview On Set With the Potts Children Sherman Brothers Demo Easter Eggs Sing along with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Read along with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Interactive Games One Persons junk is another persons Jalopy Toot Sweet Special Delivery Chitty Colouring Book
There is also a Region 2 exclusive on the disc which includes extracts from the making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical and a vintage Advertising Gallery and also a photo gallery.
MY OPINION
I am glad that I have now seen the film as I did enjoy it. It is definitely a classic children's Disney film and through out the film it shows the magic of Disney.
The characters are all very good and they are all believable in their roles. I did find that the children' characters were a but wooden but I do think that this is the way it was meant as it was set a very long time ago.
The effects in the film in today's standard were not at all very good but the film was in fact made in 1968 and in this time they would have been classed as truly magical and amazing. I did find the flying scenes very funny as it was so clearly obvious they were using a green backdrop and the pictures were added later. I can forgive the dodgy effects though as it was a Disney film!
The songs thought out the film are all fun and fit well. The vocals are quite good but I just somehow cant get over the fact that everyone knows the words when the songs are supposed to be spontaneous!
The part of Grandpa is played very well and he does have some very funny moments during the film and I did enjoy his mad and crazy character. The part of the child catcher was also played well and he did look quite evil and I can imaging small children actually being quite scared of him.
It was great to see Benny Hill in the film as he played the part of the toy maker, this is the first film which I have seen his playing a nearly straight character and he was very good at it.
THE CAST
Caractacus Potts - Dick Van Dyke Truly Scrumptious - Sally Ann Howes Grandpa Potts - Lionel Jeffries Baron Bomburst - Gert Frobe Baroness Bomburst - Anna Quayle Toymaker - Benny Hill Lord Scrumptious - James Robertson Justice Child Catcher - Robert Helpman Jemima - Heather Ripley Jeremy - Adrian Hall
INFO
The film was originally made in 1968. The screen play was written by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes. The music and lyrics were written by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman. The film was produced by Albert R Broccoli and directed by Ken Hughes.
The film has a run time of 2 hours and 20 minutes which may seem slightly long for a children film but when I sat and watched it the time just seemed to fly by as I was enjoying the film that much. The film has a Universal rating so it is suitable for all ages. Some smaller children may find the child catcher slightly scary but I feel that in today's television they see a lot scarier in cartoons.
My hubby bough our 2 disc special edition brand new from Ebay for £5 which was a complete bargain as I have seen this in the shops for well over £15. Do shop around and pick yourself a bargain.
I recommend this film to all as it shows the early stages of the Disney magic and it appeals to the whole family.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
Really well written, detailed and very informative DVD review there indeed. Hard to believe this is 40 Years old now and STILL going strong, as its now a full blown musical on tour at the moment, and its spectacular to see live !!!!.......Roy......
arnoldhenryrufus 18.06.2008 07:23
I love all the extra's that you get with a special edition, I hope you got to watch them as you only seemed to have listed them rather than tell us about them - Lyn x
effy13 17.06.2008 19:49
I remember having to act out this musical in charades once! Great review. Effy x x x
This re-mastered, pan-and-scan 30th-anniversary edition of that kiddie-car caper is flawed ... more
but solid family fare. It retains a quaint charm while some of the songs--including the title tune--are quite hummable. A huge plus is Dick Van Dyke, who is extr...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
This re-mastered, pan-and-scan 30th-anniversary edition of that kiddie-car caper is flawed ... more
but solid family fare. It retains a quaint charm while some of the songs--including the title tune--are quite hummable. A huge plus is Dick Van Dyke, who is extr...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' from the book by Bond creator Ian Fleming and adapted for the ... more
screen by Roald Dahl is the wonderful family film starring Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts an eccentric inventor who designs an extraordinary car that not only ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2 Disc Special Edition) [1968] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78514591.jpg "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2 Disc Special Edition) [1968] [DVD]")
![Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Special Edition]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/106081878.jpg "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Special Edition]-DVD")
Jun 17th, 2008
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