It does seem the Shermans were putting an effort into this that they didn't into its rival Disney roadshow musical The Happiest Millionaire #TCMParty

I know, people these days seem to act like it's not a "real" movie if it isn't 2 hours or longer, but some stories don't need that much time to tell.

I enjoyed the recent Wicked duology, but that musical is a grand story that takes place in an expansive setting with 3-dimensional characters. Something like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang spends way too much time singing and dancing because that's what you do in musicals.

One of the most enraging things for me about those Disney live-action/CGI remakes is that they can be 45 minutes to almost an hour longer than the originals and FOR WHAT?

It's telling that Charlotte's Web and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, two of the better early '70s musicals, are in and out in less than 100 minutes.

Me too, especially with musicals. And some of the '60s/'70s roadshow-style musicals are truly punishing in this regard; you can cut huge chunks from them and lose nothing in terms of story and character.

As somebody quipped a few years back when TCM was running this, "For a movie about a car, this is a long song about a candy."

I was thinking of the 5 alternately-colored covers for Michael Jackson’s Invincible myself.

That said they listed them only as Ending A, B, and C.

I think some US theater lustings did the same, at least in larger markets where there were enough screens.

Say what you will about Toys as a movie but when The Simpsons spoofs your *teaser trailer* you know something made an impact.