Headscratchers / Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

• Why did Grandpa say that Mr. Coggins was "so mean he wouldn't light your pipe if his house were on fire" when the kids and Mr. Potts believe he's a nice person? Does he only show kindness to kids and not adults, or was it because he wouldn't give the car to the children? He just never seemed mean to me. That line by Grandpa always confused me and seemed more appropriate to the junkman.
  • He's not using "mean" as in "not nice", he's using it as "miserly." That is, not only would Coggins not give you one of his matches to light your pipe, he wouldn't let you use his burning house even if it wouldn't result in any cost to him. If you go to the Wikitionary page, Etymology 2, Definition 8 is what you think is meant where Definition 6 was the real intent.
    • Thank you very much! That makes much more sense.
• This came up in a conversation with a couple of my friends, and maybe ignoring that the plot is 'story-within-framing-device', like The Princess Bride: in RPG terms, to get the car to act the way it does... 'Enchantment', or 'Animation'?
  • It's a permanent affect and the car appears to be at least somewhat sapient, so probably a Construct of some kind.
• If the Toymaker says that the Baron's "dolls" are mechanical, is he referring to Truly or Caractacus? Also, how is Caractacus' doll character supposed to be mechanical since he doesn't make noises like Truly does?
  • He's supposed to be a rag doll marionette or string puppet. That's why he capers and lolls about the way he does. And no, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
• The song "Lovely, Lonely Man", in which Truly monologues about her affectionate feelings for Mr. Potts, occurs during the Vulgaria story...so Potts told his kids and Truly a made-up story in which she sings a sentimental ballad about him while she's alone? How'd that go over?
  • The ending implies that Caractacus and Truly tell the story together. In many ways, it appears as though each one is using the story for veiled flirtation. The sequence on the music box could be Truly's way of gently chiding Caractacus for putting her on a pedestal, and at one point in the film, Caractacus is specifically told by the Toymaker that he needs to stop relying upon telling fairy tales and instead actually do something about how he feels, a hint perhaps?

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