"
Truly Scrumptious" is a song performed in the 2002/2005 stage musical
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well as the original, 1968
motion picture. The song was written by
Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman. It is about the lead female character,
Truly.
The first time we hear the music to the song is when Truly motors up to the Potts' windmill with the children. It is later sung to her by
Adrian Hall and
Heather Ripley (as Jeremy and Jemimah), the twin children of widower
Caractacus Potts (played by
Dick Van Dyke in the film), and she sings the second verse back to them. It occurs at the beach scene in the middle of the film when all the characters begin to fall in love with each other.
Reprise
This song is reprised later in the story as a
counterpoint to another song entitled: "
Doll on a Music Box". When the song is sung a second time, in counterpoint, it is then sung by Caractacus. Truly sings the counterpoint as an expression of her own, "real life" emotional detachment. The counterpoint is staccato whereas "Truly Scrumptious" has a
legato melody.
Visual metaphor
This sequence is a part of
Caractacus's story, which he is telling to
Truly and his children. In the song, Caractacus plays a flimsy clown, too flexible for his own good; whereas, Truly plays a precious, too-cutesy doll which is too rigid for her own good. Twice during the counterpoint, the clown approaches the doll, only to be slapped in the face. This mirrors...
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