My mum used to say to me and my twin brother as a kid, "Lollipops, Ice Cream! All flavors, " in the child catcher voice, and it would scare the shit out of us
I suppose the kids growing up now have parents who terrify them using Darth Vader's voice, just as their own parents imitated the Child Catcher's voice. Then today's kids will grow up and use some future movie Bogeyman's voice on their kids...
Probably one of the most terrifying villains in cinematic history. All because you can actually encounter someone like the Child Catcher in the real world.
no, its, beyond confirmed. He's just famous so a lot of people think its a famous person conspiracy like cobain being murdered but nope, Michael defiantly absolutely without a shadow of a doubt did a lot of sexual shit with some kids@@DoctorMysterio15
Plus the fact that the Child Catcher is basically part of Vulgaria's police force and his job is abducting children, which he clearly enjoys. That is even more terrifying IMO. He isn't abusing his position when luring out and kidnapping children, this time it's in the job description.
Unfortunately you're wrong. It was actually a purposed stereotype of Jimmy Savile. They were trying to warn everyone but no one really caught on. And now those captured kids are all grown up abusers who are destroying... everything.
Yep.... A true comedic genius. I miss him a lot. I used to stay up watching him back in the early 80's with my father. It's a real shame what the British media did to him. Ignorant puritanical trash is what they are. But Benny was one of the all-time greats.
@@gimmethepinkelephant3685 yes. I completely agree. After him being on tv for so long, I think what media did to him broke his heart. Essentially when he made them so much money
I knew that. I saw that movie a few years ago, on D.V.D. Benny Hill also appeared in a comedy/mystery film called "Who Done It?" (1956), which, by the way, was also the title of an Abbott and Costello comedy/mystery film from the early 1940s.
Fun fact about my relationship to this film: For years we had a DVD recording of it from when it was on TV in England at Christmas (including the ads...). The thing is, it wasn't a complete recording cause the DVD ran out of space after an Ad break. Which was right after the Child Catcher caught the children. For years, the last line of this movie for me was "The children! They took the children!" And then fade to black...
Robert Helpmann, who played the child catcher, was considered one the sweetest and nicest actors by people who worked with him. He was also a ballet dancer and played the evil child catcher so well.
He was also openly gay in a time where the atmosphere was very hostile, and apparently just stepped off a carriage moments before it crashed in a failed stunt, so he also had cast-iron nerves.
@@phoenixfire6433 According to Dick van Dyke it was actually during the crash while on a practice run.As the carriage was turning over he stepped over it.That's even more amazing and for a man of 60 at the time too.If it had been during a take it would have been filmed,a great pity as it would have been spectacular and worth saving for cinematic history.
I think the most terrifying thing about this character when viewing him through an adult lens is the sheer enthusiasm he has for his job that asks him to prey on the innocent and vulnerable. He relishes it like some kind of folklore faerie child-hating creature. This movie is great and I love it. The baroness may also have informed my taste in women from a very young age.
Another fun fact: The screenplay for this movie was co-written by Roald Dahl. Yes, THAT Roald Dahl. (Matilda, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and The Witches) Honestly makes sense considering The Child Catcher would fit in with the likes of Trunchbull and The Grand High Witch. XD
It sure was funny hearing that the writer of Willy Wonka was so angry with what had been done with his book to make the the film with Gene Wilder playing Willy Wonka. Get he took Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and he made it something that was it had it truly horrifying aspects of it every bit is horrifying as the witch from Wizard of Oz if not more so. The only difference being that the witch was in closer towards the beginning of the movie and actually there were situations in the first few times that was being shown when young children were becoming catatonic while watching the witch it wasn't uncommon to see ambulances taking children away from the theaters which was a big reason why it didn't do so well because it was too scary for the younger children and the older ones it was too light-hearted between the scary times. I just find it funny when people like this author who changes things and makes them sometimes he makes them better sometimes he makes them worse depending on how he weaves his writing changing and original story to something else to make it more palatable I've read Chitty Bang Bang and I think that he did a great job making it better than what had been done with the book being written by the original writer especially with him doing it in the James Bond kind of thing it didn't flow in the right way. Compared to what Roald Dahl was able to do.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of my favorite films of all time - it's what happens if James Bond and Mary Poppins had a baby. So here's some fun facts in case you like it as much as I do! (I know, they're scattered all over the thread - I'll round up a few and put them all in one place) Producer Albert R. Broccoli... (seriously, that's his real name - not a character from the film) was a producer for the James Bond films of the time and brought nearly the entire crew of the Bond films with him to CCBB. Of course the original CCBB novels were written by Ian Flemming of James Bond fame. A bit more trivia. The songs were written by the Sherman Brothers, the choreography was by the same team who did Mary Poppins (it shows, doesn't it? Me ol' Bamboo... Me ol' Bamboo...) While Roald Dahl co-wrote the screenplay, the team who worked on Mary Poppins did the first series of rewrites, with the last rewrite / tune up of the script being done by Richard Maibaum, who also worked over the Bond scripts. Dick Van Dyke is an obvious Mary Poppins connection. Truly was originally offered to Julie Andrews, who turned it down because it was too much like... you guessed it... Mary Poppins. So they asked Sally Ann Howes, the actress who took over the part of Eliza Doolittle from Julie Andrews on Broadway. The Toymaker was played by a curiously understated Benny Hill. I mean, CCBB is the film where all stars align. As for our horrific Child Catcher, the role Robert Helpmann played before CCBB was The Devil in A Soldier's Tale. After CCBB he played The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. In addition he was a Shakespearian actor, the director of the Australian Ballet and a renowned dancer/choreographer. He also directed and produced the first British production of Camelot. Like Jason Isaacs and Richard Griffiths of Harry Potter fame, Helpmann adored kids and went out of his way to be kind to the children on the set. And please, that's SIR Horrific Child Catcher, if you please. He was knighted in '68. When he died in 1986 he was given a State Funeral in Australia - a rare honor.
Sir Robert Helpmann was an amazing talented character,gone way too soon.He was the perfect choice for the role.He was quite versatile in his career that spanned several decades.
Yes, I like to call this the "other" Bond film. It has Ian Fleming, Albert R. Broccoli, a souped up car, a villain with a lair, love interest with a silly name, the big finish, a quirky inventor - all the hallmarks of a great Bond movie.
He was like 45 yrs old during the filming of the movie. He did all those incredibly athletic dance moves while singing, too. The man was super freaking fit to do that. My dad actually looked almost just like him back when he was younger too, and I've always had a soft spot for his movies.
i literally love this movie so much. it’s such a staple of my childhood. I’m 18, and no one I’ve ever met has seen it!! It’s cool to see people talking about it!! The child catcher definitely gave me nightmares and I reference it all the time. “Lollipops..! Ice cream! And ALLL FREEEE TODDAYYYY!”
The scariest part is that both the audience and the kids are so busy thinking about the kids going outside that they aren’t thinking about the fact the child catcher had already seen them through the basement window.
I’m positive he knew they were the Jack in the boxes but didn’t want credit going to the army. This way he proved his worth. The whole thing is insane under the surface. The baroness probably couldn’t have children, and was either driven mad by that or was mad to start from inbreeding, so bans them and develops a full phobia of them. The king just goes along to make life easier, but wants her gone either so he can get an heir from another wife, or just so he can play more as he is a big kid at heart.
Actually a very good point. Even if the children hadn't made the dumb decision to run after him (honestly, they'd seen and heard him earlier, plus the Child Catcher made little to no effort to disguise his voice or appearance, they should have known he was bad news), or if Truly hadn't made the even dumber decision to leave the children alone in a place where children are being hunted, he could have eventually come to them, he could have overpowered Truly and taken them by force if need be. Plus, as the above commenter mentions, chances are he knew the children were the jack in the boxes so most likely knew either way where they were.
@@RLucas3000 Interesting idea - I'd worked on the theory the Baron was a 'big kid' that wanted the toys to himself ("A doll? But I have hundreds of dolls!"), and he'd decided getting rid of all the real children was the solution?!
@@RLucas3000 I thought the baroness just didn’t like kids, and why would she want any when her husband was a child himself. He probably banned kids because he saw them as competition for his childish wants and desires.
RIP Sir Robert Helpmann. I was lucky enough to see him playing the elderly Lord Alfred Douglas in Justin Fleming's 'The Cobra'. He was on stage pretty much the entire time, no mean feat for a 74-year-old man. Great performance and a great play.
Dude, there is so much to this that you didn't cover. Like that Helpmann didn't realize how scary he was going to be, and was genuinely distressed that he had apparently traumatized every kid who saw the movie. Or that the toymaker who hid the kids was an uncredited performance by none other than the great comedian and naughty songster Benny Hill.
Aww 😭 it’s rather sweet that the man who played it didn’t intend for it to be as horrifying as it was. I think he could’ve taken some solace in the fact that the portrayal gave us a rather telling example for stranger danger lol. He may have scared MANY children, but im sure MANY of those children also never approached a strange man offering candy 😂😂 he likely saved many children from terrible situations out in the world, im sure
I've never seen this movie as a kid, but there's something about the moment at 10:19, where the red lace falls from his head at the same time he opens his mouth. For a moment it seemed to me like if it was a gigant lizard-like tongue coming out of his mouth.
Nobody talks about the scene recreating the early years of the Grand Prix at the film’s beginning. The historical accuracy is astounding in what is otherwise an insane fantasy film and they even recreated accidents caught on film during those years. I skipped past it as a kid but now as a history buff it’s my favourite part of the movie for production value alone.
I genuinely want to thank you for making this video, my mother used to threaten to send the child catcher after me… I was terrified of him. & to this day he’d pop into my head every once in a while yelling about lollipops & ice cream & I’d want to cry. But if there’s one thing that’s stronger than my fear of this character, it’s my love of ballet. After watching this video, I think my fear of over 20 years is gone.
The castle is actually King Ludwig II of Bavaria's, he was famous for his nickname Mad King as he built tons of castle everywhere and eventually died along his doctor near a lake with a theory that he killed the doctor and ended his life. Or that both fought and both drowned, theories varied. So yeah, a really cool castle built by a mad King in germany (previously Bavaria).
He was called the fairy tale king to do to his love of old stories and castle building, but the whole idea of him being mad was probably created by the Nobility to get rid of him.
@@tiahnarodriguez3809 Someone posted a rather depressing interpretation; ie that the whole thing was just the fevered imaginings of a kid dying of starvation.
@@pineapplepenumbra I believe it. I could imagine a starved and hypothermic Charlie covered in snow waiting outside the factory dreaming the whole ordeal as the actual kid that found the golden ticket meets Wonka with the rest of the children 🥲.
"The current owner of the Chitty car is Sir Peter Jackson. He could be seen near the WETA Workshop in New Zealand driving cast members of The Hobbit films around in the car while playing the main theme song through a sound system." what i wouldn't i give to see that with my own eyes
Absolutely agree on how frightening the CC was. That nimble little dance he does, dressed all in black and then the black is barely covered up by a garish, brightly-colored smock. Taught me more than anything else about "if anybody ever offers you free candy... it's a trap".
The early 70s, when I was little, seemed to feel the solution to the problem of trusting kids to be by themselves was SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF THEM ABOUT EVERYTHING and The Child Catcher fit right the hell into that. Treacle tarts? He probably POISONED them! (Maybe this all explains a thing or two... 🤔)
@@garymccammon6696 What about Willy Wonka? That one scared me too. Are those kids gonna be okay? Wonka doesn't seem to care, and the parents are clueless already. When you're a child, you want to know that adults will look out for you! 🍫🍬🍭
Chity chity bang bang is legit such an amazing fever dream of a movie. I remember as a kid freaking loving how the regoldberg breakfast machine worked in the start of the movie. I seriously wanted something as goofy and stupid as that for myself 😅
@GhostofJamesMadison Think of it as a needlessly complicated machine designed to do a simple task via a series of convoluted chain reactions. Their really fun to watch unfold.
I love rewatching stuff like this years later because you get to see odd ball sights you wouldn't have noticed before like at 4:48 where the first solider walks up and opens the door but the second one behind him who I guess was instructed to "break down the door" follows through and whiffs at the now already opened door before going through.
the child catcher actually has a whole theatre named after him. it's called the sir Robert helpmann theatre, in the town of mount gambier in south australia.
My dad told me years later that he was designed to teach kids a lesson not to wander off and never talking to strangers. Even if the parents aren’t being listened to then, if they see this, chances are, kids are gonna start to listen lol
Why LOL? better movies taught kids some kind of common sense and better way to behave, than some of the little emperors, aggressive, rude and entitled little savages today who don't get enough attention from mummy and daddy because social media is more important than teaching their kids to be better.
It kinda works as an old-school, original, german fairytale vibe. very hansel and gretel. i think i saw a video from Neil Gaiman somewhere about how showing scary things to children in fairytales can be good, like an immunization for a disease, in that it shows a taste of the scary thing while also showing how to be brave and overcome it.
This movie is a fever dream. I watched this as a little kid on VHS. The thing was: My first language is german. And my english-skills obviously weren't good when I was a little kid. But the VHS-version that we had was in english. So basically I had very little idea what was going on, because I couldn't understand a single word. And I had no idea, that the stories the father told his children, were just that: Stories. I tought that actually happened in the movie. And yes: The child-catcher absolutly traumatized me as a kid.
This raises a good point. I think Hans Landa triggered my memory of the Child Catcher and a type of primal fear I hadn't felt in ages and didn't even know it.
I'm sure Tarantino must've seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at some point in his life. He either intentionally or unconsciously incorporated that into Hans. Had to have...
@@warweasel2832 just like JK Rowlings used the name Hogwarts for the school. But in the Labyrinth Hoggle is called Hogwart at some point. Even JK Rowling said she might have unknowingly got the name from that movie. It does happen
This movie will always be a gem to me. I was born in 94 and I was like 4-6 when I saw this movie. This was my first exposure to Dick Van Dyke as a kid I always remembered thinking how bad I wanted the candy from the factory scene. The child catcher definitely spooked me as a kid but it didn't stop me from watching the movie over and over. It's awesome to know how that the actor was a very sweet man. If a character can make you feel strongly in certain ways whether it's good or bad that's the mark of a great actor. 😊
Thank you. Thank you for validating my intense and yet random trauma from a movie that I haven't watched since I saw it twelve years ago for the first time. And thank you for reminding me of the only thing that stuck with me from that movie, which was this horrible little goblin and every single image of him that remained in my brain.
No, in The Red Shoes he was the boyfriend of the bewitched girl at the beginning and the priest at the end of the ballet. The shoemaker was played by the famous Russian character dancer Leonid Massine.
I'm 39 and I watched this when I was young. Watching it now makes me appreciate how good and how well some of these movies held up over time. The music, the characters... These days I find myself going back and watching earlier cinema more than many new movies, even movies I never saw when I was a kid.
I have talking about this "perfect villan" for years and no one knows who the hell I'm talking about.....Bravo! You can tell the actor was absolutely a dancer
I'm 64, and saw this movie when I was eight and it first came out. Let's just say that the Childcatcher gave me a nightmare or two. To this day the Childcatcher still creeps me out! I actually let my son watch "A Nightmare on Elm Street" at age 12 before I let him watch "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang," because the Childcatcher is far scarier than Freddy Krueger. Quite simply, the Childcatcher is fiction's Apex Bogeyman because there is nothing supernatural or fantastical about what he does. That said, I suspect that before The Springwood Slasher goes to bed; he first checks the closet and under the bed to be sure that the Childcatcher of Vulgaria isn't hiding there, waiting for him to fall asleep . . . .
We saw "The Witches" a little after "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang;" around the same time we started watching the "Harry Potter" movies in the theaters. If memory serves, we rented "The Witches" from our local Blockbuster. Actually, I think my son was more creeped-out by the river boat scene in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" than when the Grand High Witch made her appearance.
I love the fact that you make so many 007 references in this video without mentioning that the story was written by Ian Fleming. Also starred Gert Frobe as the Baron, who was better known for playing Goldfinger.
The Child Catcher wasn't in the book, but was introduced during the uncredited screenplay adaptation by none other than Roald Dahl, who was a friend of Ian Fleming from their wartime work for MI5. The Child Catcher is so obviously a Roald Dahl character.
It was also produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the man who brought us James Bond films. You also have James Bond production designer Ken Adam, assistant art director Peter Lamont (who would go on to be production designer of later James Bond films), and production associate/title sequence director Peter R. Hunt who was editor of most of the Sean Connery Bond films, and director of On Her Majesty's Secret Service released the following year. You could say that this film had James Bond written all over it; even was filmed at Pinewood Studios.
Naw, they did a stealth origin story episode about the Crypt Keeper’s mom and dad (a mummy and simple, abused Elephant Man circus freak) and the baby Crypt Keeper was found at the end of the episode by authorities and the circus people, and a baby Crypt Keeper was found, revealing he was always a living corpse.
"YECH!! CHILDREN! HOW RRRREVOLTING! WHY, THE LITTLE ROTTERS WOULD JUST SIMPLY RUIN MY BEAUTIFUL CRYPT HOME, WITH ALL THEIR PLAYING, AND JOY AND INNOCENCE..YUCK!... I USED TO ENJOY KIDS, BUT THAT WAS LONG AGO. ... THEY ARE JUST TOO HIGH IN CHOLESTEROL FOR ME NOW!!! EEEHEHYEHEHEHHEEHEHHEEE 💀🦴💀🦴"
I don’t know if this has been mentioned, but this guy could well have been an inspiration for Charlotte Perospero from One Piece, given the clothes, face, sweets theming and general fairytale/Dahl villain aesthetic of the Whole Cake Island arc
I had no idea the film had such an all star cast. Obviously I knew about Dick van Dyke, but Barbara Windsor and Benny Hill? Incredible! That's probably also part of the reason the film is so quintessentially eccentric and British. All those Carry On and slapstick comedy actors of yesteryear.
10:58 It's kinda sweet and brave that, despite knowing they could be killed for it, some villagers at least try to help the kids by getting them to go inside rather than into the hands of the Child Catcher.
This mini documentary was so excellently produced! My siblings and I used to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang whenever it came on television. And yes, a lot of it was creepy and some of it outright terrifying. Dick Van Dyke is a perennial multi-talented entertainer. Incidentally, the Toy Maker was played by legendary funny man Benny Hill. And the Baron of Vulgaria was played by Gert Fröbe who was the villain “Goldfinger” in the James Bond classic of the same name. Thank you, Cyan Man!
I was born in 1965. Don't recall my age when Chitty made it to TV...maybe 4 or 5. I had recurring nightmares for a decade or more...and the same every now and then as an adult. About 10 yrs ago I was watching Chitty with my young daughter and nearly fell from the couch when the Child Catcher appeared...it when then I realized HE was the antagonist of all those nightmares. That joirk!
This video makes it seem like kids were threatened with murder all the time back then. I can't remember my guardians mentioning how they wanted to kill me perhaps more than once week or so. The same goes for uttering threats of further harm should my shenanigans outside cause any excessive bleeding. Thank god that sort of thing isn't normal any more, and nor is going outside.
I blame the child catcher for my grown up obsession with bones in jewelry. I heard "teeth for a necklace" as an 8 yr old and the idea just burrowed itself into my brain, forever changing the view of what's disturbing and beautiful 😅😅
This was my mom's favorite childhood movie. To me it was a never ending fever dream and the only part I vividly remember was truly scrumptious disguised as a doll while the inventor romantically sings to her and the king trying to kill his wife. And sometimes a fever dream is just what you need.
Same exact experience here, a now that I have 2 young daughters my has bought me chitty chitty bang bang twice on DVD and asks me frequently if we watched it yet.
I was in the stage version of this one years ago, for the most part just classic theater kids playing classic roles, but the girl we had playing as the child catcher was the most terrifying person I had ever met. A fantastic (also intimidating) actress with the most terrifying cackle I've heard in my life. Anyways fond memories of this movie
The "Toymaker" is the great comedian Benny Hill. Baron Bombast is played by famous German actor Gert Fröbe who plays the villainous Goldfinger from the famous James Bond movie (Gert was trained Dancer and Vaudeville performer). The movie itself is based on James Bond author Ian Fleming children story. The Script was written by Roald Dahl, author of the Willy Wonka stories, Matilda and James of the Giant Peach. (Roald Dahl also did the script for the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice." The producer was also Albert B. Broccoli of the James Bond film series.
I kind of want him to appear and just random shows now. Batman and robin vs the child catcher. Scooby Doo and the child catcher. Magic school bus and the child catcher. He just shows up and reeks havoc.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I remember reading somewhere that the book, this movis is based on, was written by Ian Fleming as a bed time story for his son. And for those who are familiar with the name Ian Fleming, yes, he's the author of the classic 007 James Bond books.
It's crazy as a kid I watched Chucky, Candy man, Hellraiser, Silence of the lambs, Halloween, Alien and many others but this scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the only thing that really creeped me out especially when he looks through the basement window 😨
Actually, speaking of Rowan Atkinson Mr Bean's actor, he kind of reminds me of the first BlackAdder by a lot. Like even down to the voice. The prince Blackadder is just simply a bit more of an unlucky goofy doofus. But they're really more or less the same slimy scheming gloating bugeyed weirdos. I feel like Gargamel in the Smurfs is very also similar, though I doubt there's likely any intention there.
I solved a mystery last year regarding this film! Since childhood I have always had a very good memory and my cousins would say that we watched this movie whenever it was on TV in the early 70s. Why then was it that I could not remember it? I knew quite a few of the songs but that was it. So last year I put the DVD on and started watching. I thought it was great and should have stayed with me! I was grabbing a snack in another part of the house when I heard the line "call out the child catcher" I froze. My eyes grew wide and I had to sit down because before I came back to the screen, I knew exactly what he would look like, the long nose, the suckers, what he would say and even the bars that would be revealed on the wagon. I most certainly did see the movie and it had been most carefully repressed because it scared the crap out of this 3 year old. Now at 53 I can laugh and say the movie is fantastic and very cheerful! But like many of my fellow Generation X ...holy crap did it freak us out! Thanks for posting!
I kinda had the same thing happen with me. I have memories from a super young age. My earlier from two years old. When i got older, i had memories of a tv show i watched when i was around 4-5. a boy, a talking flute and a creepy witch. I also knew it was from the 70’s. I would ask everyone if they ever saw this show, nobody knew what i was talking about. For the longest time i thought i imagined this show, forgot about it for many years. It randomly popped into my head a few years ago and i was finally able to find it!.. H.R. Pufnstuf. That show is SO trippy for a child. No wonder i was a top tier stoner for most of my life haha
I was petrified of the childcatcher as a kid, in the uk we have scrap men come around the housing estates collecting scrap metal in their vans and my parents used to say it was the childcatcher coming 😂😂😂
@@JaylukKhan Mate they used to tell me Baba yaga lived under the stairs they would call her Yaga Baga though most probably got it mixed up lol. They have a cubby hole with a small door on and honestly I believed we had a witch living in our house for a good few years as a kid. So I'd be walking upstairs to use the loo. BABA YAGAS GONA GET YA MATT 😱 ZOOOOM I would run as fast as I could to the toilet, most probably pissed everywhere other than the hole 🤣🤣 I was legitimately scared of it though and 100% believed them.
Lmfao that’s fucking hilarious 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I used to tell my baby cousins when they would misbehave that if they kept doing it, I was gonna call the child catcher and they would all instantly stop because he scared them shitless cause he scared me shitless as a kid too. it was so funny every time the look on their faces 🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭
Saw this as a kid in 1968, probably at the drive-in. When the child catcher arrives, my little sister (4) hid behind the front seats for the rest of the movie. This lead to a family saying: "It's just a film, it's not real".
@kaykutcher2103 Actress Damaris Hayman was talking about Roger Delgado and said that he and ither genuinely good people, was marvellous as a villain because he and they can let go and play pure evil because they're not trying to hide it in their own personality.
Perfect example of why scaring kids can actually be incredibly beneficial for the kids if done right. As a little kid, I just was always suspicious of strangers because of this movie. No complicated lecture, just a creepy villain.
My father was in Vietnam and we were living near Valdosta, Georgia. Mama took us TO THE MOVIES! I was 8. We only went to the movies like this, Jungle Book, John Wayne movies. Nothing like today. I'm amazed when every twenty years or so I see this and still remember all the words!
@@xxxchild_predatorxxx107 Don't quit on me now! Does Hahira still have The Tobacco Ball? Is the Goldleaf still in print? Is there still a Tobacco market where big pallets are auctioned off? Ohhh the smell of that place. Do mama's, aunts (aints) & Grannies still sit on the porch shelling butterbeans? Do they still holler "You young'uns watch for snakes and don't slam the (sqeaaaaak BAM) screen door!"
Lol, "-been stuck in my head for five days." My good sir, I am now old enough to officially and accurately say it had been stuck in mine for more than two decades. I rather suspect it will still be stuck in my head after I go senile. At least it's a cheery sort of madness...
Dude you’re narration of this is hilarious…. I give you props… I think the same way sometimes all depending on what’s going life,movies etc. your the kind of dude that we would feed of each other seeing something weird or funny the kind of person I’d hang around in high school but anyway…. Funny stuff … thanks for the posting …. and for pointing out the dog falling. 👊🏾✌🏾
I was 7 when I saw the movie. I remember loving Dick Van Dyke and being completely terrified by the Child Catcher. The only other movie character who scared me that much back then was Vincent Price in House of Wax. Also, I was today years old when I realized Benny Hill was in the movie.
Great essay on the Child Catcher. I saw this as a child back in the 70s and he always freaked me out a bit but I also remember laughing all the time throughout this movie. Watching this clip reminded me of how much I loved this movie and how much fun and weird it is. I was in Munich, last year, and at one point just wondered where the Child Catcher was. That's how much of an impression in my life he made. 50 years later and I still remember him. Now I have to go find the movie streaming...
Fun act, this movie was written by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond who was friends with Dahl, they exchanged stories, where Ian wrote this movie version and Dahl wrote a James Bond movie
I was terrified and fascinated by the child catcher. Brilliant character played beautifully by Robert Helpman who was a famous Australian ballet dancer.
I was there as a child attending the premiere at Radio City Music Hall in 1968. The Child Catcher gave me the “willies”… But I loved it! ❤😂❤😂 But hold on 😮so we are supposed to just glide by the fact that one of the best comedians ever was in the movie…Benny Hill as the Toymaker…?! This movie has been a treat for me, my children and my grandchildren.
Such a GREAT kids movie!!! Every summer we would have something for us kids to enjoy. The child catcher was indeed intense but needed Robert Helpmann was a royal ballet star n was in The Red Shoes. Van Dyke’s anecdote of Helpmann’s gracefulness is priceless!
This unlocked a core memory, thank for for the return to the oddest movie i ever watch as a kid. I remember the wagon dropping all the decor to reveal the cage, genuinely a traumatizing scene for a toddler to see
My father got beaten with a wooden pattle at school when this came out for singing the theme song, due to the teacher hearing: "Shity shity bang bang" instead.
Funny thing is... for me as a kid in the 80's, we'd often use the 'shitty' version of the song lol... granted never within teacher ear shot, so, maybe the teacher wasnt hearing things :P
I used to watch this movie a lot with my parents and I don't remember the child catcher at all. I guess I just suppressed the memory, this didn't even jog my memory of him so I guess I suppressed it that much
Or maybe: 1- your parents distracted you during those scenes or 2- your local TV station edited/censored those scenes out b/c there’s no forgetting the Childcatcher!
I remember my teacher showed this to the class as a kid. At the point where the kids are in the cage and taken away, the teacher turned off the tv saud something like "i forgot how this movie is". Which scared me even more.
Fantastic video! Ultimately you find the film as fun as I do... And yes, The child catcher scared me too!! I really appreciate the humor and your laughter because it had me laughing too! Thanks for this!
Hey man, just wanted to say, it's been great seeing how far you've come in such short a time. I remember being one of your first thousand subs, and your editing has improved so much! Keep up the great work.
![[DRAGON BALL LEGENDS REVEALS ＆ STUFF] LEGENDS FESTIVAL 2024 Special Edition Part 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mV5bGIswTtQ/mqdefault.jpg)
My mum used to say to me and my twin brother as a kid, "Lollipops, Ice Cream! All flavors, " in the child catcher voice, and it would scare the shit out of us
I can imagine me, and my twin brother as well with my step-mother.
My mother did the same sort of thing, but with the Wicked Witch’s laugh from Wizard of Oz.
My dad did the same thing
I suppose the kids growing up now have parents who terrify them using Darth Vader's voice, just as their own parents imitated the Child Catcher's voice. Then today's kids will grow up and use some future movie Bogeyman's voice on their kids...
@@davidgradwell8830do you know what looks like really remember reel thing feel like same thing as being back
Probably one of the most terrifying villains in cinematic history. All because you can actually encounter someone like the Child Catcher in the real world.
Michael Jackson heeeee hoooooo!
@@Mortabluntnah that's old gossip.
no, its, beyond confirmed. He's just famous so a lot of people think its a famous person conspiracy like cobain being murdered but nope, Michael defiantly absolutely without a shadow of a doubt did a lot of sexual shit with some kids@@DoctorMysterio15
Heck in the U.S. we even have one for president!
Plus the fact that the Child Catcher is basically part of Vulgaria's police force and his job is abducting children, which he clearly enjoys. That is even more terrifying IMO. He isn't abusing his position when luring out and kidnapping children, this time it's in the job description.
The Child Catcher saved more kids from stranger danger than any parent's warning ever could.
Kids are in more danger from adult family and friends than they are from strangers honestly.
2024 the horror movie.
In case u dont get the "joke" drake. Drdis. Diddy. Ava chris.etc
Unfortunately you're wrong. It was actually a purposed stereotype of Jimmy Savile. They were trying to warn everyone but no one really caught on. And now those captured kids are all grown up abusers who are destroying... everything.
I just realized that the toymaker who saved the children by hiding them was none other than Benny Hill himself
Yep.... A true comedic genius. I miss him a lot. I used to stay up watching him back in the early 80's with my father. It's a real shame what the British media did to him. Ignorant puritanical trash is what they are. But Benny was one of the all-time greats.
@@gimmethepinkelephant3685 yes. I completely agree. After him being on tv for so long, I think what media did to him broke his heart. Essentially when he made them so much money
Just imagine the Benny Hill theme song playing in the background! 😂
@@Dino-kr9cb lol yes
I knew that. I saw that movie a few years ago, on D.V.D.
Benny Hill also appeared in a comedy/mystery film called "Who Done It?" (1956), which, by the way, was also the title of an Abbott and Costello comedy/mystery film from the early 1940s.
Fun fact about my relationship to this film: For years we had a DVD recording of it from when it was on TV in England at Christmas (including the ads...). The thing is, it wasn't a complete recording cause the DVD ran out of space after an Ad break. Which was right after the Child Catcher caught the children. For years, the last line of this movie for me was "The children! They took the children!" And then fade to black...
Yikes! Talk about accidentally re-cutting a children's classic into a horror film! o_O
Oh man! You missed the best part of Truly Scrumptious dressed up as a doll trying to free the children from prison!
@auntiecaffeinecrafts9666 oh yes, that was my FAVORITE part...she was so pretty in that seen.
damn, you're damaged goods.
That's so hilariously dark.
Robert Helpmann, who played the child catcher, was considered one the sweetest and nicest actors by people who worked with him. He was also a ballet dancer and played the evil child catcher so well.
He was also openly gay in a time where the atmosphere was very hostile, and apparently just stepped off a carriage moments before it crashed in a failed stunt, so he also had cast-iron nerves.
Aussie
@@phoenixfire6433 According to Dick van Dyke it was actually during the crash while on a practice run.As the carriage was turning over he stepped over it.That's even more amazing and for a man of 60 at the time too.If it had been during a take it would have been filmed,a great pity as it would have been spectacular and worth saving for cinematic history.
Robert Helpmann was Australian and was named Australian of the Year in 1965!
All true, my mother in law remembers him from her ballet days with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
I think the most terrifying thing about this character when viewing him through an adult lens is the sheer enthusiasm he has for his job that asks him to prey on the innocent and vulnerable. He relishes it like some kind of folklore faerie child-hating creature. This movie is great and I love it. The baroness may also have informed my taste in women from a very young age.
What do you mean by the baroness comment?
@@basileusbasil4041 I mean she's a hottie
Like a great number of the predators working in our school systems today…
@@cestmoi7368Uhhh... what?
@@basileusbasil4041I think it means they like over-dressed, makeup-caked women with fake braids -- or maybe just lots of extensions.
Another fun fact: The screenplay for this movie was co-written by Roald Dahl. Yes, THAT Roald Dahl. (Matilda, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and The Witches)
Honestly makes sense considering The Child Catcher would fit in with the likes of Trunchbull and The Grand High Witch. XD
And on top of that, the book its based on was written by Fleming, Ian Fleming.
@@ReluctantWarriorI see what you did there.
Ah yes the inventor of the brain shunt
It sure was funny hearing that the writer of Willy Wonka was so angry with what had been done with his book to make the the film with Gene Wilder playing Willy Wonka. Get he took Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and he made it something that was it had it truly horrifying aspects of it every bit is horrifying as the witch from Wizard of Oz if not more so. The only difference being that the witch was in closer towards the beginning of the movie and actually there were situations in the first few times that was being shown when young children were becoming catatonic while watching the witch it wasn't uncommon to see ambulances taking children away from the theaters which was a big reason why it didn't do so well because it was too scary for the younger children and the older ones it was too light-hearted between the scary times. I just find it funny when people like this author who changes things and makes them sometimes he makes them better sometimes he makes them worse depending on how he weaves his writing changing and original story to something else to make it more palatable I've read Chitty Bang Bang and I think that he did a great job making it better than what had been done with the book being written by the original writer especially with him doing it in the James Bond kind of thing it didn't flow in the right way. Compared to what Roald Dahl was able to do.
@@ReluctantWarrior- Yes, that’s why Roald Dahl also wrote the screenplay for the James Bond movie "You only Live Twice."
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of my favorite films of all time - it's what happens if James Bond and Mary Poppins had a baby. So here's some fun facts in case you like it as much as I do! (I know, they're scattered all over the thread - I'll round up a few and put them all in one place) Producer Albert R. Broccoli... (seriously, that's his real name - not a character from the film) was a producer for the James Bond films of the time and brought nearly the entire crew of the Bond films with him to CCBB. Of course the original CCBB novels were written by Ian Flemming of James Bond fame.
A bit more trivia. The songs were written by the Sherman Brothers, the choreography was by the same team who did Mary Poppins (it shows, doesn't it? Me ol' Bamboo... Me ol' Bamboo...) While Roald Dahl co-wrote the screenplay, the team who worked on Mary Poppins did the first series of rewrites, with the last rewrite / tune up of the script being done by Richard Maibaum, who also worked over the Bond scripts. Dick Van Dyke is an obvious Mary Poppins connection. Truly was originally offered to Julie Andrews, who turned it down because it was too much like... you guessed it... Mary Poppins. So they asked Sally Ann Howes, the actress who took over the part of Eliza Doolittle from Julie Andrews on Broadway. The Toymaker was played by a curiously understated Benny Hill. I mean, CCBB is the film where all stars align.
As for our horrific Child Catcher, the role Robert Helpmann played before CCBB was The Devil in A Soldier's Tale. After CCBB he played The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. In addition he was a Shakespearian actor, the director of the Australian Ballet and a renowned dancer/choreographer. He also directed and produced the first British production of Camelot. Like Jason Isaacs and Richard Griffiths of Harry Potter fame, Helpmann adored kids and went out of his way to be kind to the children on the set. And please, that's SIR Horrific Child Catcher, if you please. He was knighted in '68. When he died in 1986 he was given a State Funeral in Australia - a rare honor.
Sir Robert Helpmann was an amazing talented character,gone way too soon.He was the perfect choice for the role.He was quite versatile in his career that spanned several decades.
WOW now I know thank you so much for sharing with us so interesting 😄
Correct. Audrey Hepburn, the actress who appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, did the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1964).
Same
@@justinbarton8808 Yes.
Further connection to James Bond is that the story of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was also written by Ian Fleming.
And at least two Bond actors, Desmond Llewelyn (Q), and Gert Fröbe(Goldfinger).
Even more, Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for this and You Only Live Twice.
Yes, I like to call this the "other" Bond film. It has Ian Fleming, Albert R. Broccoli, a souped up car, a villain with a lair, love interest with a silly name, the big finish, a quirky inventor - all the hallmarks of a great Bond movie.
I did not know that.... Thanks
Even though Dhil was Not a good person.... fantastic writer....
@@billwenham
It is actually insane that Dick Van Dyck is actually alive! He's 98!
Dick Van Dyck is 98 still which I'm really impressed though he's still with us.
He's also a good friend of Mel Brooks, who is thankfully also still with us.
99 likes!! Thank you guys So much!
He was like 45 yrs old during the filming of the movie. He did all those incredibly athletic dance moves while singing, too. The man was super freaking fit to do that.
My dad actually looked almost just like him back when he was younger too, and I've always had a soft spot for his movies.
Signed my funko pop and I have a signed chitty bang bang photo with coa 👀
i literally love this movie so much. it’s such a staple of my childhood. I’m 18, and no one I’ve ever met has seen it!! It’s cool to see people talking about it!! The child catcher definitely gave me nightmares and I reference it all the time. “Lollipops..! Ice cream! And ALLL FREEEE TODDAYYYY!”
Same I'm glad I found this video and are so glad there are so many like minded people 😁
The scariest part is that both the audience and the kids are so busy thinking about the kids going outside that they aren’t thinking about the fact the child catcher had already seen them through the basement window.
I’m positive he knew they were the Jack in the boxes but didn’t want credit going to the army. This way he proved his worth.
The whole thing is insane under the surface. The baroness probably couldn’t have children, and was either driven mad by that or was mad to start from inbreeding, so bans them and develops a full phobia of them. The king just goes along to make life easier, but wants her gone either so he can get an heir from another wife, or just so he can play more as he is a big kid at heart.
Actually a very good point. Even if the children hadn't made the dumb decision to run after him (honestly, they'd seen and heard him earlier, plus the Child Catcher made little to no effort to disguise his voice or appearance, they should have known he was bad news), or if Truly hadn't made the even dumber decision to leave the children alone in a place where children are being hunted, he could have eventually come to them, he could have overpowered Truly and taken them by force if need be. Plus, as the above commenter mentions, chances are he knew the children were the jack in the boxes so most likely knew either way where they were.
@@RLucas3000 Interesting idea - I'd worked on the theory the Baron was a 'big kid' that wanted the toys to himself ("A doll? But I have hundreds of dolls!"), and he'd decided getting rid of all the real children was the solution?!
I was thinking, too, but he can SMELL them!! Why would he have not known that was them? @@RLucas3000
@@RLucas3000 I thought the baroness just didn’t like kids, and why would she want any when her husband was a child himself. He probably banned kids because he saw them as competition for his childish wants and desires.
"There are children here, I can smell them!"
Buddy, with that schnoz, I believe you!
"Let's Go Brandon!"
😆😅🤣😂😁😄@@FriedAudio
…he’s an antisemitic Jewish caricature isn’t he? Ffs
Yeah. He can smell the skid marks.
That's why his nose is big you genius 😆
I love how he mentions the casino royale link, instead of the fact that THE AUTHOR OF CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG LITERALLY WROTE THE JAMES BOND BOOKS
RIP Sir Robert Helpmann. I was lucky enough to see him playing the elderly Lord Alfred Douglas in Justin Fleming's 'The Cobra'. He was on stage pretty much the entire time, no mean feat for a 74-year-old man. Great performance and a great play.
RIP
Dude, there is so much to this that you didn't cover. Like that Helpmann didn't realize how scary he was going to be, and was genuinely distressed that he had apparently traumatized every kid who saw the movie.
Or that the toymaker who hid the kids was an uncredited performance by none other than the great comedian and naughty songster Benny Hill.
The child catcher and the ventriloquist dummy from the movie Magic definitely caused me to have a few nightmares.
Yeah, I thought that was Benny Hill! That adds another layer of weirdness to it ...
Aww 😭 it’s rather sweet that the man who played it didn’t intend for it to be as horrifying as it was. I think he could’ve taken some solace in the fact that the portrayal gave us a rather telling example for stranger danger lol. He may have scared MANY children, but im sure MANY of those children also never approached a strange man offering candy 😂😂 he likely saved many children from terrible situations out in the world, im sure
@@clownrat5759your post is hilarious 😂
This is super interesting I hope another channel covers or they do a followup
I've never seen this movie as a kid, but there's something about the moment at 10:19, where the red lace falls from his head at the same time he opens his mouth. For a moment it seemed to me like if it was a gigant lizard-like tongue coming out of his mouth.
Nobody talks about the scene recreating the early years of the Grand Prix at the film’s beginning. The historical accuracy is astounding in what is otherwise an insane fantasy film and they even recreated accidents caught on film during those years.
I skipped past it as a kid but now as a history buff it’s my favourite part of the movie for production value alone.
Nice to know. Greatest kids film ever. Just perfect in every way
Disney could never have made such a great children's movie with appeal to parents too.
I’ve never heard anyone talk about this movie on RUclips, I’m so glad I was not alone in this childhood trauma lol.
Trauma builds character. This film rocks.
I genuinely want to thank you for making this video, my mother used to threaten to send the child catcher after me… I was terrified of him. & to this day he’d pop into my head every once in a while yelling about lollipops & ice cream & I’d want to cry. But if there’s one thing that’s stronger than my fear of this character, it’s my love of ballet. After watching this video, I think my fear of over 20 years is gone.
The castle is actually King Ludwig II of Bavaria's, he was famous for his nickname Mad King as he built tons of castle everywhere and eventually died along his doctor near a lake with a theory that he killed the doctor and ended his life. Or that both fought and both drowned, theories varied. So yeah, a really cool castle built by a mad King in germany (previously Bavaria).
It seems a fitting setting
Its still bavaria, its one of the states in germany
@frankcob6103 oh cool, my bad, I don't know much about the states of Germany
I’ve actually been there. It’s beautiful but they also told us stories about Mad King Ludwig and...yeah he was bonkers.
He was called the fairy tale king to do to his love of old stories and castle building, but the whole idea of him being mad was probably created by the Nobility to get rid of him.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was such a fever dream as a kid that you could've probably gaslit me into thinking it never existed
The original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a fever dream for me.
honestly the child catcher stuff is the only reason why i know it's not a gaslight lmao
@@tiahnarodriguez3809 Someone posted a rather depressing interpretation; ie that the whole thing was just the fevered imaginings of a kid dying of starvation.
If someone told me it was never a movie I would believe it as well.
@@pineapplepenumbra I believe it. I could imagine a starved and hypothermic Charlie covered in snow waiting outside the factory dreaming the whole ordeal as the actual kid that found the golden ticket meets Wonka with the rest of the children 🥲.
"The current owner of the Chitty car is Sir Peter Jackson. He could be seen near the WETA Workshop in New Zealand driving cast members of The Hobbit films around in the car while playing the main theme song through a sound system."
what i wouldn't i give to see that with my own eyes
Absolutely agree on how frightening the CC was. That nimble little dance he does, dressed all in black and then the black is barely covered up by a garish, brightly-colored smock. Taught me more than anything else about "if anybody ever offers you free candy... it's a trap".
Whats frightening is the same thing happens in politics these days. People flock to vote really frightening people with the promise of candy.
Have you ever heard of Halloween? Literally a free candy from strangers day.
The early 70s, when I was little, seemed to feel the solution to the problem of trusting kids to be by themselves was SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF THEM ABOUT EVERYTHING and The Child Catcher fit right the hell into that. Treacle tarts? He probably POISONED them! (Maybe this all explains a thing or two... 🤔)
@@garymccammon6696 What about Willy Wonka? That one scared me too. Are those kids gonna be okay? Wonka doesn't seem to care, and the parents are clueless already. When you're a child, you want to know that adults will look out for you! 🍫🍬🍭
Chity chity bang bang is legit such an amazing fever dream of a movie. I remember as a kid freaking loving how the regoldberg breakfast machine worked in the start of the movie. I seriously wanted something as goofy and stupid as that for myself 😅
Rube Goldberg?
@GhostofJamesMadison Think of it as a needlessly complicated machine designed to do a simple task via a series of convoluted chain reactions. Their really fun to watch unfold.
Rube Goldberg is regoldburg in this case. @@patchpatch4008
@@patchpatch4008lol they were guessing what you meant because you had a typo
@@GreenEyedDazzler oooooooh. Oops. 😅
I love rewatching stuff like this years later because you get to see odd ball sights you wouldn't have noticed before like at 4:48 where the first solider walks up and opens the door but the second one behind him who I guess was instructed to "break down the door" follows through and whiffs at the now already opened door before going through.
the child catcher actually has a whole theatre named after him. it's called the sir Robert helpmann theatre, in the town of mount gambier in south australia.
The guy who played the child catcher has the last name "Helpmann"?!
@@OldStankyeah, you pronounce it more like “help, man! (the child catcher’s after me!)”
@@OldStankyes. He was a famous Australian ballet dancer.
Cool factoid!
Thanks
He looks weirder without the makeup from what I remember.
My dad told me years later that he was designed to teach kids a lesson not to wander off and never talking to strangers. Even if the parents aren’t being listened to then, if they see this, chances are, kids are gonna start to listen lol
Why LOL? better movies taught kids some kind of common sense and better way to behave, than some of the little emperors, aggressive, rude and entitled little savages today who don't get enough attention from mummy and daddy because social media is more important than teaching their kids to be better.
@@sophiepooks2174 Now thats a proper boomer tangent
It worked for me 😆
It kinda works as an old-school, original, german fairytale vibe. very hansel and gretel.
i think i saw a video from Neil Gaiman somewhere about how showing scary things to children in fairytales can be good, like an immunization for a disease, in that it shows a taste of the scary thing while also showing how to be brave and overcome it.
@@DVXXIII angry for no reason 😂😂
This movie is a fever dream. I watched this as a little kid on VHS. The thing was: My first language is german. And my english-skills obviously weren't good when I was a little kid. But the VHS-version that we had was in english. So basically I had very little idea what was going on, because I couldn't understand a single word. And I had no idea, that the stories the father told his children, were just that: Stories. I tought that actually happened in the movie. And yes: The child-catcher absolutly traumatized me as a kid.
This raises a good point. I think Hans Landa triggered my memory of the Child Catcher and a type of primal fear I hadn't felt in ages and didn't even know it.
I'm sure Tarantino must've seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at some point in his life. He either intentionally or unconsciously incorporated that into Hans. Had to have...
@@warweasel2832 just like JK Rowlings used the name Hogwarts for the school. But in the Labyrinth Hoggle is called Hogwart at some point. Even JK Rowling said she might have unknowingly got the name from that movie. It does happen
@@warweasel2832they all pull from the same inspiration: that of the Nazis hunting down Jews.
The actor who played grandpa is actually YOUNGER than dick van dycke. Thats mad
Not too mad when you consider who all he plays in Mary Poppins: Bert and Banks Sr.
@normanclatcher No he wasn't in Mary Poppins.
Dick Van Dyke born December 13, 1925 and Lionel Jeffries born June 10, June 1926.
This movie will always be a gem to me. I was born in 94 and I was like 4-6 when I saw this movie. This was my first exposure to Dick Van Dyke as a kid I always remembered thinking how bad I wanted the candy from the factory scene. The child catcher definitely spooked me as a kid but it didn't stop me from watching the movie over and over. It's awesome to know how that the actor was a very sweet man. If a character can make you feel strongly in certain ways whether it's good or bad that's the mark of a great actor. 😊
Thank you.
Thank you for validating my intense and yet random trauma from a movie that I haven't watched since I saw it twelve years ago for the first time.
And thank you for reminding me of the only thing that stuck with me from that movie, which was this horrible little goblin and every single image of him that remained in my brain.
The actor who played that role was a trained ballet dancer.
Sir Robert Helpmann, an Aussie Ballet Master. Also had a hit record in 1964 with a song called "Surfer Doll". He was bloody awesome.
That figures, he's got mad tap dancing skills
He was the shoemaker in the Red Shoes
No, in The Red Shoes he was the boyfriend of the bewitched girl at the beginning and the priest at the end of the ballet. The shoemaker was played by the famous Russian character dancer Leonid Massine.
@@serahloeffelroberts9901 You are quite right, and I am a babbling fool... (who had quite a crush on the priest and should have known better!)
Im a 28 year old male and I grew up watching this movie. This is still one of my favorite movies.
I'm 38 and still love this movie is haven't watched it for a whilebut this video has made me want to see it again 😀
I'm 39 and I watched this when I was young. Watching it now makes me appreciate how good and how well some of these movies held up over time. The music, the characters... These days I find myself going back and watching earlier cinema more than many new movies, even movies I never saw when I was a kid.
I have talking about this "perfect villan" for years and no one knows who the hell I'm talking about.....Bravo! You can tell the actor was absolutely a dancer
You should see him dance in 'The Red Shoes' (1948).
I'm 64, and saw this movie when I was eight and it first came out. Let's just say that the Childcatcher gave me a nightmare or two. To this day the Childcatcher still creeps me out!
I actually let my son watch "A Nightmare on Elm Street" at age 12 before I let him watch "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang," because the Childcatcher is far scarier than Freddy Krueger. Quite simply, the Childcatcher is fiction's Apex Bogeyman because there is nothing supernatural or fantastical about what he does.
That said, I suspect that before The Springwood Slasher goes to bed; he first checks the closet and under the bed to be sure that the Childcatcher of Vulgaria isn't hiding there, waiting for him to fall asleep . . . .
When did you let your kid watch The Witches?
The Grand High Witch gave me nightmares into my teens 😭
We saw "The Witches" a little after "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang;" around the same time we started watching the "Harry Potter" movies in the theaters. If memory serves, we rented "The Witches" from our local Blockbuster. Actually, I think my son was more creeped-out by the river boat scene in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" than when the Grand High Witch made her appearance.
Love your wicked sense of humour. Treacle tarts are heavenly, I would've ran out for one.
I love the fact that you make so many 007 references in this video without mentioning that the story was written by Ian Fleming.
Also starred Gert Frobe as the Baron, who was better known for playing Goldfinger.
And Desmond Llewellyn (Q) is the guy that sells them Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The book is way better, clever and not traumatic.
I came to the comments to say exactly this. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who was yelling it at the screen. :D
The Child Catcher wasn't in the book, but was introduced during the uncredited screenplay adaptation by none other than Roald Dahl, who was a friend of Ian Fleming from their wartime work for MI5. The Child Catcher is so obviously a Roald Dahl character.
It was also produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the man who brought us James Bond films. You also have James Bond production designer Ken Adam, assistant art director Peter Lamont (who would go on to be production designer of later James Bond films), and production associate/title sequence director Peter R. Hunt who was editor of most of the Sean Connery Bond films, and director of On Her Majesty's Secret Service released the following year. You could say that this film had James Bond written all over it; even was filmed at Pinewood Studios.
My personal head-canon: The Child Catcher is the Crypt Keeper when he was alive.
Could the child catcher be a psycho pomp who ushers children to y the life hereafter from disease or accidents?
Naw, they did a stealth origin story episode about the Crypt Keeper’s mom and dad (a mummy and simple, abused Elephant Man circus freak) and the baby Crypt Keeper was found at the end of the episode by authorities and the circus people, and a baby Crypt Keeper was found, revealing he was always a living corpse.
He's related to Pennywise
"YECH!! CHILDREN! HOW RRRREVOLTING! WHY, THE LITTLE ROTTERS WOULD JUST SIMPLY RUIN MY BEAUTIFUL CRYPT HOME, WITH ALL THEIR PLAYING, AND JOY AND INNOCENCE..YUCK!... I USED TO ENJOY KIDS, BUT THAT WAS LONG AGO. ... THEY ARE JUST TOO HIGH IN CHOLESTEROL FOR ME NOW!!! EEEHEHYEHEHEHHEEHEHHEEE 💀🦴💀🦴"
He sounded like him!
I don’t know if this has been mentioned, but this guy could well have been an inspiration for Charlotte Perospero from One Piece, given the clothes, face, sweets theming and general fairytale/Dahl villain aesthetic of the Whole Cake Island arc
I still have songs from this movie pop into my head, all these years later. Wild.
I was randomly humming "ye olde bamboo" just last week for no reason lol
As a Bulgarian I can confirm this is exactly what we'd be like if people did LSD instead of drank before beating the kids.
I love the sense of humor in the Balkans so much. Glad you guys made it out from behind the Iron Curtain. 😌
If children weren't allowed, how did you make it?
@@jamesordwayultralightpilot some of us are just born older...
Thanks for reminding me of that guy after 50 years!!! Still creeps me out. Hope nightmares don't start again 😢 😅😅
No wonder so many are leaving your nation...
I had no idea the film had such an all star cast. Obviously I knew about Dick van Dyke, but Barbara Windsor and Benny Hill? Incredible!
That's probably also part of the reason the film is so quintessentially eccentric and British. All those Carry On and slapstick comedy actors of yesteryear.
10:58
It's kinda sweet and brave that, despite knowing they could be killed for it, some villagers at least try to help the kids by getting them to go inside rather than into the hands of the Child Catcher.
It's people like that who help me keep my faith in humanity.
This film has great heroes and very evil villains
This mini documentary was so excellently produced! My siblings and I used to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang whenever it came on television. And yes, a lot of it was creepy and some of it outright terrifying. Dick Van Dyke is a perennial multi-talented entertainer.
Incidentally, the Toy Maker was played by legendary funny man Benny Hill. And the Baron of Vulgaria was played by Gert Fröbe who was the villain “Goldfinger” in the James Bond classic of the same name.
Thank you, Cyan Man!
Im so glad i found your channel! Your narration is hilarious and you go over movies i loved growing up!
Me too 😀
I was born in 1965. Don't recall my age when Chitty made it to TV...maybe 4 or 5. I had recurring nightmares for a decade or more...and the same every now and then as an adult. About 10 yrs ago I was watching Chitty with my young daughter and nearly fell from the couch when the Child Catcher appeared...it when then I realized HE was the antagonist of all those nightmares. That joirk!
This video makes it seem like kids were threatened with murder all the time back then. I can't remember my guardians mentioning how they wanted to kill me perhaps more than once week or so. The same goes for uttering threats of further harm should my shenanigans outside cause any excessive bleeding. Thank god that sort of thing isn't normal any more, and nor is going outside.
She is much more tougher than I was back then! She had no worries.@@BSC8987
Yeah me too.
I couldn't go in the ocean for awhile after Jaws came out in the 1970's
I blame the child catcher for my grown up obsession with bones in jewelry. I heard "teeth for a necklace" as an 8 yr old and the idea just burrowed itself into my brain, forever changing the view of what's disturbing and beautiful 😅😅
Very pleased right now to have skull shaped earrings made of bone. It’s just cow bone but they still feel special
You blame a fictional character for that? I think that's on you lol.
Sir Robert Helpmann, one of the best most memorable villains ever, alongside Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch of the West) in 'The Wizard of Oz'.
This was my mom's favorite childhood movie. To me it was a never ending fever dream and the only part I vividly remember was truly scrumptious disguised as a doll while the inventor romantically sings to her and the king trying to kill his wife. And sometimes a fever dream is just what you need.
Litterally the only part I remember is the music box doll part too
Yeah no... I've had more than enough fever dreams.
Same exact experience here, a now that I have 2 young daughters my has bought me chitty chitty bang bang twice on DVD and asks me frequently if we watched it yet.
They were probably so focused on remaining absolutely still that they didn’t get a good look at him.
I was in the stage version of this one years ago, for the most part just classic theater kids playing classic roles, but the girl we had playing as the child catcher was the most terrifying person I had ever met. A fantastic (also intimidating) actress with the most terrifying cackle I've heard in my life.
Anyways fond memories of this movie
😮 WOAH
It wouldn’t have happen to be the stage version at palmetto senior high would it…
@@The_Barroth nah it's Utah
@@Rosalia.Mine. oh ok. Because saw a live performance in Miami and the actress playing the child catcher was exactly how you described
Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ie the child catcher was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer!😊
The "Toymaker" is the great comedian Benny Hill. Baron Bombast is played by famous German actor Gert Fröbe who plays the villainous Goldfinger from the famous James Bond movie (Gert was trained Dancer and Vaudeville performer).
The movie itself is based on James Bond author Ian Fleming children story. The Script was written by Roald Dahl, author of the Willy Wonka stories, Matilda and James of the Giant Peach. (Roald Dahl also did the script for the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice." The producer was also Albert B. Broccoli of the James Bond film series.
Yep. I had no idea of who Benny Hill was as a kid, but saw a lot of the reruns of his show when I was older.
I kind of want him to appear and just random shows now. Batman and robin vs the child catcher. Scooby Doo and the child catcher. Magic school bus and the child catcher. He just shows up and reeks havoc.
Wreaks. Unless your havoc doesnt shower.
NOT THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS
Mrs Frizzle versus the Child Catcher? THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN...
I’ve probably watched it hundreds of times and hadn’t noticed the dog go flying off the railing
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I remember reading somewhere that the book, this movis is based on, was written by Ian Fleming as a bed time story for his son.
And for those who are familiar with the name Ian Fleming, yes, he's the author of the classic 007 James Bond books.
"Truly" makes a lot of sense now.
There’s like a solid amount of talent in this movie
I was looking for this very comment. I remembered the Ian Fleming connection as well.
So... "Truly Scrumptious" and "Pussy Galore" are both products of the same brain.
I hated how the kids get a full look at him in their Jack-in-the-box disguises, yet are easily fooled by his treacle tart schtick
Yeah, I remember watching the film at age 3 and freaking out at how dumb the kids were being.
Treacle tarts, man! TREACLE TARTS
Treacle tarts, man! TREACLE TARTS
It's crazy as a kid I watched Chucky, Candy man, Hellraiser, Silence of the lambs, Halloween, Alien and many others but this scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the only thing that really creeped me out especially when he looks through the basement window 😨
The Child Catcher is just Mr Bean's evil brother.
Evil Mr Bean be like: 😈+ 🤥
Haha
Actually, speaking of Rowan Atkinson Mr Bean's actor, he kind of reminds me of the first BlackAdder by a lot. Like even down to the voice. The prince Blackadder is just simply a bit more of an unlucky goofy doofus. But they're really more or less the same slimy scheming gloating bugeyed weirdos. I feel like Gargamel in the Smurfs is very also similar, though I doubt there's likely any intention there.
@@avosmash2121 *glances around, leans in and whispers* Blackadder was Rowan Atkinson 😉
Yeah. I know that @@slayerkeith8304. That's why I said the term "speaking of", haha 😂
I solved a mystery last year regarding this film! Since childhood I have always had a very good memory and my cousins would say that we watched this movie whenever it was on TV in the early 70s. Why then was it that I could not remember it? I knew quite a few of the songs but that was it. So last year I put the DVD on and started watching. I thought it was great and should have stayed with me! I was grabbing a snack in another part of the house when I heard the line "call out the child catcher" I froze. My eyes grew wide and I had to sit down because before I came back to the screen, I knew exactly what he would look like, the long nose, the suckers, what he would say and even the bars that would be revealed on the wagon. I most certainly did see the movie and it had been most carefully repressed because it scared the crap out of this 3 year old. Now at 53 I can laugh and say the movie is fantastic and very cheerful! But like many of my fellow Generation X ...holy crap did it freak us out!
Thanks for posting!
I adored it from the very first time I saw it!
I kinda had the same thing happen with me. I have memories from a super young age. My earlier from two years old. When i got older, i had memories of a tv show i watched when i was around 4-5. a boy, a talking flute and a creepy witch. I also knew it was from the 70’s. I would ask everyone if they ever saw this show, nobody knew what i was talking about. For the longest time i thought i imagined this show, forgot about it for many years. It randomly popped into my head a few years ago and i was finally able to find it!..
H.R. Pufnstuf.
That show is SO trippy for a child.
No wonder i was a top tier stoner for most of my life haha
I was in this musical over ten years ago, and the main Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song still randomly gets stuck in my head to this day.
4:24 That was nice of Benny Hill to rescue them!
I was petrified of the childcatcher as a kid, in the uk we have scrap men come around the housing estates collecting scrap metal in their vans and my parents used to say it was the childcatcher coming 😂😂😂
Your parents were twisted individuals.
@@JaylukKhan Mate they used to tell me Baba yaga lived under the stairs they would call her Yaga Baga though most probably got it mixed up lol. They have a cubby hole with a small door on and honestly I believed we had a witch living in our house for a good few years as a kid. So I'd be walking upstairs to use the loo.
BABA YAGAS GONA GET YA MATT 😱
ZOOOOM I would run as fast as I could to the toilet, most probably pissed everywhere other than the hole 🤣🤣 I was legitimately scared of it though and 100% believed them.
Lmfao that’s fucking hilarious 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I used to tell my baby cousins when they would misbehave that if they kept doing it, I was gonna call the child catcher and they would all instantly stop because he scared them shitless cause he scared me shitless as a kid too. it was so funny every time the look on their faces 🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭
@@raeannmills3950 Lol that's funny, I've got a 7 year old lad and I do it to him now and get the same reaction, crazy how it's come full circle
Saw this as a kid in 1968, probably at the drive-in. When the child catcher arrives, my little sister (4) hid behind the front seats for the rest of the movie. This lead to a family saying: "It's just a film, it's not real".
100% correct, the worst childhood villains are the child catcher and the coachman from Disney's Pinocchio.
Yes and the darkness from The Neverending Story that was when I first felt Eldritch fear
Awesome BTS details of Sir Robert Helpmann. Thank you for adding that he was a very sweet man outside of playing The Child Catcher.
I think it's in one of the special fratures on the DVD that the child actors adored him as he was so kind.
Funny how it's always those playing the villains who are apparently the biggest sweethearts in real life.
@kaykutcher2103 Actress Damaris Hayman was talking about Roger Delgado and said that he and ither genuinely good people, was marvellous as a villain because he and they can let go and play pure evil because they're not trying to hide it in their own personality.
Perfect example of why scaring kids can actually be incredibly beneficial for the kids if done right. As a little kid, I just was always suspicious of strangers because of this movie. No complicated lecture, just a creepy villain.
Robot Chicken has a sketch where Child Catcher gets busted by Chris Hansen.
LINK NOW please
ruclips.net/video/DdfJfQX6ebo/видео.htmlsi=RCod48obNrMifit4
Nvm
dude I hope that's true... otherwise this soda I was drinking just wasted my keyboard for nothing.
@@jacksparrowismydaddy you want link?
My father was in Vietnam and we were living near Valdosta, Georgia. Mama took us TO THE MOVIES! I was 8. We only went to the movies like this, Jungle Book, John Wayne movies. Nothing like today. I'm amazed when every twenty years or so I see this and still remember all the words!
I’m from Valdosta do man. Hahira in specific.
@@xxxchild_predatorxxx107 I would like to say more but please explain your handle.
@@xxxchild_predatorxxx107 oh, hell. If you're from Hahira you can't be bad. Dr Parrot delivered me. Does that tell you anything?
@@xxxchild_predatorxxx107 I wish I lknew who hit the like button.
@@xxxchild_predatorxxx107 Don't quit on me now! Does Hahira still have The Tobacco Ball? Is the Goldleaf still in print? Is there still a Tobacco market where big pallets are auctioned off? Ohhh the smell of that place. Do mama's, aunts (aints) & Grannies still sit on the porch shelling butterbeans? Do they still holler "You young'uns watch for snakes and don't slam the (sqeaaaaak BAM) screen door!"
To me this is by far the best musical movie ever made
Got to give the dancer credit, he creeped us out better than a ton of actors
Lol, "-been stuck in my head for five days."
My good sir, I am now old enough to officially and accurately say it had been stuck in mine for more than two decades. I rather suspect it will still be stuck in my head after I go senile. At least it's a cheery sort of madness...
Dude you’re narration of this is hilarious…. I give you props… I think the same way sometimes all depending on what’s going life,movies etc. your the kind of dude that we would feed of each other seeing something weird or funny the kind of person I’d hang around in high school but anyway…. Funny stuff … thanks for the posting …. and for pointing out the dog falling. 👊🏾✌🏾
You have no idea the amount of joy I have derived from seeing someone cover this movie I love so much
I was 7 when I saw the movie. I remember loving Dick Van Dyke and being completely terrified by the Child Catcher. The only other movie character who scared me that much back then was Vincent Price in House of Wax.
Also, I was today years old when I realized Benny Hill was in the movie.
I knew about Benny Hill and that Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) wrote it, but didn't realize the Baron was played by Goldfinger.
I feel like this move is blatantly putting forgotten history right in our faces.
Great essay on the Child Catcher. I saw this as a child back in the 70s and he always freaked me out a bit but I also remember laughing all the time throughout this movie.
Watching this clip reminded me of how much I loved this movie and how much fun and weird it is.
I was in Munich, last year, and at one point just wondered where the Child Catcher was. That's how much of an impression in my life he made. 50 years later and I still remember him.
Now I have to go find the movie streaming...
Fun act, this movie was written by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond who was friends with Dahl, they exchanged stories, where Ian wrote this movie version and Dahl wrote a James Bond movie
He was my mom’s worst nightmare as a kid
I was terrified and fascinated by the child catcher. Brilliant character played beautifully by Robert Helpman who was a famous Australian ballet dancer.
I was there as a child attending the premiere at Radio City Music Hall in 1968. The Child Catcher gave me the “willies”…
But I loved it! ❤😂❤😂
But hold on 😮so we are supposed to just glide by the fact that one of the best comedians ever was in the movie…Benny Hill as the Toymaker…?! This movie has been a treat for me, my children and my grandchildren.
"Call out the Child Catcher!" Like he's a damn dog smfh XD
Such a GREAT kids movie!!!
Every summer we would have something for us kids to enjoy.
The child catcher was indeed intense but needed
Robert Helpmann was a royal ballet star n was in The Red Shoes.
Van Dyke’s anecdote of Helpmann’s gracefulness is priceless!
the toy maker ... THATS BENNY HILL. Never watched this movie but now I might
I also said the same thing...that was a quiet Benny Hll! Im used to seeing him chasing women and looking up their skirts!
I'm still waiting on a proper cosplay of the child catcher for comic con
This unlocked a core memory, thank for for the return to the oddest movie i ever watch as a kid. I remember the wagon dropping all the decor to reveal the cage, genuinely a traumatizing scene for a toddler to see
My father got beaten with a wooden pattle at school when this came out for singing the theme song, due to the teacher hearing: "Shity shity bang bang" instead.
Ah man. Corporal punishment... 🥲
@@normanclatcher times where different back then
The teacher sounds like a real child catcher...
Funny thing is... for me as a kid in the 80's, we'd often use the 'shitty' version of the song lol... granted never within teacher ear shot, so, maybe the teacher wasnt hearing things :P
I secretly call it "Pretty Shitty Gang-Bang" in my head whenever I hear it mentioned.
The fact that he is such a good dancer makes it so much more diabolical
I used to watch this movie a lot with my parents and I don't remember the child catcher at all. I guess I just suppressed the memory, this didn't even jog my memory of him so I guess I suppressed it that much
That’s kinda surprising considering he seems to be the only thing a lot of people remember about this movie
Or maybe: 1- your parents distracted you during those scenes or 2- your local TV station edited/censored those scenes out b/c there’s no forgetting the Childcatcher!
This vid is so out of left field but so friggin good, you're a legend Cyan!
Great video boss, I really, genuinely, truly enjoyed it! Thank you for the excellent content! 👍😊
I remember my teacher showed this to the class as a kid. At the point where the kids are in the cage and taken away, the teacher turned off the tv saud something like "i forgot how this movie is". Which scared me even more.
Weak
bruh
Fantastic video!
Ultimately you find the film as fun as I do... And yes, The child catcher scared me too!!
I really appreciate the humor and your laughter because it had me laughing too! Thanks for this!
Nightmare fuel. Thanks for bringing back that repressed memory.
Child catcher fits in this current world just fine.
The guy opening his door to the family is Benny Hill !
Had a lot of fun listening to your commentary on this video. Nicely done!
Hey man, just wanted to say, it's been great seeing how far you've come in such short a time. I remember being one of your first thousand subs, and your editing has improved so much! Keep up the great work.