3 bowls of popcorn (and Toot Sweets!)
Josh and I were walking through Walmart 2 years ago when, lo and behold, there appeared a wild $5 movie bin. We couldn’t resist. The pull was too strong. Though we resisted with all our might (OK, let’s be honest, we didn’t try that hard), we found ourselves drawn to the bin of goodness. We thrust our hands amidst the terrible DVDs and, at first, our archeological dig yielded nothing whatsoever. We were about to call it quits when suddenly, Josh pulls from the depths of the bin … Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
We brought home our nostalgic purchase and put it on our shell. We didn’t touch it again until we came to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in our Movie Marathon. We were both reasonably excited to watch this classic. The one small hitch in that excitement was that neither of us has seen this cinematic classic for a good 15 years. Our memories were a little spotty. That’s not to say the movie isn’t great; it is. But in a decade and a half, Josh and I had forgotten the plot, the length, the creepiness (the kid snatcher!?), and the imagination. What we hadn’t forgotten was the music.
We popped in the DVD and were delighted to find a Sing-Along option. Of course we chose that option.
That was the first thrill of this movie for us. The second was the wonder that is “the imagination.” I had forgotten how rich and deep imagination can be. Jeremy and Jemimah Potts believe they live in a castle. They believe that the broken down old racing car is the fastest car in the world. They believe that their dad, Caractucas Potts (yes, that’s his name, look it up) is a genius (and he is!) when everyone else seems to think he is a crackpot. Their imagination is beautiful and honest. It’s how we all should be.
The third thing we noticed about this movie was this: Caractucas Potts is a hero to his two kids and they are his world. Family is powerful. Family is beautiful. *Cue Hushabye Mountion and some tears*
So, my final thoughts on this movie…
1) If you watched this movie as a kid, rewatch it as an adult and LOVE the music
2) Memorize Hushabye Mountain and sing it to your kids
3) Watch this movie and appriciate the sheer genius that is Dick Van Dyke
4) Chootchie-Face is the weirdest song in a kid’s movie… ever
Extra fun fact for you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the book, is by Ian Fleming, the man that brought us Bond, James Bond.
The Movie Marathon 
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