Mary Poppins

Dir: Robert Stevenson

1964

*****

There is no doubting that 1964’s Mary Poppins isn’t a classic, it was never one of my favorites growing up mind, but there was plenty that I loved about it. It is now well known that it isn’t quite what author P. L. Travers wanted for her beloved character but, as much as I have issue with Walt Disney, he did add a level of magic that I believe improved on her novel. The story begins in Edwardian London in the year 1910. It opens with Bert (Dick Van Dyke) as he entertains a crowd as a one-man band, when he suddenly senses a change in the wind. Afterwards, he directly addresses the audience, and gives them a tour of Cherry Tree Lane, stopping outside the Banks family's home. George Banks (David Tomlinson) returns home to learn from his wife, Winifred (Glynis Johns), that Katie Nanna has left their service after their children, Jane and Michael, ran away again. They are returned shortly after by Constable Jones, who reveals the children were chasing a lost kite. The children ask their father to help build a better kite, but he dismisses them. Taking it upon himself to hire a new nanny, Mr. Banks advertises for a stern, no-nonsense nanny. Instead, Jane and Michael present their own advertisement for a kinder, sweeter nanny. Mr. Banks rips up the letter, and throws the scraps in the fireplace, but the remains of the advertisement magically float up and out into the air. The next day, a number of elderly, sour-faced nannies wait outside the Banks' home (all men in drag), but a strong gust of wind blows them away, and Jane and Michael witness a young nanny descending from the sky using her umbrella, which I have to admit petrified me as a child. Presenting herself to Mr. Banks, Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) calmly produces the children's restored advertisement, and agrees with its requests, but promises the astonished banker she will be firm with his children. As Mr. Banks puzzles over the advertisement's return, Mary Poppins hires herself, and she convinces him it was originally his idea. She meets the children and helps them magically tidy their nursery by snapping, through the song ‘Spoonful of Sugar’, before heading out for a walk in the park. Outside, they meet Bert, working as a screever, Mary Poppins uses her magic to transport the group into one of his drawings. While the children ride on a carousel, Mary Poppins and Bert go on a leisurely stroll. Together, they sing ‘Jolly Holiday’, where Bert flirts with Mary Poppins. After the duo meets up with the children, Mary Poppins enchants the carousel horses; they participate in a fox hunt followed by a horse race which Mary wins. Describing her victory, Mary Poppins uses the nonsense word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". The outing is ended when a thunderstorm dissolves Bert's drawings, returning the group to London.The next day, the four meet odd Uncle Albert (Ed Wynn), who has floated up in the air due to his uncontrollable laughter. They join him for a tea party on the ceiling and tell jokes with each other, in what is easily my favourite scene of the film. Afterward, Mr. Banks becomes annoyed by the household's cheery atmosphere, and he threatens to fire Mary, but Mary convinces him instead to take the children to his workplace, the bank, the next day. Mr. Banks does so, and the children meet Mr. Dawes Sr. and his son. Mr. Dawes aggressively urges Michael to invest his tuppence in the bank, with the song ‘Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’, ultimately snatching the coins from Michael. Michael demands them back; other customers overhear the conflict, and they all begin demanding their own money back, causing a bank run. Jane and Michael flee the bank, getting lost in the East End until they run into Bert, now working as a chimney sweep, who escorts them home. The three and Mary Poppins venture onto the rooftops, where they have a song-and-dance number with other chimney sweeps, ‘Step in Time’, which spills out into the Banks' home. An incensed Mr. Banks returns and receives a phone call from his employers. He speaks with Bert, in ‘A Man Has Dreams’, and Bert tells him he should spend more time with his children before they grow up. Jane and Michael give their father Michael's tuppence in the hope to make amends. Mr. Banks walks through London to the bank, where he is given a humiliating cashiering and is dismissed. Looking to the tuppence for words, he blurts out "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!", tells a joke, and happily heads home. Dawes Sr. mulls over the joke and, finally understanding it, floats up into the air, laughing. The next day, the wind changes, meaning Mary Poppins must leave. A happier Mr. Banks is found at home, having fixed his children's kite, and takes the family out to fly it. In the park, the Banks family meets Mr. Dawes Jr, who reveals his father died laughing from the joke. Although initially sorry, Mr. Banks soon becomes happy for him, as Mr. Dawes Jr. had never seen his father happier in his life and re-employs Mr. Banks as a junior partner. With her work done, Mary Poppins flies away; Bert bids her farewell, telling her not to stay away too long. The first novel in the Mary Poppins series was the film's main basis. Walt Disney's daughters fell in love with the Mary Poppins books and made their father promise to make a film based on them. Disney first attempted to purchase the film rights to Mary Poppins from P. L. Travers as early as 1938 but was rebuffed because Travers did not believe a film version of her books would do justice to her creation. In addition, Disney was known at the time primarily as a producer of cartoons and had yet to produce any major live-action work. For more than 20 years, Disney periodically made efforts to convince Travers to allow him to make a Poppins film. He finally succeeded in 1961, although Travers demanded and got script approval rights. The Sherman Brothers composed the music score and were also involved in the film's development, suggesting the setting be changed from the 1930s to the Edwardian era. Travers was an adviser to the production and she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins' character and felt ambivalent about the music. She also hated the use of animation so much that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels. She objected to a number of elements that made it into the film. Rather than original songs, she wanted the soundtrack to feature known standards of the Edwardian period in which the story is set. Disney overruled her, citing contract stipulations that he had final say on the finished print. Much of the Travers–Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the Mitchell Library of New South Wales, Australia and makes for fascinating reading that might just shatter childhood memories. The film changed the book's storyline in a number of places. For example, Mary Poppins, when approaching the house, controlled the wind rather than the other way around. As another example, the father, rather than the mother, interviewed Mary Poppins for the nanny position. A number of other changes were necessary to condense the story into feature length. In the film, there are only two Banks children, Jane and Michael. The satirical and mysterious aspects of the original book gave way to a cheerful and Disney-fied tone. Mary Poppins' character as portrayed by Andrews in the film is somewhat less vain and more sympathetic towards the children compared to the rather cold and intimidating nanny of the original book. Bert, as played by Van Dyke, was a composite of several characters from Travers' stories. Travers demanded that any suggestions of romance between Mary Poppins and Bert be eliminated, so lyrics were written for "Jolly Holiday" that clearly indicated that their friendship was purely platonic; some subtle hints of romance, however, did remain in the finished film. I have always had issue with Disney for rewriting classic literature but this is one of the few stories I believe he improved. The truth is, Mary Poppins is full of fantastic performances by a collective of brilliant actors. Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent is famously bad but absolutely no one cares because everyone loves Bert, P. L. Travers hated the penguins but audiences loved them and after a while something becomes bigger than its creator and that can be a wonderful thing, not always, but I think that is certainly the case with Mary Poppins.