Dick Van Dyke had appeared in several Disney movies prior to this. In a press release he quipped, "This will out-Disney Disney." This comment angered the Disney studio and, as a result of this, he did not appear in any Disney film for a number of years.
Dick Van Dyke's character was named for Caractacus, the last independent ruler of England before the Roman conquest of southern England.
Heather Ripley recalled that she did not realize until much later that Dick Van Dyke was an alcoholic when the film was made.
Lionel Jeffries played Dick Van Dyke's father, despite the fact that Dick Van Dyke is actually six months older than Jeffries.
Robert Helpmann (the Child Catcher) took his top set of false teeth out to aid his gaunt pinched face. It also helped produce his creepy voice, as he 'hisses' whenever he speaks.
Phil Collins claims he was one of the children storming the castle at the end of the film but was edited out because of a rather large and unsightly bandage on his head that was covering a cyst.
Baron Bomburst's castle is Neuschwanstein, built between 1869 and 1886 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II, "The Mad King of Bavaria". This castle is also famously known as the model for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, which was the symbol of the Disney Television programs Disneyland and it's successors "Walt Disney Presents (1958)" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1962)".
Child actress Heather Ripley (Jemima)'s only feature film.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's main song was used as a wake up call for Commander Pamela Ann Melroy and the Space Shuttle Discovery crew on November 7, 2007.
Director Ken Hughes reportedly hated the finished film.
Has the distinction of being the only non-James Bond film produced by Albert R. Broccoli after the Bond series began. This is because the novel on which the movie is based was written by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.
Helpmann's character has often been named as one of the scariest characters ever to be brought on screen. Not only did it make it into Empire magazine, but also onto Channel 4's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. The Child Catcher was the inspiration for Marilyn Manson's "Smells Like Children" EP. The title and cover art, as well as Manson's outfit and appearance during the album, reference the Robert Helpmann character.
In a 2011 episode of SyFy Channel's Hollywood Treasure Dick Van Dyke got to sit in the "hero" car for the first time in over 40 years, and noted that he could have purchased it for $30,000 after the movie wrapped. This is the car that was offered on eBay for $1,000,000. Later in the episode, the car auction was expanded to bidders at the auction house, but failed to receive any bids. However, after auction negotiations, Chitty-Chitty sold for a reported $800,000.
In addition to several partial mock-ups of the car used for the purposes of filming, one real, custom-built Chitty Chitty Bang Bang automobile was constructed for the film. It still exists. It is owned by Pierre Picton of Statford on Avon, England. In April of 2011 it was listed for sale on eBay with a starting bid of one million dollars,
In an interview during filming in October 1967 Dick Van Dyke revealed that he only accepted the role of Caracatus Potts on the condition that he would not have to attempt an English accent.
Seven different Chitties were built: a worn-out one, a restored one, one for the flying scenes, one for the water scenes and three partial models for various other scenes.
The colors of the floating Chitty - purple, green, and white - were the colors of the women's suffrage movement of that time.
The film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has a different story than the original book by Ian Fleming. The story used in the film was created by author Roald Dahl, who is best known for the children's books James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ironically, the first James Bond film not to follow the original book was You Only Live Twice, which also used an original story by Dahl.
The license number for Truly's car, CUB 1, is a reference to Albert R. Broccoli's nickname, Cubby.