What do you get when you combine the talents of Dick Van Dyke and the legendary Sherman Brothers songwriting team (all lifted from Disney’s hit Mary Poppins) with the creator of 007 himself, James Bond, (who provided the story)? The answer, of course, is a rollicking adventure about a fanciful car that flies called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. With an assortment of cherubic children, and healthy dose of musical entertainment, Ian Fleming’s quirky adventure had all the right elements to make it a classic film in its own right.

Van Dyke plays an inventor named Caractacus Potts, the eccentric and loving father of two precocious tykes, Jeremy and Jemima. When he purchases an old and decrepit motorcar, he lovingly restores and transforms the auto into a thing of beauty. What better way to celebrate than with a family outing, so he takes his kids, and the daughter of a candymaker, named Truly Scrumptious out to the countryside for a picnic. And during this gathering, he concocts a fanciful tale about the car’s magical ability to fly.

In his story, the evil Baron Bombart ruler of a land where children have been made illegal, decides to kidnap the inventor of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and his invention. Unfortunately, he makes a grave error and kidnaps Pott’s father (and his car) instead. It is up to Potts and his picnic guests to save Dad from the sinister Baron.

Although Chitty Chitty Bang Bang didn’t quite reach the successful heights of its predecessor, Mary Poppins, it still managed to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Song and, in time, has become a beloved children’s classic in its own right, filled with plenty of music, fun and adventure to entertain children of all ages.