"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a classic musical film. It was produced by James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli and based on a series of stories by Bond author Ian Fleming.

The film was shot in England, France and Germany throughout 1967 and 1968, and premiered world-wide on December 16th, 1968. The UK premiere was nation-wide in association with the Variety Club of Great Britain. In its day it was one of the most expensive and elaborate films ever made.

To make the film, Broccoli assembled an international team of talent. The screenplay was devised by now legendary children's author Roald Dahl along with the film's director Ken Hughes.
Songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman who had just won an Academy Award for their score for "Mary Poppins" were brought in to create the twelve musical numbers for CHITTY. They brought with them multi-award winning Arranger/Conductor Irwin Kostal whose successes included "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music". Choreographers Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood were also imported from Hollywood as was the film's star, Dick Van Dyke.

To star alongside him, Broccoli employed Sally Ann Howes straight from Broadway and West End successes and already a veteran of British cinema. Lionel Jeffries played Grandpa, and an array of British talent filled the other roles, including James Robertson Justice, Benny Hill, Anna Quayle, Arthur Mullard and Barbara Windsor. Desmond Llewellyn, famous as Q in the Bond films played Mr.Coggins and Gert Frobe ("Goldfinger") played Baron Bombhurst. Australian ballet dancer Sir Robert Helpmann played the Childcatcher in scenes recently rated in Empire magazine as amongst the 100 most frightening ever filmed. Heather Ripley, the daughter of a Dundee wardrobe-mistress played Jemima, and Adrian Hall who had joined drama classes as a cure for 'shyness' played Jeremy.
The film was widely regarded for its design elements, the product of Ken Adam who recently won an Oscar for his work on "The Madness of King George".

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was a huge popular success, and although it’s profits did not make it a blockbuster - this was due to its overwhelming cost rather than lack of audience. It still remains one of the most watched movies of all time and is regarded as a family classic.