The Timelessness of Mary Poppins

I’ve been meaning to re-watch Mary Poppins for quite a while now, but if I’m being honest, I always have a hard time sitting down to watch a movie by myself because I’d rather be reading a book. With my upcoming trip to Disney, and my plan to purchase the new Mary Poppins dress and purse that have been released, I wanted to delve back into Cherry Tree Lane and enjoy the magic surrounding it.

From the moment the movie started, with the iconic songs playing in the background as the credits start flashing across the screen, I couldn't help but smile. This entire movie is a showcase to not only Walt’s dream, but the Disney Company’s talent and dedication to making the best stories come alive. To think, this was Julie Andrew’s first movie! She commands the screen the entire time, her voice easily going from stern and respectable to light and singsongy. She gives Mary Poppins the stern facial features that make the audience know she shouldn’t be messed with, yet, when she’s around Bert and watching her magic fall into place her face softens, allowing us to see Mary Poppins is more than just a firm nanny.

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For those of us who have seen Mary Poppins, we know the music is not only iconic, but catchy and relatable to everyone in some way. The opening song, “Sister Suffragette”, is just as relevant in today’s world as it was for the movie’s 1910 setting. As Mrs. Banks dances around singing, “No more the meek and mild subservients we! We're fighting for our rights, militantly!” I can’t help but think about, not only the #MeToo movement, but everyone’s fight for equal rights that has been happening and changing over the past few years. Every musical scene I found myself loudly singing along, the songs replaying in my head long into the night (and even into this morning).

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Now, one of my favorite topics to learn about what goes on behind the scenes of movies. I’m fascinated by the process of how the movie magic comes to life, especially with older movies. Mary Poppins is a great example of this movie magic, with flying people, a magic carpet bag and jumping into a chalk scene, for a movie made during this time period, it is astounding what the Walt Disney Company was able to do. Lucky for me, the DVD I have, which just happens to be the 40th Anniversary edition, has behind the scenes extras featuring the Sherman Brothers, Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews and so many more who played a role in creating this movie. Finally have time to watch the extras, I got comfy and fell into the history of one of my favorite movies.

I learned so many amazing and fun facts from the behind the scenes extras! While I don’t want to spoil it for everyone, I will share some of my favorite secrets that were shared by the cast and crew.

1) Dick Van Dyke was never professionally trained in dancing! All of that dancing he does throughout the movie, with the penguins and chimney sweepers, is all his own natural talent. He learned it from the choreographers and went out and did it all without knowing anything about dancing.

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2) The phrase “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” comes from one of the writer’s young sons. This son had to get medicine from school and to make it easier for the kids to take the nurses would put the medicine on a spoon with a cube of sugar.

3) Walt’s favorite song was “Feed the Birds.” Long after Mary Poppins was done, Walt would call in the Sherman Brothers and have them play the song for him just because he loved it so much.

4) “Feed the Birds” is what Mary Poppins is all about. It’s about going out of your way to do something nice for someone, even if it’s as simple as giving a tuppence to feed some birds.

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5) Instead of the song “I Love to Laugh” this scene was going to have a song sung by Mary Poppins titled “Chimpanzoo.” The song describes another world were humans are locked up in cages and animals go to visit them.

The timelessness of Mary Poppins comes from the hard work, talent and dedication of Walt Disney and his crew. Mary Poppins is a Disney legend and icon because of everything that went into this movie. Walt worked for years in order to convince P.L. Travers to give the rights to him, and I am sure glad she did! Just like many other Disney films, Mary Poppins will continue to be a family favorite, regardless of the time period or what other crazy events are going on in the world. The message of kindness, positivity and not letting life get you down makes this movie one of Disney’s bests.

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Magical Thought: What makes Mary Poppins special for you? Any fun facts you know about the movie? Feel free to share below!