Psycho's Movie Reviews #392: Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins is a 1964 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, with songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers. The screenplay is by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on P. L. Travers's book series Mary Poppins. The film, which combines live-action and animation, stars Julie Andrews in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, and Glynis Johns are featured in supporting roles. The film was shot entirely at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, using painted London background scenes.

Mary Poppins was released on August 27, 1964, to critical acclaim and commercial success. It became the highest-grossing film of 1964 and, at the time of its release, was Disney's highest-grossing film ever. It received a total of 13 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture – a record for any film released by Walt Disney Studios – and won five: Best Actress for Andrews, Best Film Editing, Best Original Music Score, Best Visual Effects, and Best Original Song for "Chim Chim Cher-ee". Mary Poppins is considered Walt Disney's crowning live-action achievement, and is the only one of his films which earned a Best Picture nomination during his lifetime. In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

A biographical drama on the making of the film, Saving Mr. Banks, was released on October 20, 2013. A sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, was released on December 19, 2018.

Plot

In Edwardian London, in the spring of 1910, George Banks returns home, at number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, to learn from his wife, Winifred, that Katie Nanna has left their service after their children, Jane and Michael, have run away, "For the fourth time this week," ("Life I Lead"). They are returned shortly after by Constable Jones, who reveals the children were chasing after a lost kite. The children ask their father to help them 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. In contrast, Jane and Michael present their own advertisement for a kinder, sweeter nanny. ("Perfect Nanny") Winifred tries to keep the peace. Mr. Banks rips up the letter and throws the scraps in the fireplace, but a strong wind draws the fragments up through the chimney and into the air.

The next day, a number of elderly, sour-faced nannies wait outside the Banks' home for Ellen to show them all in, but a strong gust of wind blows them away. Jane and Michael then witness a young magical nanny descending from the sky using her umbrella. Presenting herself to Mr. Banks, Mary Poppins 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 her fingers, before heading out for a walk in the park ("Spoonful of Sugar").

Outside, they meet Mary's old friend, Bert, working as a street painter; 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"), and Bert flirts with Mary Poppins. After the duo meets up with the children, Mary Poppins enchants the carousel horses; Bert rescues a fox from a fox hunt; they take part in a horse race which Mary wins. Describing her victory, Mary Poppins uses a nonsense word ("Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"). The outing is ended when a thunderstorm dissolves Bert's drawings, returning the group to London.

The next day, the three meet Bert's odd Uncle Albert, who has floated up in the air because of his uncontrollable laughter and they join him for a tea party on the ceiling with lots of jokes ("I Love to Laugh"). Afterward, Mr. Banks becomes annoyed by the household's cheery atmosphere and threatens to fire Mary Poppins, but she persuades him to take the children to his workplace the next day. That evening, Mary sings to the children a hymn-like lullaby[11] about the woman who sits on the steps of the St. Paul's Cathedral selling bird food ("Feed The Birds"). The next day at the bank, the children meet Mr. Dawes. Mr. Dawes aggressively urges Michael to invest his tuppence in the bank, ultimately snatching the coins from Michael ("Fidelity Fiduciary Bank"). 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 of London until they again meet up with Bert, now working as a chimney sweep, who escorts them home ("Chim Chim Cheree"). The three and Mary Poppins venture onto the rooftops, where they have a song-and-dance number with other chimney sweeps, which spills out into the Banks' home ("Step in Time") after their neighbor Admiral Boom shoots fireworks at them, mistaking them for robbers. Mr. and Mrs. Banks return to home to find Bert's friends dancing in their home and sends them away. Mr. Banks then gets a phone call from the bank requesting a meeting with him about what the children did. The children overhear the phone call and realize that their father is in trouble. Bert tells Mr. Banks that he needs to spend more time with his children before they grow up ("A Man Has Dreams"). Michael gives his father the 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 Uncle Albert's "Wooden leg named Smith" joke the children told, and happily heads home. Mr. Dawes 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' son, Mr. Dawes Jr., who reveals his father died laughing from the joke. ("Let's Go Fly a Kite"). Mr. Dawes Jr. saying he had never seen his father happier in his life re-employs Mr. Banks as a junior partner. With her work done, Mary Poppins ends the movie by flying away, with Bert telling her from afar not to stay away too long.

Production

Development

The first novel in the Mary Poppins series was the film's main basis. According to the 40th Anniversary DVD release of the film in 2004, Disney's daughters fell in love with the Mary Poppins books and made him 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. However, Travers refused; she did not believe a film version of her books would do justice to her creation.

In addition, Disney was then known 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 obtained 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. Pre-production and song composition took about two years.

Pre-Production

Travers was an adviser to the production, even being billed as the film's Consultant. However, she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins' character, felt ambivalent about the music, and 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. However, due to contract stipulations citing that he had final cut privilege on the finished print, Disney overruled her.

Much of the Travers–Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the State Library of New South Wales, Australia. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in Mary Poppins She Wrote, a biography of Travers by Valerie Lawson. The biography is the basis for two documentaries on Travers: The Real Mary Poppins and Lisa Matthews' The Shadow of Mary Poppins. Their relationship during the development of the film was also dramatized in the 2013 Disney film Saving Mr. Banks.

Casting

In March 1961, Disney announced that it might cast Hayley Mills and Mary Martin in the film.

Julie Harris, Angela Lansbury and Bette Davis were considered for the role of Mary and Cary Grant was Walt's favoUrite choice for the role of Bert, Laurence Harvey and Anthony Newley were also considered for Bert.

Julie Andrews, who was making her feature film acting debut after a successful stage career, was given the prime role of Mary Poppins soon after she was passed over by Jack L. Warner and replaced with Audrey Hepburn for the role of Eliza Doolittle in his screen adaptation of My Fair Lady even though Andrews had originated that role on Broadway. When Disney first approached Andrews about taking on the role, Andrews was three months pregnant and therefore was not sure she should take it. Disney assured her that the crew would be fine with waiting to begin filming until after she had given birth so that she could play the part. Disney considered the actor Stanley Holloway for the role of Admiral Boom, during the pre-production stage, but the role went to Reginald Owen instead due to Holloway's commitment to My Fair Lady.

Andrews also provided the voice in two other sections of the film: during "A Spoonful of Sugar," she provided the whistling harmony for the robin, and she was also one of the Pearly singers during "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." David Tomlinson, besides playing Mr. Banks, provided the voice of Mary's talking umbrella and numerous other voice-over parts (including that of Admiral Boom's first mate). During the "Jolly Holiday" sequence, the three singing Cockney geese were all voiced by Marni Nixon, a regular aural substitute for actresses with substandard singing voices. Nixon later provided the singing voice for Hepburn in My Fair Lady and played one of Andrews' fellow nuns in The Sound of Music. Andrews later beat Hepburn for the Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes for their respective roles. Andrews also won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role. Hepburn did not receive a nomination. Richard Sherman, one of the songwriters, also voiced a penguin as well as one of the Pearlies. Robert Sherman dubbed the speaking voice for Jane Darwell because Darwell's voice was too weak to be heard in the soundtrack. Sherman's voice is heard saying the only line: "Feed the Birds, Tuppence a bag."

Disney cast Dick Van Dyke in the main supporting role of Bert after seeing his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show. After winning the role of Bert, Van Dyke lobbied to also play the senior Mr. Dawes, but Disney originally felt he was too young for the part. Van Dyke eventually won Disney over after a screen test. Although he is fondly remembered for this film, Van Dyke's attempt at a Cockney accent is regarded as one of the worst film accents in history, cited as an example by actors since as something that they wish to avoid. In a 2003 poll by Empire magazine of the worst film accents of all time, he came in second. Van Dyke claims that his accent coach was the English (of Irish extraction) J. Pat O'Malley, who "didn't do an accent any better than I did". In 2017, Van Dyke was selected to receive an award for television excellence from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), at which time he said "I appreciate this opportunity to apologise to the members of BAFTA for inflicting on them the most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema." A chief executive of BAFTA responded, "We look forward to his acceptance speech in whatever accent he chooses on the night. We have no doubt it will be 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'."

Filming

Filming took place between May and September 1963, and post-production and animation took another 11 months.

The scene where Mary Poppins and Bert interact with a group of animated penguins is noted for its use of the sodium vapor process. Rather than using the more common bluescreen process to insert the actors into the animated footage, the actors were filmed against a white screen lit with sodium vapor lights, which have a yellow hue. A special camera was fitted with a prism that filtered this light to a separate reel of film, creating a highly accurate matte that could be used to isolate the actors from the background. This created a crisp, clean image and even allowed the partially-transparent veil of Mary Poppins's costume to let through light from the background. The film was awarded the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1965 for this effect.

Storyline Differences

The film changed the book's storyline in a number of places. For example, Mary Poppins, when approaching the house, controls the wind rather than the other way around. Also, the father, rather than the mother, interviews 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 much less vain and more sympathetic towards the children compared to the stern, cross, intimidating nanny of the original book. Bert, as played by Van Dyke, was a composite of several characters from Travers' stories. Travers demanded any suggestions of romance between Mary Poppins and Bert be eliminated and so lyrics were written for "Jolly Holiday" that clearly indicated that their friendship was purely platonic; some subtle hints of romance, however, remained in the finished film.

Music

The film's music features music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The Shermans took inspiration from Edwardian British music hall music. Irwin Kostal arranged and conducted the film's score. Buena Vista Records released the original motion picture soundtrack in 1964 on LP and reel-to-reel tape.

Release/Reception/Box Office

Mary Poppins premiered on August 27, 1964, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. The film's poster was painted by artist Paul Wenzel. Travers was not extended an invitation to the event, but managed to obtain one from a Disney executive. It was at the after-party that Richard Sherman recalled her walking up to Disney and loudly announcing that the animated sequence had to go. Disney responded, "Pamela, the ship has sailed" and walked away.

The film received universal acclaim from film critics. Whitney Williams of Variety praised the film's musical sequences and the performances of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, in particular. Time lauded the film, stating, "The sets are luxuriant, the songs lilting, the scenario witty but impeccably sentimental, and the supporting cast only a pinfeather short of perfection." Bosley Crowther, reviewing for The New York Times, described the film as a "most wonderful, cheering movie". Furthermore, in his review, he remarked that "For the visual and aural felicities they have added to this sparkling colour film—the enchantments of a beautiful production, some deliciously animated sequences, some exciting and nimble dancing and a spinning musical score—make it the nicest entertainment that has opened at the Music Hall this year."

For The Hollywood Reporter, James Powers applauded the performances, visual effects, musical score, production design, and the choreography. Ultimately, he felt that "Mary Poppins is a picture that is, more than most, a triumph of many individual contributions. And its special triumph is that it seems to be the work of a single, cohesive intelligence." Ann Guerin of Life criticized the creative departures from the novels, particularly the "Jolly Holiday" sequence. She noted that "Some of the sequences have real charm, and perhaps the kids will eat them up. But speaking as a grownup, I found a little bit went a long way." She concluded that "With a little more restraint and a little less improvement on the original, the film's many charms would have been that much better."

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the films holds a 96% rating, based on 54 reviews with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "A lavish modern fairy tale celebrated for its amazing special effects, catchy songs, and Julie Andrews's legendary performance in the title role." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

The film earned $31 million in theatrical rentals in the United States and Canada during its initial run. It was one of the top 12 grossing films in the United States for 32 weeks. The film was re-released theatrically in 1973, in honour of Walt Disney Productions' 50th anniversary, and earned an estimated additional $9 million in rentals in the United States and Canada. It was released once more in 1980 and grossed $14 million. It returned a total lifetime rental of $45 million to Disney from a gross of over $102 million from its North American theatrical releases.

The film was the twentieth most popular sound film of the twentieth century in the UK with admissions of 14 million.

The film was very profitable for Disney. Made on an estimated budget of $4.4–6 million, it was reported by Cobbett Steinberg to be the most profitable film of 1965, earning a net profit of $28.5 million. Walt Disney used his huge profits from the film to purchase land in central Florida and finance the construction of Walt Disney World.

Budget $4.4–6 million

Box office $103.1 million

My Review

"Mary Poppins" is one of Disney's best live-action films and one of the most popular either. It's a light-hearted comedy and a delightful movie that is so much fun to watch. The movie looks dated for today's standards, but it is undeniably charming. In fact, its old-fashioned charm is timeless. It's a good movie and a classic, so the fact that it looks dated is not a major problem.

It's easy to understand why "Mary Poppins" is such a beloved classic: its simplicity, its magic, its special/visual effects, its beautiful songs, its good morals, its charm, its characters, its classic humour, its combination of live-action and animation and great actors. The way how this combines live-action and animation is very good. Amazing for its time and keeps working out fine.

The sceneries and landscapes of London city are stunning when Mary Poppins is floating on the air (angles of view never seen before or after this, not even in Peter Pan's movies). The walks through London's streets also allows us to know this beautiful city better, as well as its monuments and respective wonderful architecture. The landscapes through the roofs of London are simply amazing and the dancing numbers are excellent.

«Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious» is the longest and strangest word I've ever heard. Definitely a nonsense but charming word. In fact, I had to practice this word for about a month. Now I can say it easily, but I had serious difficulties to say this word at first.

"Mary Poppins" is an amusing and magical tale, with some valuable morals about family, education and stuff like that as well, combined with light humour.

The characters are interesting in general. Bert is a very cool guy which a cheerful personality, a fine artist, an excellent dancer and speaks with a cockney accent. Dick Van Dyke is awesome as Bert and the way he dances is incredible. He was in excellent shape here. He really dances like Ray Bolger.

The Banks children (Jane and Michael) are absolutely adorable. They're both sweet, innocent and so cute. Michael Banks is the funniest of the two, with his goofy faces in an adorable way and his hilarious way of being «extremely stubborn and suspicious». And they're portrayed by two of the most charismatic and talented child actors of all time: Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber. It's really sad that Matthew Garber went to Heaven so young (at the age of 21).

Mary Poppins is «the perfect nanny». A magical woman who is also firm and serious but kind and cheerful. Great performance by Julie Andrews, one of her very best. Winifred Banks is a lovable mother, greatly portrayed by Glynis Johns. George Banks is a workaholic, impatient, cold and very serious father most of the time, but at the end of the movie he changes radically his attitudes and becomes a jolly and lovable father. Good performance by David Tomlinson.

Uncle Albert is a character with a minor role but a strong presence. He's very jolly, maybe a little too much, but he's simply hilarious. Ed Wynn is awesome and hilarious as Uncle Albert, a role that resembles somehow the Mad Hatter from "Alice in Wonderland" (1951) - a funny coincidence, because he was the voice of the Mad Hatter. I admit that at first the whole "I Love to Laugh" sequence was a little too much for me, but I quickly got used to it and ended up finding it great fun.

The soundtrack is gold. There are so many lovely songs that it's difficult to chose a favourite. I have many favourites: "The Perfect Nanny", "Let's go fly a kite", "Stay Awake", "The Carousel Horses", "A Spoonful of Sugar", "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)", "Jolly Holliday", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "Sister Suffragette", "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and "Penguin Dance". On the other hand, "A Man Has Dreams", "Step in Time" and "The Life I Lead" are nice too, but my favourites are definitely the ones I listed first. The only song I don't like very much is "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank". The only part I like in that song is «You'll see, Michael, you'll be part of railways through Africa, dams across the Nile, fleets of ocean greyhounds, majestic, self-amortizing canals, plantations of ripening sea».

Oh, I love the merry-go-round and the carousel horses of this movie. They're all beautiful. The merry-go-round has a very nostalgic effect for me - it reminds me about childhood. The merry-go-round was so much fun to be in. I also like the animated characters, especially the penguins and the fox.

I don't think it's possible to meet someone who hasn't seen Mary Poppins, it's one of those necessary movies that you see during your childhood. It just lifted your mood with it's cheery songs, beautiful lead actress Julie Andrews and her lovely voice and was just a magical film. But does it stand the test of time, that as adults we could still watch it with that same feeling of being a child? Oh, yeah! I still watch Mary Poppins to this day, how could you resist this wonderful movie? The songs are fantastic, the whole movie is made wonderfully and has fun energetic characters, some with the worst accents of all time *cough* Dick Van Dyke *cough!*, but that adds much more laughter that is needed for this good time. Mary Poppins will melt it's way into your heart, I promise you. 9.8/10

{You know them, you love them too. Here's my Top 3 songs}

{3- A Spoonful Of Sugar}

{2- Chim Chim Cheree}

{1- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious}