I don’t think I’m alone in being excited at the news that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is set to fly again in a newly commissioned sequel to the original Ian Fleming story.

Despite its pretty dreadful songs, out-dated special effects, convoluted plot and truly sinister, nightmare-inducing villain, the Child Catcher, the film adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has appealed to children of all generations ever since its release in 1968.


As a kid I saw the film that had been adapted from the book, read the book that was adapted into the film and then read the book that was adapted from the film which had been adapted from the original book. Yes, my head’s spinning too.

And, just to complicate matters, having taken my own kids along, I have now seen the stage musical, which has been adapted from the film which was adapted from the book, which was… well, never mind.

As I imagine it was for many, I didn’t actually love any of the adaptations that much. For me it was never about the narratives, or the characters (the human ones, anyway) – they were all incidental. It was almost all about the car.

As a six-year old boy, I just found something so fundamentally beautiful and compelling about the Chitty, a 1920s Paragon Panther with its hidden wings, innumerable gadgets and real, living character.

Admittedly, by the time I was eleven, I did find some small romantic interest in Truly Scrumptious, which, had I actually watched the film again at 13 might have begun to match my interest in the car.

So, to whoever’s been commissioned to write the sequel, just give me the car, it’s all I want – 300 pages of it and little else.

And, please, give Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cheap car insurance – 300 pages of him being grounded without cover would just be too painful.

Labels: cheap car insurance