It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Mary Poppins (1964) – Musical #42

Studio:
Walt Disney Studios

Director:
Robert Stevenson

Starring:
Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Reta Shaw, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber, Ed Wynn, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Jane Darwell

Plot:
Set at the turn of the century in London, the Banks family can never keep a nanny for their two children, Jane (Dotrice) and Michael (Garber). When Katie Nana (Lanchester) walks out on the family, Mr. Banks (Tomlinson) has very distinct ideas of what the nanny should be like. Mr. Banks is busy with his work and Mrs. Banks (Johns) spends much of her free time protesting the women’s right to vote. A mysterious and magical nanny, Mary Poppins (Andrews), appears to not only care for the children and take them on fanciful adventures, but she helps bring the family closer together and how them what’s important.

Trivia:
• Julie Andrews’s first feature film.
• Based on the novel by P.L. Travers
• Songs written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman
• At the time of its release, it was Disney’s top grossing film.
• Actress Jane Darwell’s last feature film, who plays the bird woman. However, Bill Walsh dubbed her dialogue.
• David Tomlinson talked for the talking parrot head of Mary Poppins’s umbrella.
• There was a song called “Chimpanzoo” written by the Sherman Brothers that was omitted from the film. The storyboards shown in a special feature on the 40th Anniversary “Mary Poppins” DVD for that the song would have been with Ed Wynn’s character and featured an animated portion.
• Author P.L. Travers opposed Walt Disney’s film treatment to her Mary Poppins stories, did not think the film should have songs or dancing, and said Julie Andrews was too pretty for the role, according to a 2013 USA Today interview with composer Richard Sherman and Andrews. Travers’s side of this story was dramatized in the 2013 feature film, “Saving Mr. Banks.”

Highlights:
• As they are cleaning in “Spoonful of Sugar” and Michael can’t snap.
• The duet in the mirror when the mirror image sings higher.

Notable Songs:
• “Sister Suffragette” performed by Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley and Reta Shaw
• “The Perfect Nanny” performed by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber
• “Spoonful of Sugar” performed by Julie Andrews with Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber
• “Chim Chim Cheree” performed by Dick Van Dyke
• “Jolly Holiday” performed by Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews and the chorus
• “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” performed by Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews and the chorus
• “Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)” performed by Julie Andrews
• “Stay Awake” performed by Julie Andrews
• “I Love to Laugh” performed by Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews and Ed Wynn
• “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” performed by David Tomlinson, Dick Van Dyke and the chorus

My review:
I’ll just go ahead and get this over with: The Sherman Brothers were geniuses.

Let me elaborate: Not only is every song in this film fantastic, these sibling songwriters Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman wrote many stellar songs in their collaboration with Walt Disney. In my opinion, their talent is up there with the collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, but the Sherman Brothers are potentially discussed less (at least outside of Disney circles).

When I revisited MARY POPPINS this week for Musical Monday, I couldn’t remember the last time I watched this film. It had perhaps been 20 to 25 years ago when I was 10 years old. However, I still knew the music by heart. In part, because I used to listen to my mom’s MARY POPPINS record over and over on a Fisher Price record player that my family owned.

Today, I would gamble to say that MARY POPPINS (1964) is one of the most beloved family films of all time. If you mention Julie Andrews, people will immediately note this film or SOUND OF MUSIC (1964). The film is still referenced often and even recently rebooted in 2018 with MARY POPPINS RETURNS.

And with how enormously popular this film still is today, it’s difficult to imagine a time before it existed and that everyone didn’t know the popular songs that came from this film. From “A Spoonful of Sugar” to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” these songs still continue to live on, sometimes outside of this film. (Does anyone else just randomly get these two in their head? Just me?) My favorite song in the film is “Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag),” which also happened to be Walt Disney’s favorite too.

In the film set at the turn of the century in London, the Banks family is well-to-do but the parents aren’t engaged in the lives of their children. Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson) is immersed in his work at the bank, and Mrs. Banks (Glynis Johns) is never home, because she’s often out marching with the suffragettes. Because they get little attention from their parents and often have a stern and stuffy nanny, the Banks children, Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) act out for their nanny, playing pranks and running away. When Mr. Banks has had enough and is ready to hire a nanny on his own, a mysterious nanny, Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), arrives and takes the children on magical adventures and shows her that simply things, like cleaning your room, can be fun. The children quickly behave Mary Poppins and the whole household is happy and working well together, but Mr. Banks does not care for the joy and lack of seriousness in his household.

Revisiting MARY POPPINS as an adult, I still had a wonderful time watching it and enjoyed the gorgeous color and costuming, toe tapping songs and magical storyline.

However, I was struck by several things I didn’t notice while watching this film as a child:

It’s interesting that the music for this film is almost written like it’s a Broadway play. Each character in the Banks family has a song that introduces them and shares their principles. For Mr. Banks, he details “The Life I Lead,” which very plainly describes his life desires. The song is a bit stodgy and stuffy and fits the character well. Mrs. Banks is introduced with “Sister Suffragette,” singing about her cause of women’s votes. But in the storyline, she’s a bit of a hypocrite. In the streets, she protests for women, but at home she acts quickly to placate her husband. Both songs show how disengaged the parents are from their children. Then Jane and Michael get their introductory song, “The Perfect Nanny,” which sweetly describes what they want in their next nanny. While it’s describing a job, what it’s also saying is that these two children want love and attention from someone.

I was also struck with how humorous the film was, especially David Tomlinson in the role of Mr. Banks.

Of course, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke are both wonderful in this film. It’s amazing to think that this was Julie Andrews’s first feature film, coming off of her work on the stage. In a 2013 USA Today interview, Andrews said she was scared to death, and in her memoir, “Home, notes that she was overwhelmed by the attention that her good fortune brought. For her first film role, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress. Similar to Mary Poppins, Andrews is perfect in every way in this film role.

Dick Van Dyke is also wonderful in this role. From that very first close up at the start of the film and his musical theme of “Chim Cheree” throughout the film, it all just fits so well for him. Some of Van Dyke’s feature film roles don’t showcase his talent as well (For ex: “Art of Love,” “Lt. Robinson Crusoe,” “Never a Dull Moment”) but MARY POPPINS was certainly his best film role. Sure, his cockney accent has been criticized but overall he does a great job – and what a dancer!

Despite some of the creative difference with the author of the Mary Poppins books, P.L. Travers, MARY POPPINS still offers a wonderful time. I liked it as a child and I may appreciate it even more as an adult.

I do have questions about Mary Poppins’s background. Where does she come from? Where does she go? Where did her magic come from? I know it doesn’t matter but I am curious! I guess I should read the books now.

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