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6[[caption-width-right:350:Our fine four-fendered friend!]]
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8
9Having noted the success of Creator/{{Disney}}'s 1964 [[TheEdwardianEra Edwardian Era]] {{musical}} film ''Film/MaryPoppins'', four years later Creator/UnitedArtists sought to generate similar success for themselves by hiring Music/TheShermanBrothers, the same song-writing team that had scored ''Poppins'', to adapt another period piece into a big-budget musical extravaganza. The result was ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''.
10
11Sometime in the 1910s, the widowed English inventor Caractacus Potts (portrayed, [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent with an American accent]], by Creator/DickVanDyke) rebuilds an old wreck of a racecar--which he names "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", for the noise its engine makes--and adds a few slight improvements, such as giving it the ability to [[CoolBoat sail]] and to [[FlyingCar fly]]. During an excursion in the car with his two children, Jeremy and Jemima, and an attractive woman named Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), whose father is the wealthy owner of the local candy factory, Caractacus entertains them with a story.
12
13It seems that [[AristocratsAreEvil Baron Bomburst]], the tyrannical ruler of the vaguely ''mitteleuropäisch'' land of [[{{Ruritania}} Vulgaria]], has seen Chitty and covets the car for himself. After his father is kidnapped by the Baron's forces, Caractacus, his kids, and Miss Scrumptious all travel to Vulgaria,[[note]]Location shooting for the film version was done around the [[UsefulNotes/TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland Bavarian]] castle of Neuschwanstein and in the medieval town of Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber[[/note]] where they get into various misadventures. HilarityEnsues.
14
15The book it's based on was written by Creator/IanFleming. Yes, ''[[Literature/JamesBond that]]'' Ian Fleming. The movie itself was produced by Creator/AlbertRBroccoli, [[Film/JamesBond of the same fame]] (though not produced by Creator/EonProductions this time around). Additionally, Creator/GertFrobe (who'd played Auric Film/{{Goldfinger}}) appeared as Baron Bomburst, while Creator/DesmondLlewelyn (aka Q) played Coggins. The screenwriter was Creator/RoaldDahl (who, to continue the ''Bond'' ProductionPosse, also wrote the screenplay to ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''). And Creator/BennyHill was the Toymaker.
16
17Creator/BarbaraBroccoli produced a ScreenToStageAdaptation in 2002.
18
19The titular car was owned by one of the film's drivers, Peter Picton (aka Pierre the Clown), who died in November 2016. The vehicle is now owned by Creator/PeterJackson.
20----
21!!Provides examples of:
22
23* AccidentalAimingSkills: The Baron tries to shoot his own wife when she gets launched into the air and held up with a ParachutePetticoat under the pretense he's [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident trying to help her down]]. But he does succeed in popping her dress and having her land safely, much to his disappointment.
24-->'''Bomburst''': Ah, well, I'll get her next time.
25* AdaptationalDistillation: The film takes the book's basic premise of "an inventor and his two children go on a fantastical adventure in a magical motorcar" and proceeds to do its own thing much like Dahl's screenplay for ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''.
26* AdaptationalNiceGuy: The Baron ''genuinely'' loves his wife in the stage version, and never tries to kill her during "Chu-Chi Face".
27* AdaptationalUgliness: Just when you thought he couldn't get any scarier, both the West End and Broadway productions of the stage musical portray the Child Catcher as a much more ghoulish-looking character with a pointier nose, large goblin-like ears, and pale skin.
28* AdaptationExpansion: While the original film relegates the Vulgarian subplot to [[AllJustADream a story Potts tells his children while they're at the seaside]], it gets expanded in the stage version; Vulgaria and all its denizens (evil or otherwise) are real, and they're introduced at the beginning of the show, as opposed to roughly halfway through.
29* AdaptedOut: Joe the Monster, his goons, Monsieur Bon-Bon, and the French setting of the later half of the book are cut altogether.
30* AdvertisingByAssociation: From the original trailer:
31-->"''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is an Ian Fleming story, born as Bond was making screen history."
32* AllJustADream: Subverted, as the second half of the film is set up as a story being told by Caractacus; however, the film ends with Truly and Caractacus flying away in Chitty. Whether this all really happened or not is left up to the viewer's imagination.
33* AltoVillainess: Baroness Bomburst has an impressive alto vocal range but she's the wife of the nefarious Baron.
34* AristocratsAreEvil: Baron and Baroness Bomburst, the leaders of Vulgaria. Though averted with Truly Scrumptious, who is, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well...]]
35* AscendedExtra: Lord Scrumptious in the book was a very minor character. Here he plays a larger supporting role as the father of the LoveInterest
36* AshFace: Happens to the Vulgarian agents where their dynamite stunt backfires.
37* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: The Vulgarian admiral following behind the cavalry, when the gates close behind him.
38* TheBaroness: ''The'' Baroness. Unlike most examples, this Baroness is in fact [[AristocratsAreEvil an actual baroness]]. She is married to a baron and lives in the capital of a barony.
39* BigWhat: After Truly crashes her car into the lake for the second time, the following exchange happens between her and Mr. Potts:
40-->'''Potts:''' "I think you'll find a slight squeeze on the hooter an excellent safety precaution, Ms. Scrumptious."\
41'''Truly:''' "Well never mind about that! How am I supposed to get out of here?"\
42'''Potts:''' "Well, it looks as though you'll have to walk. Or, uh, swim."\
43'''Truly:''' "WHAT? In THIS dress? Oh, don't be ridiculous, Mr. Potts."
44** In fairness to Truly, she was wearing a very fancy, white, ankle-length dress, and Mr. Potts was suggesting she swim to shore. The pond her car was partially submerged in was also pretty dirty. Even if she were willing to soil her very expensive dress, swimming in an ankle-length dress is probably very difficult.
45* BilingualBonus:
46** Chitty's license plate reads GEN 11. "Genii" is Latin for "magical being."
47** Subverted with Toot Sweets. It's a pun on ''tout de suite,'' French for "Right now," (the de is silent) but it isn't related to candy, rather it's to imply that it's new and exciting.
48* BlackComedy:
49** Toward the end of the film, several characters are thrown into the lake near Neuschwanstein Castle. If you know the history of Neuschwanstein (Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built the castle, mysteriously drowned in a lake), this is a ''lot'' darker.
50** Earlier on, the Baron [[TheBluebeard repeatedly tries]] to [[AwfulWeddedLife kill his own wife]] with no success.
51* BrickJoke: On the way back to Vulgaria, the two spies are [[ThrownFromTheZeppelin thrown off the zeppelin]] when Baron Bomburst tries to lighten it. Later, we see the spies having swum all the way back, but because the Vulgarian people are fighting at the castle, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they head back into the water to swim away]].
52* BumblingHenchmenDuo: The two Vulgarian spies are the bumbling henchmen sent by the Baron to steal the car and kidnap its inventor. They keep messing up their mission, accidentally kidnapping Lord Scrumptious and Grandpa Potts instead of Caractacus Potts.
53* CanonForeigner: Most notably, Truly Scrumptious and everybody to do with Vulgaria were invented by Dahl for this film.
54* ChildHater: Having been invented by Creator/RoaldDahl, Vulgaria naturally has its whole culture built (very illogically) around this.
55* ChildlessDystopia: Vulgaria has no children running around the streets thanks to a heartless Baron and his Child Catcher helping him get rid of those kids.
56* ChromaKey: Used to make Chitty fly. You can see blue matte lines in some shots, especially around Jeremy and Jemima's hair and inside the see-through trim on Truly's hat.
57* {{Cliffhanger}}: Chitty and its occupants go over the cliff, seemingly headed to certain doom -- cue the {{Intermission}}! After the break, the final moments of the first half are rerun, and then the wings sprout from the car...
58* ComicBookAdaptation: Creator/GoldKeyComics adapted it in 1969.
59* CoolAirship: Bomburst has a dirigible.
60* CoolBoat: Chitty can float as well as fly.
61** Incidentally, the inflated raft version of Chitty is movie-specific. In the book she's an even cooler boat. Chitty folds her wheels down and spins them to create a hovercraft-like effect. And Fleming thought this up decades before ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' "hover conversions" were invented!
62* CoolCar: Guess...
63* CounterpointDuet: "Doll on a Music Box/Truly Scrumptious (reprise)" at Baron Bomburst's birthday party.
64** Exclusive to the stage version, "Act English".
65* CreatorThumbprint: Roald Dahl's hand in adapting the story is rather clear, with such aspects as not one, but two new ChildHater antagonists, one of whom is directly involved in harming them, and conversely, two adults who really care about children, and dark comedy like a couple singing a loving duet while one tries to kill the other. There's also the fact that Truly's father is a confectionery manufacturer, owing to Dahl's love of sweets.
66* CurbStompBattle: The Vulgarian Army is ''very'' easily taken down by the escaped children, including the infamous Child Catcher.
67* DarkReprise: "Hushabye Mountain", the gentle lullaby sung by Potts to his children early in the film, is reprised later as he tries to reassure the captive Vulgarian children, only to remind himself in doing so that his ''own'' children are still missing. Potts is so overcome with emotion that he stops, only for Truly to take up the song in his place.
68* DeathByAdaptation: [[MissingMom Minsie Potts is deceased here]]. Truly takes up her role as the female lead.
69* DecadentCourt: The Baron's noble courtiers spend all of their time milling around and cavorting with their wives in the throne room while no work seems to get done, and two are introduced playing a game that suggests they're a bit cracked in the head (snooker, with a tiny table only wide enough for a single ball, and ''no balls)''.
70* DisastrousDemonstration: The Toot Sweets pitch is going great... until all of the whistling attracts a horde of dogs that overrun the factory. Subverted at the end when Lord Scrumptious decides to buy them anyway... and market the way dogs love them as a feature.
71* DisneyVillainDeath: The Child Catcher's ultimate fate in the 2002 stage version. After getting netted up and carried into the sky, he appears in front of the airborne Chitty during the finale and vows to capture the children again. This prompts Truly to whip out a ''shotgun'' and shoot the net, sending the Catcher on a one-way trip to the ground.
72* DisproportionateRetribution: All children are banned in Vulgaria because one child called the Baroness ugly.
73* DrivingIntoATruck: Lord Scrumptious is captured by being tricked, ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-style, into driving through a painted backdrop and up into the back of a truck.
74* {{Eagleland}}: From the musical.
75-->'''Spy 1:''' But I can speak English and still be Vulgar(ian).\
76'''Spy 2:''' That would make you an American!
77* TheEdwardianEra: The entire setting of the musical is in the early 1900s with the car design and fashion also set on.
78* EvilIsPetty: Children are outlawed in Vulgaria and captured by the Child Catcher to be given an unknown (but probably better off not known) sentence because the Baroness is afraid of them. Baron Bomburst also sees how cool Chitty is and wishes to have it for himself... and instead of trying to buy it from Caractacus, he immediately goes for trying to blow the whole Potts family away [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill with cannons]] and send spies to kidnap Caractacus (although they get Grandpa instead).
79* EjectionSeat: When Baron Bomburst commands Grandpa to make the eponymous car fly, Grandpa presses a button at random that sends the Baroness shooting skyward out of her seat. (''See'' ParachutePetticoat, ''below''.)
80* ElevenOClockNumber: "Doll On a Music Box", for the film.
81** "Teamwork", exclusive to the stage version, is a near-perfect example of this trope aside from the fact that it's followed up by another two numbers before the climax (including the aforementioned number from the film).
82* EmergencyCargoDump: Vulgarian thieves steal Grandpa's hut (with Grandpa in it) by towing it away on a dirigible, but soon start losing altitude from the weight of the hut. They resort to throwing out cargo, and when that doesn't work throw out the two spies that caught Grandpa in the first place. Said spies are left to tread water in the middle of the ocean, and actually make it back to shore in the climax.
83* EnglishRose: Truly Scrumptious. Adrian Hall, who played Jeremy, even described her actress Sally Ann Howes as such in a DVD featurette.
84* FatAndSkinny: The two spies are comprised of a fat guy and a lean guy.
85* FlyingCar: Chitty, obviously.
86* ForcedTransformation: Taken literally, "Doll on a Music Box" claims that the doll (actually Truly in disguise) was once human and cursed to become a mechanical object of amusement, and that only [[TrueLovesKiss love's first kiss]] can break the spell. [[RuleOfSymbolism However, it can also refer to Truly feeling restricted by the position and expectations associated with her social stature.]]
87* ForTheEvulz: Baron and Baroness Bomburst fear and despise kids and they aren’t even given a FreudianExcuse.
88* {{Foreshadowing}}: When introduced to a flawed batch of sweets from Caractus's sweet making machine, Truly makes an offhand comment about the sugar's temperature. Turns out she's the daughter of a famous confectionary mogul.
89* GadgeteersHouse: The Potts family house is littered with the HomemadeInventions of father Caractus Potts, including the [[RubeGoldbergDevice automated breakfast maker]] in the kitchen and the music box in the children's room.
90* GentlemanAdventurer: Played with. Grandpa Potts thinks he's this trope, but he's really just insane.
91* GorgeousPeriodDress: Much of Truly's wardrobe.
92* GratuitousGerman: The Vulgarians, particularly the Baron and the two spies.
93* HaveAGayOldTime: "You'll find a slight squeeze on the hooter an excellent safety precaution, Miss Scrumptious."
94* HomemadeInventions: Caractacus' works exhibit this, such as his automated breakfast maker.
95* HooksAndCrooks: The Child Catcher carries a hook, but we don't see him use it.
96* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Chitty's backstory; she was once a prestigious racing car but a rather unfortunate incident in her final race involving a young girl and her runaway dog led to the car's untimely destruction as it veered to avoid a collision. It would sit in Mister Coggins' shop until it was bought and fully restored by Caractacus.
97* IfItSwimsItFlies: The car itself.
98* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Similar to the ''James Bond'' movies, the title card reads, "Ian Fleming's ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''".
99* {{Intermission}}: See {{Cliffhanger}} above.
100* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Among Caractacus's not-quite-working inventions are a television antenna and a vacuum cleaner, even though the electric-powered vacuum cleaner had already been invented.
101* {{Kaiserreich}}: The opening credits shows the car partaking in a race in Imperial Germany. Vulgaria also takes a number of visual cues from that era, from the castles to the uniforms.
102* KidsPlayMatchmaker: Mr. Potts' kids try to match him up with Lady Truly, doing so pretty unsubtly by ending his story to them with "then Daddie and Truly got married! Yeah!"
103* KnightsArmorHideout: During the climactic battle at Baron Bomburst's palace, Caractacus is seen putting a mace in the hands of a suit of armor and is surprised when it gladly takes it. Soon afterwards, the Vulgarian General is conked in the head with the same mace, and the knight pulls its visor open, showing that there was somebody inside the suit the whole time.
104* LadyMacbeth: The Baroness takes on this role in the stage adaptation (unlike in the film, where she comes across as more airheaded and is less actively antagonistic). It is she who orders the Vulgarian spies to bring the car to Vulgaria, albeit all to please her darling husband.
105* LetXBeTheUnknown: One of the spies wants to go by the CodeName "X", but his superiors misunderstand it as "Rex" or "Tex." It doesn't help when the other spy tries to clarify that it's X as in "X and Bacon."
106* MadScientist: Not merely Caractacus himself (who, as his father says, is "Eccentric -- definitely eccentric. [[HypocriticalHumor Can't think where he gets it from]]!"), but also a collection of rather grotesque inventors (and one telephone repairman) forced by the Baron to work on a supercar for himself.
107* ManChild: Baron Bomburst, ironically. To the point that he's singlehandedly keeping the toymaker in business.
108* MeaningfulName: Caractacus Potts. Dick Van Dyke himself once said it was just a long form for "crackpot". {{Lampshaded}} in the case of Truly Scrumptious with the song that bears her name. ("By coincidence, Truly Scrumptious, you're truly, truly scrumptious.")
109* MilesGloriosus: The Child Catcher; he can handle a couple at once ([[EvilLaugh laughing evilly]] as he does), but a large group of them? ''That'' makes him scream in panic and give up without a fight.
110* MissingMom: Also counts as a DeathByAdaptation for Mrs. Potts.
111* MoodWhiplash: The beginning. Six minutes of jaunty, comedic old-timey racing... and then a little girl's puppy suddenly runs into the racetrack and causes a fiery crash.
112* MuggedForDisguise: Happens to Lord Scrumptious and his chauffeur, courtesy of the two spies.
113* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: C'mon now? ''Bomburst''? ''Vulgaria''? ''Child Catcher''?
114* NamesToTrustImmediately: Truly Scrumptious. A MeaningfulName too, seeing as her father runs a candy factory.
115* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The German-accented Bombursts with their anti-child policies. And incidentally, Vulgaria is set in what is really [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle Castle Neuschwanstein]].
116* NestedStory: The second half of the movie goes into Caractacus' beachside story.
117* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: At the breakfast table, grandpa tries to tell the old joke about bagging an elephant in his pajamas (first used by Creator/GrouchoMarx) but everyone's heard that one before.
118* NoOSHACompliance: The Scrumptious candy factory doesn't have handrails on its high catwalks (that many people are dancing on) and has some of the boiling vats of sugar sitting on the edges...
119* TheNoseKnows: The Child Catcher's huge nose lets him track people's scent.
120--> '''Child Catcher:''' Let me tell you, Toymaker, this nose of mine has never failed me, and if there are children here, my friend, you will die! [[EvilLaugh Ha ha ha ha ha ha!]]
121* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Creator/DickVanDyke is in a movie set in England with English actors playing the other members of his family and he still uses his American accent. Of course, we all know what happened [[Film/MaryPoppins the last time]] he [[OohMeAccentsSlipping attempted a British accent]]. He actually signed on to the film on the condition that he not have to use an English accent, having learned his lesson from last time.
122* NotDistractedByTheSexy: The Baron is more disgusted than turned-on when the Baroness wears a sexy corset for his birthday. He proceeds to attempt murder.
123* NotHyperbole: When Baron Bomburst tells Grandpa to build him a flying car, he says "I will stuff your head wiz sauerkraut and feed it to the dogs." [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon Grandpa thinks he's joking]] until one scientist says "The Baron never makes jokes.", [[ToThePain describing different ways in which they've been tortured]]. One used to be a midget until he got stretched on the rack.
124* OfCorsetsSexy: The Baroness while singing "You're My Little Chu-Chi Face".
125* OhCrap:
126** At first, the children when they realize the Child Catcher has joined the battle. [[spoiler:But it then reverses onto the Child Catcher himself when he realizes he's greatly outnumbered.]]
127** Caractacus when he encounters Truly at the Scrumptious sweets factory, and putting two and two together, realizes she's Truly ''Scrumptious'', whose father is factory owner Lord Scrumptious. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere He tries to walk out]] before his children implore him to stay.
128* OneBookAuthor: This was child actress Heather Ripley's only feature film.
129* OverlyStereotypicalDisguise: The Baron's two spies attempt to blend in as Englishmen by putting on plaid coats, deerstalker caps, holding a pipe aloft, and calling each other "Basil". A nearby family sees them pass and looks at each other in confusion.
130* ParachutePetticoat: Happens to the Baroness when she is launched from Chitty's EjectorSeat.
131* ParentalLoveSong: "You Two".
132* ParentingTheHusband: Baron and Baroness Bomburst.
133* PatterSong: "Me Ol' Bamboo"
134* PercussiveMaintenance: When the giant music box that is given to the Baron as a gift for his birthday doesn't start up correctly, a swift kick from Caractacus gets it started again.
135* PetsHomageName: Inventor Caratacus Potts has a dog named Edison.
136* PlungerDetonator: Complete with the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' gag of the detonator exploding instead of the dynamite.
137* PunkPunk: the film, at least, seems to straddle the line between SteamPunk and DieselPunk
138* PunnyName: Truly Scrumptious. Ironically, despite Fleming's penchant for women with {{Punny Name}}s in his Bond novels, Truly was invented by Creator/RoaldDahl. Lord "Skrumshus" didn't have a daughter in the novel.
139** Also, Caractacus (say it really fast, and drop the "acus") Potts. Possibly {{lampshaded}} when Caractacus asks his children if they believe he's a crackpot. This is held over from the book.
140** "Toot Sweet" sounds like the French phrase "tout de suite".
141** "Vulgaria" sounds an awful lot like "UsefulNotes/{{Bulgaria}}".
142* PurpleIsPowerful: The Baron, Baroness and royal court are all decked out in purple and [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack complimentary black]], the noble state colors of Vulgaria. It's only "powerful" in the political sense, as all of them prove exceedingly useless against an army of children.
143* PushedInFrontOfTheAudience: Mr. Potts at the fair lets this happen when he realizes it will hide him from the angry customer to whom he just gave a horrible haircut.
144* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: The first spy's villainous {{Monologuing}} includes the odd rhetorical question. The second spy is prone to attempting to answer them. In fact, it's the first thing he does when they are [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduced]]: "Now then, where are we?" "I have here a map!" "I know where we are, stupid!"
145* RiddleForTheAges: Was Vulgaria real, or was it all just a story?
146* RoadrunnerVsCoyote: The agent's initial attempts to capture Chitty are straight out of Wile E. Coyote's handbook (and enjoy the same success).
147* RobotGirl: {{Invoked|trope}} as part of the plot to rescue the children. Truly disguises herself as a doll on a music box, a present for the villain ruler.
148* RubeGoldbergDevice: Pretty much everything in the Potts household is set up this way, by Caractacus himself.
149* RunningGag: Truly ends up in a boggy pond whenever she's driving by the Pottses. It happens [[RuleOfThree three times]].
150* {{Ruritania}}: Vulgaria is a completely fictional nation in Central Europe with references to Germany.
151* SameLanguageDub: Like his previous role in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', because of his thick German accent, Creator/GertFrobe's dialogue as the baron was looped in post, only this time by Roger C. Carmel.
152* ScarilyCompetentTracker: There's a reason he's called the Child Catcher -- [[TheNoseKnows his nose knows]].
153* SetSwitchSong: "Hushabye Mountain", in the stage version, which transitions almost immediately into the funfair.
154* ShipperOnDeck: Jeremy and Jemima work very hard to get their dad Caractacus together with Truly.
155* ShoutOut: During breakfast, Grandpa Potts tells everyone "[[Creator/TheMarxBrothers I got up this morning, and I shot an elephant in my pajamas.]]", making everyone say in unison "How it ever got into my pajamas, I shall never know." "[[NeverHeardThatOneBefore You've heard it before!]]"
156* ShowWithinAShow: "Me ol' bam-boo". Caractacus ends up part of the song and dance after running away from a pissed-off customer. And the result is amazing.
157* SickeninglySweethearts: Played with. The lyrics and tempo of "Chu-Chi Face" make it sound like the Baron and Baroness are this trope. But throughout the song, the Baron [[LyricalDissonance makes repeated attempts to kill her]] while she seems to remain oblivious.
158** It's played straight in the ScreenToStageAdaptation, where the Baron and Baroness's relationship is rewritten so that their love for one another is entirely mutual.
159* SidekickSong: "Posh!" for Grandpa Potts.
160* SinisterSchnoz: The Child-Catcher.
161* TheSixties: The original novel was set in early-60s Britain, with the eponymous car being a vintage barn-find Caractacus bought because neither he nor anyone else in the Potts family wanted to be the twelfth family on the block with a black Morris Minor.
162* SkyHeist: Baron Bomburst's spies kidnap Grandpa Potts after mistaking him for his son Caractacus by hooking his shed from their airship and flying off with the entire shed, with Grandpa still inside.
163* SmugglingWithDolls: In a way. The Vulgarian soldiers unknowingly smuggle Caractacus and Truly, disguised as human-sized dolls, into Baron Bomburst's castle in large boxes, under the pretense of the Toymaker delivering the Baron his birthday presents.
164* SteamPunk: The movie has a steampunk sensibility, but Chitty is a 20th century gasoline-powered vehicle, and the mood is the very opposite of "punk". The novel is set in the 1960s and is definitely not steampunk. (DieselPunk, then?)
165* SweetsOfTemptation: The Child Catcher of Vulgaria successfully captures the hero's children by luring them in with the promise of free sweets.
166* SwingLowSweetHarriet: Truly on her garden swing.
167* TeenageWasteland: Vulgaria has outlawed children of all ages, forcing the townspeople to hide them in a ghetto. Some of these exiled children are teenagers, who mostly look after the infants.
168* TestYourStrengthGame: The big guy whose nerves Caractacus gets on [[EstablishingCharacterMoment is seen winning at one of these]]. He even breaks the bell off.
169* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: Chitty ''and'' the Baron's blimp. Early in the film, Caractacus attempts to build a set of rocket wings, as well. EpicFail.
170* ThrowItIn: In-universe, the buskers go along with a random member joining their dance and learning the routine in a matter of seconds. They even have a fun call and response about what to do with bamboo sticks. At the end, one even gives a hat-full of earnings to Mr. Potts as thanks for his participation.
171* TooDumbToLive:
172** The children are told point-blank about the Child Catcher, ordered to stay put, and not to go outside no matter what... and they still go running after him with the call of sweets in hand. The worst of it is that they had seen the Child Catcher before and yet they were fooled by his PaperThinDisguise.
173** The Child Catcher himself exhibits this at the climax. Really, thinking he could handle a whole army of angry children by himself?
174** The entire Vulgarian Army seems to run on this, blindly charging into battle and ''never once'' firing their rifles as they are swiftly routed by the children and villagers.
175** Baroness Bomburst doesn't realize her husband is trying to kill her.
176* TrapDoor: Baron Bomburst tries to dispose of his wife through one. She just walks back without acknowledging it.
177* UglyGuyHotWife: The Bombursts.
178* UnconventionalFoodUsage: When Mr. Pott realises that when you blow through his invented candy, it makes a whistling sound, he licenses them as "toot sweets" and encourages people to play them like instruments.
179* UnwantedSpouse: Baron Bomburst hates his wife and is constantly trying to kill her to be rid of her.
180* VanillaEdition: The 30th Anniversary DVD boasted no bonus features except for a trailer and sing-along subtitles, and presented the main feature in PanAndScan to boot.[[note]]Perplexingly, the trailer, the opening and end credit sequences, and even the menus boasted widescreen picture...[[/note]] MGM released a Special Edition DVD five years later, with both the widescreen and pan-and-scan versions, a bonus features disc, and digibook packaging. However, the 30th Anniversary DVD strangely remained in print, and even received a number of repackaged re-releases. The most recent DVD release just consists of disc one of the Special Edition DVD in an ordinary case, with the pan-and-scan version removed.
181* VehicularKidnapping: The Child Catcher lures Jeremy and Jemima out of hiding with the promise of sweets, directs them into his trap which is a horse-drawn wagon disguised as a candy stand, locks them inside and drives away with them, and imprisons them with the rest of the children of Vulgaria, who have all been kidnapped as well.
182* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The episode of the two spies dressed as "English gentlemen" ''may'' be based on a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII story in which two German spies were apprehended in the fen-country of Norfolk because (having been misled by Creator/PGWodehouse and other similar English authors) they had attempted to pass as Englishmen by wearing spats and top-hats, both unsuitable to the terrain and hopelessly out of fashion by the 1940s. Caractacus is reputed to be partially based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Leland Henry M. Leland.]]
183* VileVillainSaccharineShow: While the Bombursts are over the top and immature villains, their [[TheDragon dragon]], the Child Catcher, has been a notorious source of NightmareFuel to younger viewers. Exaggerated in stage productions where the Child Catcher is given a more distinctly monstrous, Gothic appearance [[LooksLikeOrlok ala Orlok]] or [[LooksLikeCesare Cesare]] that really make him stick out like a sore thumb in an otherwise bright and cheerful story.
184* VillainLoveSong: "You're my little chu-chi face!" Subverted since he spends the whole song [[TheBluebeard trying to kill her.]]
185* VillainSong: In addition to the above-mentioned "Chu-Chi Face", the stage version adds "The Bombie Samba".
186* WalkThisWay: When Grandpa arrives in Vulgaria.
187* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
188** Lord Scrumptious and his chauffeur are captured by the two Vulgarian spies, who steal their clothes and impersonate them, but they themselves are just sort of forgotten about. They reappear just fine at the end since it was AllJustADream, but one wonders what became of them in the Story Within A Story.
189** The spies themselves are a double-subversion: They're tossed out of the airship in the middle of the North Sea and could be presumed to have drowned (or at least the one who says he can't swim), but then they're seen swimming to shore just in time to see the chaos the children have wrought spill out into the castle grounds and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere retreat back into the sea]], this time never to be seen again.
190* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Jeremy and Jemima object to having the future Chitty sold for scrap by saying they'd be guilty of murder.
191* WomenAreWiser: At different points, Jemima comes off as slightly more sensible than her brother Jeremy.
192* WomenDrivers: Commented on by Caractacus when he sees Truly trying to start her car.
193-->'''Caractacus:''' If women want to drive motor cars, they should learn to operate one.
194* WouldHurtAChild: The Baron, the Vulgarian Army and most notoriously, the Child Catcher. Why? Because of the Baroness, who is ''petrified'' of them.
195** The Junk Man also counts, threatening the two kids to their face when they protest his decision to buy Chitty. Whether he meant it or not though is another story.

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