A recent Family Channel showing of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reminded me that, no matter how flawed the movie, the Sherman Brothers' music is great. I went to download the soundtrack from iTunes and found that the British stage production cast album is also available to download.
I highly recommend it! Not only is it a lot of fun, with excellent performances (and Brian Blessed as Baron Bomburst!), but it does the miraculous: In the first 60 seconds of the first song (a new prologue built on the title theme) it fixes the 2 big problems of the film:
1) Vulgaria is made a real place, not just a fantasy
and
2) It's made clear that Bomburst has wanted to get his mitts on the car ever since its days as a racer.
Voila! Much better story flow! As added weirdness, the Child Catcher is played by Richard O'Brien (Rocky Horror's Riff Raff) who sings the creepiest song the Sherman Bros. have ever written.
I really wish I'd gotten to see this on stage. It sounds like it must have been a lot of fun. Kind of makes me wish someone would remake the film utilizing the new plot fixes! Then again, it wouldn't be the same without Dick Van Dyke, although maybe he could play the toymaker this time around!
I highly recommend it! Not only is it a lot of fun, with excellent performances (and Brian Blessed as Baron Bomburst!), but it does the miraculous: In the first 60 seconds of the first song (a new prologue built on the title theme) it fixes the 2 big problems of the film:
1) Vulgaria is made a real place, not just a fantasy
and
2) It's made clear that Bomburst has wanted to get his mitts on the car ever since its days as a racer.
Voila! Much better story flow! As added weirdness, the Child Catcher is played by Richard O'Brien (Rocky Horror's Riff Raff) who sings the creepiest song the Sherman Bros. have ever written.
I really wish I'd gotten to see this on stage. It sounds like it must have been a lot of fun. Kind of makes me wish someone would remake the film utilizing the new plot fixes! Then again, it wouldn't be the same without Dick Van Dyke, although maybe he could play the toymaker this time around!