Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Encyclopedia
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car (150 pp.) is a children's book written by Ian Fleming
(creator of James Bond
) for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham
. It was first published in 1964 by Jonathan Cape
in London
(in three volumes) and Random House
in New York
, and later made into a film
.
Fleming took his inspiration for the car from a series of aero-engined
racing cars built by Count Louis Zborowski in the early 1920s at Higham Park, christened "Chitty Bang Bang
". Fleming had known Higham Park as a guest of its later owner, Walter Wigham, chairman of Robert Fleming & Co.
to Lord Skrumshus, the wealthy owner of a local confectionery
factory. The car, a "Paragon Panther," was the sole production of the Paragon motor-car company before it went bankrupt. It is a four-seat touring car with an enormous bonnet. After the restoration is complete, the car is named for the noises made by its starter motor and the characteristic two loud backfires it makes when it starts.
At first Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is just a big and powerful car, but as the book progresses the car surprises the family by beginning to exhibit independent actions. This first happens while the family is caught in a traffic jam on their way to the beach for a picnic. The car suddenly instructs Commander Pott to pull a switch which causes Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang to sprout wings and take flight over the stopped cars on the road. Commander Pott flies them to Goodwin Sands
in the English Channel where the family picnics, swims, and sleeps. While the family naps, the tide comes in threatening to drown them. Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang wakes them just in time with a hiss of steam. At the car's direction, Commander Pott pulls another switch which causes it to transform into a hovercraft-like vehicle. They make for the French coast and land on a beach near Calais
. They explore along the beach and find a cave boobytrapped with some devices intended to scare off intruders. At the back of the cave is a store of armaments and explosives. The family detonate the cache of explosives and flee the cave.
The gangsters/gun-runners who own the ammunition dump arrive and block the road in front of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. The gangsters threaten the family, but Commander Pott throws the switch which transforms the car into an aeroplane and they take off, leaving the gangsters in helpless fury. The Potts stay overnight in a hotel in Calais. While the family sleeps, the gangsters break into the children's room and kidnap them and drive off towards Paris. Chitty tracks the gangsters' route, wakes Commander and Mrs. Pott, and they drive off in pursuit.
The gangsters are planning to rob a famous chocolate
shop in Paris
using the children as decoys. The Pott children overhear this and manage to warn the shop owner, Monsieur Bon-Bon. Chitty arrives in time to prevent the gangsters from fleeing. The police arrive and the gangsters are taken away. As a reward Monsieur Bon-Bon's wife shares the secret recipe of her world famous fudge with the Potts and the two families become good friends. Chitty flies the family away to parts unknown, and the book implies that the car has yet more secrets. The secret recipe for Bon-Bon's world famous French fudge is printed at the back of the last chapter (in certain copies of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the recipe is printed in the chapter where the fudge recipe is introduced).
. A novelisation of the film was written by author John Burke
.
, a stage musical based on the movie, opened at the London Palladium
theatre. It was directed by Adrian Noble
with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne
and starred Michael Ball
. This version of the show closed in September 2005. It was the longest running show ever at the London Palladium, taking over £70 million in its three and a half year run.
After closing in London, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang took to the road on a UK European tour. The first stop was at the Sunderland Empire Theatre, where it previewed from December 9, 2005 and premiered on December 13, 2005 and also toured at Manchester
, Birmingham
, Liverpool
, Bristol
, Southampton
and Edinburgh
. It closed in Southampton on 16 September 2007 and then traveled to Singapore from 2 November 2007 to 9 December. It played at the Alhambra Theatre Bradford
from 11 February until 5 April 2008 and played a second time at the Sunderland Empire Theatre from 17 April to 7 June 2008. The Tour played its final venue at the Wales Millennium Centre
on 3 July to 30 August 2008. A second British tour of the musical is running from July 2009 to September 2010.
Despite some initial problems with the mechanical flying Chitty used in the show, it has enjoyed a very successful run. A Broadway version opened on April 28, 2005 at the Foxwoods Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre) in New York City and closed on 31 December 2005, after 34 previews and 284 regular performances. The production was nominated for five 2005 Tony Awards:
as the voice of Chitty, Alex Jennings
as Caractacus Potts, Eric Potts
as Lord Scrumptious/Mr. Bon-Bon/Man Mountain Fink, David Fleischman as Joe the Monster, Bertie Gilbert as Jeremy and Kerry Ingram as Jemima.
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
(creator of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
) for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham
John Burningham
-Biography:Burningham was born April 27, 1936 in Farnham, Surrey, England to Charles and Jessie Burningham. After primary school, he joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit in 1953. When he was 20, he attended the Central School of Art and graduated in 1959...
. It was first published in 1964 by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(in three volumes) and Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and later made into a film
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
.
Fleming took his inspiration for the car from a series of aero-engined
Aero-engined
Aero-engined is a term used to describe a car fitted with an engine designed for aircraft use. This practice was popular in the inter-war period of the early 20th century in the quest for improved car performance...
racing cars built by Count Louis Zborowski in the early 1920s at Higham Park, christened "Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Bang Bang was the informal name of a number of celebrated English racing cars, built and raced by Count Louis Zborowski and his engineer Clive Gallop in the 1920s, which inspired the book, film and stage musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang....
". Fleming had known Higham Park as a guest of its later owner, Walter Wigham, chairman of Robert Fleming & Co.
Plot
Commander Caractacus Pott is an inventor who buys and renovates an old car after gaining money from inventing and selling whistle-like sweetsSweetS
was a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
to Lord Skrumshus, the wealthy owner of a local confectionery
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
factory. The car, a "Paragon Panther," was the sole production of the Paragon motor-car company before it went bankrupt. It is a four-seat touring car with an enormous bonnet. After the restoration is complete, the car is named for the noises made by its starter motor and the characteristic two loud backfires it makes when it starts.
At first Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is just a big and powerful car, but as the book progresses the car surprises the family by beginning to exhibit independent actions. This first happens while the family is caught in a traffic jam on their way to the beach for a picnic. The car suddenly instructs Commander Pott to pull a switch which causes Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang to sprout wings and take flight over the stopped cars on the road. Commander Pott flies them to Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...
in the English Channel where the family picnics, swims, and sleeps. While the family naps, the tide comes in threatening to drown them. Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang wakes them just in time with a hiss of steam. At the car's direction, Commander Pott pulls another switch which causes it to transform into a hovercraft-like vehicle. They make for the French coast and land on a beach near Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. They explore along the beach and find a cave boobytrapped with some devices intended to scare off intruders. At the back of the cave is a store of armaments and explosives. The family detonate the cache of explosives and flee the cave.
The gangsters/gun-runners who own the ammunition dump arrive and block the road in front of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. The gangsters threaten the family, but Commander Pott throws the switch which transforms the car into an aeroplane and they take off, leaving the gangsters in helpless fury. The Potts stay overnight in a hotel in Calais. While the family sleeps, the gangsters break into the children's room and kidnap them and drive off towards Paris. Chitty tracks the gangsters' route, wakes Commander and Mrs. Pott, and they drive off in pursuit.
The gangsters are planning to rob a famous chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
shop in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
using the children as decoys. The Pott children overhear this and manage to warn the shop owner, Monsieur Bon-Bon. Chitty arrives in time to prevent the gangsters from fleeing. The police arrive and the gangsters are taken away. As a reward Monsieur Bon-Bon's wife shares the secret recipe of her world famous fudge with the Potts and the two families become good friends. Chitty flies the family away to parts unknown, and the book implies that the car has yet more secrets. The secret recipe for Bon-Bon's world famous French fudge is printed at the back of the last chapter (in certain copies of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the recipe is printed in the chapter where the fudge recipe is introduced).
Characters
- Caractacus Pott
- Mimsie Pott
- Jeremy and Jemima Pott
- Joe the Monster
- Man-Mountain Fink
- Soapy Sam
- Blood-Money Banks
- Monsieur Bon-Bon
Film
A film was made based on the novel in 1968, with a screenplay written by Fleming's good friend Roald DahlRoald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
. A novelisation of the film was written by author John Burke
John Burke (author)
John Burke was an English writer of novels and short stories.He had written under the names J. F...
.
Stage musical
On April 16, 2002, Chitty Chitty Bang BangChitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.-Productions:...
, a stage musical based on the movie, opened at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
theatre. It was directed by Adrian Noble
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
and starred Michael Ball
Michael Ball (singer)
Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
. This version of the show closed in September 2005. It was the longest running show ever at the London Palladium, taking over £70 million in its three and a half year run.
After closing in London, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang took to the road on a UK European tour. The first stop was at the Sunderland Empire Theatre, where it previewed from December 9, 2005 and premiered on December 13, 2005 and also toured at Manchester
Palace Theatre, Manchester
The Palace Theatre, Manchester, is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. It is situated on Oxford Street, on the north-east corner of the intersection with Whitworth Street. The Palace and its 'sister' theatre the Manchester Opera House on Quay Street are operated by the same parent...
, Birmingham
Birmingham Hippodrome
The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End...
, Liverpool
Liverpool Empire Theatre
Liverpool Empire Theatre is located on the corner of Lime Street and London Road in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The theatre is the second to be built on the site, and was opened in 1925. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in Britain and can seat 2,350 people...
, Bristol
Bristol Hippodrome
The Bristol Hippodrome is a theatre in the centre of Bristol, England with seating on three levels giving a capacity of 1,951. It frequently features West End theatre shows when they tour the UK as well regular visits by Welsh National Opera, and an annual pantomime.- History :The theatre was...
, Southampton
Mayflower Theatre
The Mayflower is a Grade II listed theatre, in the city centre of Southampton, United Kingdom, with a capacity of 2,300. It features West End theatre shows when they tour the UK. The theatre opened on the 22 December 1928, as The Empire Theatre, part of the Moss Empire theatre group...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh Playhouse
The Edinburgh Playhouse is a former cinema in Edinburgh, Scotland which now hosts touring musicals and music concerts. Its capacity is 3,059, making it the UK's largest working theatre in terms of audience capacity....
. It closed in Southampton on 16 September 2007 and then traveled to Singapore from 2 November 2007 to 9 December. It played at the Alhambra Theatre Bradford
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
from 11 February until 5 April 2008 and played a second time at the Sunderland Empire Theatre from 17 April to 7 June 2008. The Tour played its final venue at the Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on 22 January 2009 with an inaugural concert...
on 3 July to 30 August 2008. A second British tour of the musical is running from July 2009 to September 2010.
Despite some initial problems with the mechanical flying Chitty used in the show, it has enjoyed a very successful run. A Broadway version opened on April 28, 2005 at the Foxwoods Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre) in New York City and closed on 31 December 2005, after 34 previews and 284 regular performances. The production was nominated for five 2005 Tony Awards:
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a MusicalTony Award for Best Leading Actress in a MusicalThe Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best leading actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival...
(Erin DillyErin DillyErin Dilly is an American actress. She is most noted for her portrayal of Truly Scrumptious in the 2005 musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award.Dilly was raised in...
) - Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalThis is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been presented since 1947...
(Marc KudischMarc KudischMarc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...
) - Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalThis is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
(Jan MaxwellJan MaxwellJan Maxwell is an American stage and television actress. She is a four-time Tony Award nominee.-Biography:She is the daughter of former First District Judge Ralph B. Maxwell and Elizabeth Maxwell, a lawyer for the EPA. She attended West Fargo High School, West Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead...
) - Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a MusicalTony Award for Best Scenic Design of a MusicalThis is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design for outstanding set design of a play or musical. The award was first presented in 1947...
(Anthony Ward) - Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Mark Henderson)
Radio
A one-hour adaptation of the novel by Sherry Ashworth, directed by Charlotte Richers, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) on 3 April 2011, starring Imogen StubbsImogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs, Lady Nunn is an English actress and playwright.-Early life:Imogen Stubbs was born in Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on an elderly river barge on the Thames...
as the voice of Chitty, Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings is an English actor whose roles have included Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen .-Early years:...
as Caractacus Potts, Eric Potts
Eric Potts
Eric Potts is a British actor, who had parts in Coronation Street, as eccentric baker Diggory Compton, the father of Molly Compton, and Brookside as Wrexham Football Club Supporter, Mr Moore....
as Lord Scrumptious/Mr. Bon-Bon/Man Mountain Fink, David Fleischman as Joe the Monster, Bertie Gilbert as Jeremy and Kerry Ingram as Jemima.