I've always loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, though the last time I watched it, I saw several scenes that were brilliant. For instance, Truly Scrumptious accidentally driving her car into a swampy pond. This happens three times, and they all involve the Potts family. The first time, Truly swerves into the pond to avoid hitting Jeremy and Jemima Potts. Truly drives them back home and also wants a word with their father, Caractacus. During her meeting, she sees the candy which will soon become "Toot Sweets", which she even helps Potts show to her father, the candymaker Lord Scrumptious. That went well until the whistling accidentally attracted dozens of dogs into the factory. The second time, she does this as the Potts family is taking their new car, dubbed "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for a test drive for a beachside picnic. Coincidentally, "Chitty" was made from the old car that Jeremy and Jemima were on their way home to tell their father about as Truly almost drove them down. Truly is invited by the Potts children to join them, and it's during this trip that she develops affection for the children and Caractacus. The third time, she was on her way to tell Caractacus that her father will sell the candy, though they'll be marketed as "Woof Sweets," candies for dogs. Nevertheless, Truly and Caractacus share a passionate kiss, after which ythey decide to marry one another. - Premonition45
Speaking of the scene where Truly looks at the sweets she immediately figures out why the holes were forming. This is a hint that her father is a candy maker.
A lot of the Vulgaria sequence seems over-the-top nonsensical and cartoony, even by the standards of a children's movie (A country where children are illegal? One of the imprisoned scientists was stretched several feet taller? The spies swam all the way back?). Then you remember, it's a story Caractacus is making up to amuse his children. They may have some Fridge Logic about it later, but right now, they're definitely entertained.
The child catcher luring our children protagonists with the transparent promise of sweets and goodies becomes brilliant when you bear in mind that, because it's a story, Potts is using this as a way to teach his children to be wary of strangers.
Humorously, it also explains why Truly is suddenly significantly nicer to him - enough to sing a completely plot-irrelevant song about him!
The "Doll On A Music Box" sequence actually summarizes the relationship between Caractacus and Truly fairly well. Truly is the "stiff and rigid" doll, literally on a pedestal, who has to meet class standards, while Caractacus is more easygoing and flexible. The slaps by Truly, while accidental, show that Caractacus's meetings with Truly were mis-timed ones. He gets a glimpse of himself in the mirror and realizes what a fool he is, but Truly smacking him gets him back to the man she loves. At the end, he goes to take her hand, but her class standards seem to prevent this. Truly's entire song could also be a metaphor for her wanting to escape her social position and live more freely, instead of a cursed human turned into a doll.
The Vulgarian army puts in a truly underwhelming showing in the film, being easily routed by a bunch of townsfolk and children and never once actually firing their guns. But then you remember that those are their own children and peers they are fighting, and most of them probably hate the Baron and Baroness just as much as the townsfolk. Even if the soldiers aren't willing to outright rebel, they're certainly not going to put up more than the most token fight against those who are willing to revolt.
During the song Roses of Success, Grandpa Potts mentions Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell. At the mention of each name, one of the other scientists acknowledges Potts. It's not a stretch of imagination to assume each one really was Pasteur, Edison, and Bell, and Bomburst had kidnapped them. Also doubles as Fridge Horror.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: We knew in the movie that the Child Catcher's duty was to capture any child he could find. But in the stage version, according to the Toy Maker, the Child Catcher goes beyond catching as many kids as possible, by making them "disappear".
One can only imagine WHY he carries around that hook to begin with...
It's like a shepherd's crook. There's a child around that corner? *yoink*
In one scene, he carries a whip.
The Baron and Baroness hate kids. If the Baroness ever got pregnant, what would they do with the kid once it was born? I'm assuming there were no pregnancy prevention methods in Vulgaria. Am I over-thinking things?
Considering the Baron can't stand the Baroness (to the point of trying to kill her repeatedly), and she's the one who instated the ban on children (after one called her ugly), it's likely they have a very chaste relationship.
There's always been herbs and things used to "regulate periods" (read: cause an abortion). She could just use those if she ever got pregnant, or pre-emptively take some after she and the Baron have some special alone-time.
The whole Vulgaria sequence is very Nazi. It's really quite scary.
You've just traveled to another country to rescue your kidnapped father. You leave your children somewhere safe. When you get back, they've been taken away by a man you last saw prowling around with a whip.
Towards the end of the film, when the Toy Maker takes Potts and Truly to the townsfolk's hidden children, several teenagers are among them, mainly looking after the exiled infants. Was the child who insulted the Baroness a Rebellious Teen, and she banned all under the age of 21 out of envy towards their youth?
