Child Catcher
The Child Catcher is a fictional character who appears in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and in the later stage musical adaptation. The character was created by screenwriter Roald Dahl and did not appear in the original Ian Fleming novel.
In the 1968 film, he is played by the late ballet dancer Sir Robert Helpmann. In the theatrical version in London, he was played by Richard O'Brien, and on Broadway, he was played by Kevin Cahoon.
Child Catcher's Song
Robert & Richard Sherman wrote the song, "Kiddy Widdy Winkies" for the 2002 stage version of the character to sing. The song did not appear in the motion picture
The Child Catcher On Stage
On Stage the childcatcher has been played by
- Richard O'Brien (Rocky Horror)
- Paul O'Grady
- Peter Polycarpou
- Derek Griffiths
- Wayne Sleep
- Anthony Sturgess
- Lionel Blair
- Stephen Gately
- Alvin Stardust
- Kevin Kennedy
- Ian Watkins (Will play him this year in cardiff)
- Christopher Timothy (will play him this year in bradford)
In context with the storyline
The Childcatcher is the most loyal servant to the Baron and Baroness Bomburst of Vulgaria. Since the Baroness cannot abide the existence of children, she employs him to kidnap and then kill the country's children. He wears a black suit with a top hat, and has moderately long greasy black hair. In general appearance, he is quite pale, thin, and has a spider-like quality and grace in the way he moves. His most recognizable feature is his elongated nose, with which he is able to smell children and find where they are hiding. When searching for the children, he carries a large net and a hook to catch them. It is quite interesting[original research?] how this grotesque character who is able to smell the blood of children was created by Roald Dahl, and in Roald Dahl's novel, The Witches, the witches are also able to smell out children to murder them.
He drives a horse-drawn dark buggy equipped with a cage, but he sometimes disguises the buggy as a candy-and-ice cream wagon in order to lure, and so ensnare, children. He also disguises himself with colorful clothing and carries lollies and other sweets with which to tempt the children out of their hiding places. When Jeremy and Jemima Potts are hiding in the Toymaker's cellar, the Childcatcher dances through the streets harking about "free" chocolate, ice cream and other goodies. Jeremy is entranced and runs out into the street, despite Truly warning the twins not to leave until she had returned (she was out shopping for food). Jemima followed against her better judgement, and both of the children followed the Childcatcher. The villagers shouted and called for them to come back, but the Childcatcher lured the children into his cage and took them to the castle of the Baron and Baroness. The twins were locked in the tower and awaited their deaths.
At the end of the film where the natives of Vulgaria and the Vulgarian children ambushed the Baron's birthday party, the Childcatcher was called to detain them. However, his plan failed when he realised that the children were no longer afraid of him and they trapped him in a net which they then suspended from the ceiling-like a spider.
Acclaim
- 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, and came in place at number 37.
- 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 2005, the Child Catcher was voted "the scariest villain" in children's books" [1], despite not actually featuring in the original book. He was created for the movie by Roald Dahl.
In the £14,500 good vs. evil foosball table by eleven forty, the child catcher is the goalie for evil.