W.C. Fields famously turned up his bulbous nose at working with scene-stealing children and dogs. If he were still around to be cast in the show that has just opened at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, he'd have something else to add to his professional enemies list: a flying car.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the stage version of the ever-popular 1968 movie musical by Mary Poppins composers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (brothers who received the National Medal of Arts at the White House Monday), has just begun a long national tour in Fort Lauderdale. Director Ray Roderick's revised version of the 2005 Broadway production is, at this early point in its touring life, still finding its artistic wings in terms of performances, scattered technical glitches and sometimes ear-splitting sound levels.

But the one sure-fire element is the beguiling Chitty herself.

If (like me) you were not a kid but were too young to be a parent when the movie came out, here's the story in miniature.

Eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts (Steve Wilson) is a widower with two young children, Jeremy (Jeremy Lipton, who alternates in the role with Zachary Carter Sayle) and Jemima (Aly Brier, who alternates with Camille Mancuso). They meet the feisty, aptly named Truly Scrumptious (Kelly McCormick), whose father turns out to be famed candy tycoon Lord Scrumptious (George Dvorsky). Though Caractacus and Truly have a kind of Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn/love-hate reaction to each other, the kids instantly start hoping for a new stepmummy.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so named for the distinctive music of its engine, is a broken-down race car that Caractacus restores to something way beyond its former glory. The car soon proves to be a driving, floating, flying wonder, though it won't cooperate unless you say ''please'' first.

Something that splendid is bound to attract attention, and it does. The comically evil, child-hating Baron (also played by Dvorsky) and Baroness (Elizabeth Ward Land) of Vulgaria send a pair of inept spies, Boris (Dirk Lumbard) and Goran (Scott Cote) to snatch Chitty. Instead, they kidnap Grandpa Potts (Dick Decareau), not bothering to remove him from the outhouse where he's taking care of ``business.''

There are a few scary, racy moments once the action moves from England to Vulgaria. The ominous Childcatcher (Oliver Wadsworth) is creepy. And one of choreographer Joanne Hunter's biggest numbers, set to The Bombie Samba, is cartoonishly sexy. But Chitty truly is a family-friendly musical.

For adults, the first act may prove a bit saccharine, even boring. Lumbard and Cote provide welcome music hall-style comic relief, but Dvorksky and Land's over-the-top comic villains are far more interesting than the Caractacus/Truly combo. And the accents (which maybe wouldn't bug you, but they do me) are all over the place.

Still, the voices are strong, the dance numbers are splashy, and though the carnival backdrop looks like it was made with a giant Lite-Brite set, the scenic elements are effective.

But the real star is the car. How Chitty ''flies'' is a mystery. But she looks magical doing it.

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