Review of Mary Poppins (1964) by Ashley H — 26 Dec 2013

When people think of pure amazing Disney films that's not a cartoon, many place Mary Poppins at the top of the list. There's a cartoon segment in one part of the film, but for the most part, Mary Poppins is a live-action musical film. To this day, Mary Poppins is one of Walt Disney's greatest achievements in his entire career, with Leonard Maltin going as far as calling it "Walt's crowning achievement", and had it not have been for this film, I would not have gotten into the musical genre.

Set in 1910 during the high peak of the British Empire, the film is about the struggles of the Banks family and the challenges in raising the children, Jane (Karen Doctrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber). The father (David Tomlinson) is a no-nonsense banker who cares about his job more than his children and the mother (Glynis Johns) is a suffragette who follows Mr. Banks' ideals on the children, and finding a nanny is always hard to find. Enter Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), a nanny filled with magic and the imagination. She makes everything truly fun, by turning chores into games, entering chalkboard drawings, and having tea parties on the ceiling, and ultimately, helps Mr. Banks realize that family is more important than money.

Mary Poppins also features Dick Van Dyke as Bert, an everyday workman who helps Mary along the way, Hermione Baddely and Reta Shaw as the Banks cooks, Ed Wynn as the cooky Uncle Albert, Reginald Owen as the hilarious Admiral Boom, and Dick Van Dyke also plays bank chairman Mr. Dawes Sr.

I remember being a child when first watching Mary Poppins, and from the first watch, I was instantly hooked. It took me a while to truly appreciate the musical genre until I rewatched it a couple years ago, and that's what caused me to seek more musicals. To this day, Mary Poppins is still one of my all-time favorite movie musicals. Why di I really love this film so much? Well, Mary Poppins shows Walt's genius filmmaking at his highest peak. The visuals created in this film, even for a 50 year old film, are still remarkably wonderful to behold. Even in high definition, you're still wondering how Disney pulled these visuals off, especially the tidy-up the nursery scene, the animation chalk drawing sequence, and the famous shot where the crew using chimney soot as stairs. It's certainly no wonder that the film won the Oscar for it's groundbreaking visuals, and they're truly well-deserved.

What really amazes me about Mary Poppins is that the story is really simple but it's also extremely heartwarming and powerful at the same time. The setting is in 1910 during the era of women's rights in England. Most of these small political moments will go over the heads on young children watching it. That's what makes Mary Poppins a brilliant watch for all ages. Children will love it just for the magical moments. Adults will love it for the same as the children but also for the hidden political messages Walt puts into this, such as the suffrage movement undertones and bank runs. Walt certainly knew how to appeal his films to everybody, and Mary Poppins is certainly no exception.

There were plenty of great actresses who could have done the role of Mary Poppins, but the one who ended up getting the role is definitely the perfect choice for this role, and that's Julie Andrews. She uses her "magic touch" to create a truly fun, whimsical, and occasionally touching magical nanny. She would win the Oscar here, and like with the visuals, it's definitely well-deserved. Many have complained over the years of Dick Van Dyke's Cockney accent, with many claiming it to be one of the worst accents in a film, but it didn't really bother me a bit. Cockney accent or not, Dick Van Dyke is completely entertaining as Bert, dominating the screen in two wonderful dance sequences, one with cartoon penguins and the other with fellow chimney sweeps on the rooftops of London. Dyke is also memorable as the elderly bank chairman. The makeup is done so well that it's really hard to recognize him until his name is revealed in the closing credits. The children, Karen Doctrice and Matthew Garber, are good in the role and are not annoying or obnoxious in any way whatsoever. The other true noteworthy performance worth mentioning is David Tomlinson as Mr. Banks. Tomlinson gives a truly funny and heartwarming performance that gives the film it's true meaning of family time.

But what makes people want to watch Mary Poppins year after year after year? Well, it's definitely the musical numbers, written by The Sherman Brothers, and it's definitely their greatest works in film. The highlights in this film are "A Spoonful of Sugar", "Jolly Holiday", the famous "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", the Oscar-winning "Chim-Chim Cheree", "Step in Time", "I Love to Laugh", and "Let's Go Fly a Kite." Julie gives me chills every time she sings the two most moving songs in the film, the lullaby "Stay Awake" and the wonderful "Feed the Birds", featuring really chilling musical cues here. With Mary Poppins, The Sherman Brothers have written their greatest songs ever, with The Jungle Book being their closest to ever matching the greatness of Poppins music.

It's hard to believe that it took Walt 20 years to make Mary Poppins from a book to a movie (which is something explored in Disney's recent Saving Mr. Banks, something that I still need to see), but in the end, Mary Poppins is a wonderful film, with the legendary and wonderful performance of Julie Andrews in the title role, really memorable Sherman Brothers music, a story that's magical and heartwarming, and excellent visuals for 1964. I honestly believe this film should have won Best Picture over fellow musical My Fair Lady (which is also a great musical, by the way). Unlike My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins is "practically perfect in every way.".