Mary Poppins
Released
1964
Directed By
Robert Stevenson
Music By
Richard and Robert Sherman
Hello fellow
Disney Fans!! As I promised last month
and in honor of the release of Saving Mr. Banks by Disney Studios, I
give you this month’s film: Mary Poppins!! I am giddy to be reviewing this movie as the
character of Mary Poppins holds a very special place in my heart (as I will
tell you later on in the post). But
first … a little history:
Mary
Poppins is a film of many firsts: For Julie Andrews it was a first foray
into film; for Richard and Robert Sherman it was the first time they were under
contract with Disney Studios; for Disney Studios the first Disney film with
live action to be inducted into the National Film Registry; for me it was one
of the first films I can recall watching (yes on Beta tape) at the tender age
of three. As with other Disney films,
Disney spared no expense with casting of all the characters, from the major
players such as Mary Poppins, Bert, Mr. and Mrs. Banks, all the way down to
characters with only a few seconds of airtime and may have even been
nameless. Here are just a few of the
actors and actresses that contributed to the film:
·
Mary Poppins was played by the amazing Julie
Andrews. This role followed soon after her
success in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Camelot and the birth of her first
child (though it was also considered to have Mary Martin, Bette Davis, and
Angela Lansbury in the lead).
·
The jack-of-all-trades Bert was played by Dick
Van Dyke. Dick Van Dyke also made
another appearance in the film as the elderly Mr. Dawes Sr. (under the name
Navckic Keyd)
·
Mr. Banks was played by the British actor David
Tomlinson, who would make several appearances in other Disney films such as Bedknobs
and Broomsticks and The Love Bug.
·
The suffragette Mrs. Banks played by Glynis
Johns, who’s career spanned stage, screen and television.
·
The children Jane and Michael were played by
Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber. These
two often appeared together on film sometimes as siblings (The Gnome Mobile)
or just friends (The Three Lives of Thomasina released the same year as Mary
Poppins).
·
Other names of the time included Hermione
Baddeley and Reta Shaw (who played cook and Ellen), Elsa Lanchester (Katie
Nanna), Arthur Treacher (The Constable), Jane Darwell (The Bird Woman), and Ed
Wynn (Uncle Albert).
The music of
Mary Poppins shows a timeless quality and really showcased the talent of
the Sherman Brothers. This would be the
music that would eventually lead them to being under contract with Disney
Studios. Richard and Robert Sherman
wrote around 30 songs for the film. All
in all 18 were used and many of the songs that didn’t make the final cut were
used in later films (such as The
Beautiful Briny in Bedknobs and Broomstick). Each of the film’s songs are memorable and
showcase the full range of music the Sherman Brothers could write, from ballads
to waltzes to folk dance music. In later
interviews, Richard would mention Walt would say “Play it” or just get a
certain look in his eye and he knew it meant playing “Feed the Birds” which is
my personal favorite of the entire soundtrack.
In watching the movie with informational pop ups, each character had a
theme (a technique used by the German composer Richard Wagner called leitmotif where each character in his
operas had a specific passage of music that played when they were present or
identified in the scene); the Disney studios have used this approach all the
way back since Pinocchio.
I don’t know
where to begin with this film. Mary
Poppins holds such a special place in my heart and now is on the verge of
turning 50!! I mentioned reviewing this
film in honor of the release of Saving Mr. Banks that shows the
interaction of the author P.L. Travers and Walt Disney that led to the film. But I find myself asking how Mary Poppins,
made when my parents were kids, has captured audiences across all generations
to become one of Disney’s most beloved films.
Is it the masterful music written by the Sherman Brothers? Or the way the all-star cast gave life to the
characters, including the incomparable Julie Andrews in the title role? Or perhaps the brand of Disney magic that not
only created London in the Disney Studios in Burbank, California but also
melded cartoon and live actors on one screen and still made it believable? Films like this are certainly not uncommon
for Walt Disney Studios; it is however almost as if this movie was made by a
stroke of serendipity; had the role of Eliza Doolittle gone to Julie Andrews (My
Fair Lady was also in production and released in the same year) and the
role gone to another actress under consideration (such as Mary Martin) would
Mary Poppins have been memorable?
What I find
remarkable is Disney’s attention to every detail and character; even the more
minor roles were played by established actors from both Britain and America
(for example, Jane Darwell in the role of the Bird Woman, who had over 200
movies to her credit). Disney’s ability
to find the right person for the right job is spot on in his pictures. Perhaps that is the enduring quality of Mary
Poppins lies in this quality of the film: the right person in the right
role at the right point in their lives. This
detail can be found in the music (I recommend listening to the interview done
with the Sherman Brothers and how they arrived at the music of Mary Poppins
to ensure it sounded British enough) and even its performers (Julie Andrews did
several takes of Stay Awake to get the right sound out of her
voice).
Admittedly
watching the film made me want to have a magical nanny of my very own … When
not pretending to be the singing nanny herself (I admit it … I even had my own
umbrella). In watching the movie almost
30 years later, the music still gives me a tear. As a child Mary Poppins showed me that
life is about magic in everything; as an adult it’s about that little bit of
kindness that can be shown to everyone and still believing magic exists, maybe
not in popping in and out of chalk paintings or having tea parties on the
ceiling, but in showing what a simple smile or wave or act of kindness can do
for another person’s day. On top of
starting a lifelong love of music and falling in love with the voice of Julie
Andrews, Mary Poppins also started my journey of becoming a
Disney-phile. And this is why Mary
Poppins will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Mary
Poppins: An incredible family movie with a little something for
everyone. Pulling from stories of P.L.
Travers and Julie Andrews giving us her best performance that is “practically perfect
in every way” augmented by Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns and the
others in the all-star cast,
Perfect For:
Really the ENTIRE family
Most Likely
Character You’ll See In the Parks: The
title character herself, Mary Poppins, escorted by the gentlemanly sweep Bert,
both dressed for a Jolly ‘Oliday.
Make it a
Magical Day – Pat A
