Caractacus Pott (Caractacus Potts in the film adaptation) is one of the main characters in

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...

's novel ''

Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang ''Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' is a children's novel written by Ian Fleming for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham. It was initially published in three volumes, the first of which was released on 22 October 19 ...

'' and its

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

. The film version of the story makes several changes to his character.

Caractacus Pott of the book

In the original 1964 book, ''

: The Magical Car'', Pott is a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and eccentric inventor who lives with his wife Mimsie and their twin eight-year-old children, Jeremy and Jemima, on their hilltop farm. He and his family are mentioned in the sequel books before appearing in the final one: ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Over the Moon'', where they assist the Tooting family in stopping Tiny Jack.

Caractacus Potts of the film

The filmmakers, including screenwriter

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

, altered many of the book's details for the 1968 film musical version of ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

'', in which Caractacus is portrayed by

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

. The name Pott was changed to Potts and the character of Mimsie was written out as it was felt a burgeoning romance would serve the story better. Caractacus' film character is a widower who develops a romantic relationship with

Truly Scrumptious Truly Scrumptious is a fictional character in the 1968 film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' and stage production based on the children's novel of the same name by author Ian Fleming. In the film the character is portrayed by Sally Ann Howes, after ...

, the daughter of the sweets magnate, Lord Scrumptious. The film also expunged the naval commander part of his life. His other inventions as seen in the film were designed and created by the craftsman

Rowland Emett Frederick Rowland Emett OBE (22 October 190613 November 1990), known as Rowland Emett (with the forename sometimes spelled "Roland" s his middle name appears on his birth certificateand the surname frequently misspelled "Emmett"), was an Engl ...

and are on display at Mid-America Science Museum. In the movie, Caractacus' wife has died leaving him single parent to their two children Jeremy and Jemima. The daily routine is that Caractacus invents things to sell for his family's sustenance, while Jeremy and Jemima go to school or play in a garage owned by a neighbour, Mr. Coggins. The children discover and grow fond of a decrepit racing car which had been involved in a high-speed road race accident. When a dog and a child ran into the road from the cheering crowd, it had crashed down an embankment where it caught fire and exploded. The children persuade their father to restore it.

Other media

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

based on the film premiered in London's West End in 2002, with Caractacus Potts played by

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...

. The role has since been played on stage in the West End by

Gary Wilmot Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE (born 8 May 1954) is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on ''New Faces''. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of '' You and Me'' ...

(also on tour),

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 m ...

Brian Conley Brian Paul Conley (born 7 August 1961) is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of ''The Brian Conley Show'', as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40-ye ...

(also on tour); and on tour by Tim Flavin, Joseph McFadden,

Craig McLachlan Craig Dougall McLachlan (born 1 September 1965) is an Australian actor, musician, singer and composer. He has been involved in film, television, the music industry and music theatre for over 30 years. He is best known for appearing in the soap ...

, Kevin Kennedy, (after playing the Childcatcher) Matt Baker,

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for ...

, Darren Bennett,

Jon Robyns Jon Robyns (born 8 December 1982) is a British stage actor, who is best known for playing the roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q the musical and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables in London's West End. Early life Robyns was born in Manchester ...

, Jason Manford and

Lee Mead Lee Stephen Mead (born 14 July 1981) is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' through the BBC T ...

. For the 2005 Broadway production the role was played by Raúl Esparza. For the 2012 Australian production the role was played by David Hobson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pott, Caractacus Literary characters introduced in 1964 Characters in British novels of the 20th century Fictional commanders Fictional inventors Fictional aviators Chitty Chitty Bang Bang characters Male characters in literature Male characters in film