Mary Poppins (40th Anniversary Edition) (DVD)

...This is, Walt Disney's - Mary Poppins.

Imagine my surprise when having not seen this classic creation for about 10 years when my boyfriend gave me a little surprise… the DVD - 2 Disc, 40th Anniversary Edition. So I spent my Friday night snug in bed singing and reciting every word to the lovely and comforting lyrics of this magnificent movie. I felt like I was 5 years old again….

**The History Behind Mary Poppins**
...natured' and in her mind, Mary Poppins was not supposed to be a childhood fantasy figure, but more the embodiment of repression and the subsequent release of sexual empowerment.
On the 2nd disc of this DVD, there is an audio commentary which explores more about the original book and P.L Travers. I find this very fascinating to watch as a lot of people don't know the real history behind this classic film. I hope I have enlightened you a little ... more

"It's…. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious
If you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

Ah, those lyrics… I am so very fond of them!

Although a long review, I am presenting this review to you with fact, history and opinion. I will describe some scenes in detail and others with just a mere summery as I do not wish to spoil the magical element of this film for anyone who hasn't seen it. I hope you will find this as interesting to read, as I am writing. Sit back, read and enjoy!

**Introduction**

Almost everyone nowadays can reel off the name of a film or musical that they used to watch over and over again when they were a child. Obviously it will vary with generation and age but as I find, there is a particular classic that is mentioned more than any other film. This is, Walt Disney's - Mary Poppins.

Imagine my surprise when having not seen this classic creation for about 10 years when my boyfriend gave me a little surprise… the DVD - 2 Disc, 40th Anniversary Edition. So I spent my Friday night snug in bed singing and reciting every word to the lovely and comforting lyrics of this magnificent movie. I felt like I was 5 years old again….

**The History Behind Mary Poppins**

This movie is based upon the original book by P.L. Travers and was published in 1934. Travers originally wrote this title, amongst 3 others as a 4-part series of books based upon her own imagination, experiences and feelings as a child. It is believed that Pamela Travers, originally penned this book at the age of 10, to try and help her sisters through the anxiety of their mothers attempt at suicide; which stemmed from depression over her husband's death.

Walt Disney attempted for over 20 years to obtain the movie rights of this book. Travers was very persistent as to not allow Walt Disney the movie rights to her book; she knew he was more famous (At the time) for his animation-effect films rather than any major live-action work and felt that justice would not be done to her written masterpiece.

As I see it, it was only in 1961 that Walt Disney finally succeeded in obtaining the movie rights to this production, however, P.L. Travers still objected to many elements of this musical, which ultimately, still did end up in the resulting production as we know it nowadays.

The resulting movie was actually greatly disliked by Travers as she believed the famous 'nanny' was made to 'sweet natured' and in her mind, Mary Poppins was not supposed to be a childhood fantasy figure, but more the embodiment of repression and the subsequent release of sexual empowerment.
On the 2nd disc of this DVD, there is an audio commentary which explores more about the original book and P.L Travers. I find this very fascinating to watch as a lot of people don't know the real history behind this classic film. I hope I have enlightened you a little bit more.

**The Movie Adaptation**

Strangely enough, the movie itself didn't have a written script. Instead it was put together from concept and musical scores that had been written by the famous 'Sherman' brothers as well as Walt Disney. It was only after the famous musical scores were composed that the lyrics, choreography and in-turn, a plot came to light. If you were to read the original book version, you will find that there was actually no reason whatsoever for the appearance or disappearance of 'Mary Poppins'… in fact there was no plot at all, so Disney had to come up with the concept as to why Mary Poppins would actually appear. Again, I didn't know this until I watched the bonus features of this DVD.

**The Disney Film Plot**

The Walt Disney film plot is actually based upon the lives of the 'Banks' family in 1910 London, (The original book was originally set in the 1930's). It consists of two young children: Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) and their parents Mr and Mrs Banks as played by David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns. From the pre-occupation of their parents' lives, the story initially portrays the lack of the emotional bond that they have with their children.

A magical nanny - Mary Poppins, is introduced to help Mr and Mrs Banks realise what is important in their life and help them bond more with their children. Whilst this is the motive, the movie explores imaginative depths of a child's mind. It features animation, magic, special effects, spectacular dancing and some addictive songs.

The film adaptation ends with the Banks family being brought closer together and Mary Poppins' leaving as her mission to bring the family together is complete. As the viewer you get to enjoy every magically whimsical moment and are drawn into each adventure throughout the film. It makes me feel as though I am part of the magic when watching it.

**Scene Content**

This multi award winning film starts with beautiful scenes of the London skyline and has a tremendous classical score to accompany the scenery.

You are introduced to the Banks family who live at no. 3 Cherry Tree Lane, London, by Bert; as played by Dick Van-Dyke. He is a multi-talented chimney sweep in this special film. He has met Mary Poppins before and can sense her magical re-appearance from the very beginning scenes.

"This is the point where I really get in-to the film… each time I view it, it's like I have never seen it before".
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Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) comes into the storyline after Jane and Michael have gone missing from chasing their kite in the park. Their latest nanny - Katie nana, walks out on her position as they have run off one too many times. Mr Banks takes on the task of advertising for a new nanny who will be 'firm and mould their young breed' as he finds the children's behaviour to be unacceptable!

"My gawd, I think my parents advertised for our many nannies, like this as well. Maybe I subjected them to too many hours of this film and by doing so gave them ideas"

Jane and Michael have in fact, actually written an advertisement for a new Nanny as well - they hand it to their father in the hope that he will advertise for what 'they' want from a nanny. He naturally of course, ignores it as they state they want a nanny with a cheery disposition who will play games amongst other things. He rips it up and throws it on the fireplace, claiming "what nonsense".

"This scene makes me laugh a lot… I love the way I used to do the same thing as the Banks children, when my dad would advertise for a new nanny. I wanted one who would play games too".
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Mary Poppins hears of the Bank's trouble from Andrew - a dog, so feels it's her duty to take on this job as nanny. She appears at the front door of Mr Banks' home for an interview. He is bewildered as she appears to be standing there with the ripped up advertisement that the children wrote. This never happened to me, unfortunately.

With her magical but very firm nature, Mary Poppins actually appoints herself to the new job as nanny… Mr Banks does not really know how she just managed to talk him into it and is confused. It then becomes apparent to us as the viewer that she is actually there to demonstrate to the parents - the father in-particular, that he/they are missing out on the joys of their children's lives and the closeness of their relationship.
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After introducing herself to the children, Mary Poppins plays a magical game; this is done by demonstrating to the children that they must tidy up their nursery. They don't want to do it, but as Mary Poppins says "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun, you find that fun and SNAP (Clicks fingers), the jobs a game" With each finger click, an item gets tidied away, much to the children's delight.

It's only by this point that the children realise their advertisement may have been answered and that Mary Poppins is somewhat different from any other nanny they have had. They begin to ask questions and she will not explain how the magic is done. Once the nursery's been tidied they leave the house for a walk and bump into 'Bert'.
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Both Mary Poppins and Bert, take Jane and Michael on many a magical adventure in this next scene, they open their eyes to a whole new world. The do so by jumping into an animated chalk drawing; they ride merry go round horses in a fox hunt and then they go on to sing a song with the 'pearlies' about that very famous word that means nothing, "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". This is probably one of the most famous scenes from the film and in my opinion shows off the talents behind the whole 'Walt Disney' production team. This scene is highly animated and lets your imagination run wild whilst watching.
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In the next few scenes, the children, Mary Poppins and Bert go on to experience more magical adventures and situations such as colour changing medicine from a medicine bottle and floating tea parties on the ceiling of Uncle Albert's (an acquaintance of Bert's) living room. This isn't because of being able to fly, but much more imaginable than that… because of uncontrollable laughter. A recipe for any child or adult who hasn't grown up!
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In a following scene, the children return home to their parents and try to explain to their father about their magical experiences of their day with Mary Poppins and Bert. He ends up sending them to their bedroom as he believes they are talking complete nonsense. He calls for Mary Poppins to see him privately, as he is unhappy about the 'so called' behaviour she is demonstrating to his children. Mr Banks is becoming more and more enticed by Mary Poppins' magical charms but is very unaware of this. During their so called 'talk' she persuades him to take the children to work with him; the intention is to show the children more of his own daily life and to educate them. He is confused by the way she has just twisted his words to the degree that he has unintentionally agreed to take them.
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The day trip at the bank goes horribly wrong as the children cause a stir with the workers. It's initially caused by the tuppence (2p) that Michael has; he would rather use it to buy a bag of food from the bird woman to "feed the birds" as encouraged by Mary Poppins' song which is in a much earlier scene, than invest it with the bank as the managers suggest at his fathers workplace. Jane and Michael end up running away from their father and bump into Bert. Once Bert takes them home, they embark on a sensational night time roof top adventure across London, with the likes of Mary Poppins, Bert and his many chimney sweep friends. This is a spectacular scene - the choreography and score is sensational to watch, not to mention the special effects used in the dance routines.
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The question now is… did Mary Poppins achieve what she set out to do?
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**Musical Score**

The musical composition is outstanding in the movie. It is believed from this DVD's extra features that there were more than 30 songs composed for this film. Only 14 made it to the final masterpiece. The following songs are what really makes 'Mary Poppins' the film it is.

• Sister Suffragette
• The Life I Lead
• The Perfect Nanny
• A Spoonful of Sugar
• Jolly Holiday
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• Stay Awake
• I Love To Laugh
• Feed the Birds (Tuppence A Bag)
• Fidelity Fiduciary Bank
• Chim-Chim-Cheree
• Step In Time
• A Man Has Dreams
• Let's Go Fly a Kite

With Julie Andrews' soft, soprano voice she is the primary vocalist in most of the songs, she offers a variety of soft ballads and up-tempo lyrics throughout each song. Dick Van-Dyke sings very well too although his weak Cockney accent does leave much to be desired. With the multi talented cast and the backing of the 'Sherman' brothers' composition, it all makes for wonderful imaginative musical entertainment. My particular favourite is the song "Feed the Birds". This is a slow and moving song that is sung by the stunningly beautiful Julie Andrews. She hits every note with such ease… It's a lovely song lyrically and I find it to be very soothing.

**Special Features**

Digitally re-mastered:

Mary Poppins has undergone a major transformation from its original 'Lowry digital' version, too this new widescreen transfer which is absolutely remarkable. For a 40-year-old film that had a fair amount of video issues in its previous DVD releases, this digital presentation dazzles us the viewer with its complete lack of imperfection. The colours are rich and accurate. The vibrant visuals are truly a sight to behold. The flawless clean print showcases an amazing level of detail. Even the effects shots; which are often the most likely of all to give away a film's age, have been re-mastered perfectly. Viewing this transfer up close and on a big screen, you'd still be hard-pressed to find a single imperfection; the clarity is impeccable.

The 2nd DVD features:

Bonus Short: All new animated adventure - hosted by Julie Andrews
Music & More: Musical Reunion - featuring Julie Andrew, Dick Van Dyke and Richard Sherman
Games and Activities: I Love To Laugh - a set top game
Backstage Disney: The Making Of Mary Poppins, Audio Commentary - with the stars from the film, Poppins Pop-Up Fun Facts

The various features take you through a variety of extras that didn't make it to the final film version. Richard Sherman explores the deleted song 'Chimpanzoo' and adds the accompanying score to the lyrics so that you get a rough idea of what this song would have sounded like had it gone into the final version.

'The Making of Mary Poppins' is by far the best extra feature on the 2nd disc. It shows you interviews with various cast members such as Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, Karen Dotrice and Glynis Johns. You learn some really interesting things that you wouldn't have known otherwise from watching this 50 minute documentary.

**Technical Specifications**

Duration of Disc 1: 134 Minutes (Approximately)
Duration of Disc 2: 162 Minutes (Approximately)
Viewing Format: Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic
Audio Format: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround 2.0
Disc Format: Dual Layer
Rating: U, suitable for all
Languages: English/Italian//Audio Descriptive English/Hungarian
Subtitles: English/English - hard of hearing/Italian/Hungarian
EAN: 5017188812290

**Where To Purchase & Further Information**

Available to purchase on both the highstreet and on the internet it has a RRP of £21.99. You can also use a searchbot such as www.kelkoo.co.uk or the Ciao search facility to return a good competitive price.

www.play.com stocks this 2nd Anniversary edition at the mere price of £12.99.

Other items available:

P. L. Travers - Mary Poppins Audiobook: £11.99
P. L. Travers - Mary Poppins Book: £4.99
Mary Poppins Soundtrack: £7.99

All of the above can be purchased from www.play.com

The West End theatre production of Mary Poppins which launched in December 2004 is available to see now, although it is based more upon the original book than the Walt Disney production. Not for under 3's.

For more information on the stage production and to book tickets please go to:

www.ticketmaster.co.uk or www.marypoppinsthemusical.co.uk

For further information on the Disney film production please visit:

http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/marypoppins/home.html

**Recommendation**

Well what do you think… do I recommend this film? Bit of a silly question isn't it. If you aren't into musicals then this may not be for you, nor will it be for you if you are appalled at the very thought of watching a children's movie in your adulthood. I can't imagine that many people haven't seen or at least heard of Mary Poppins. If your children haven't seen it then please buy this for them when you can… it is one for every child to see. It is unlike every child's movie nowadays and portrays such innocence throughout. I guess this is why it's such a favourite of mine. I just love the magical nature and curiosity the film portrays throughout.

Outstanding entertainment! 

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