In 2023, Walt Disney Pictures will celebrate its 100th year of operation, and what a century it has been. Since 1923, Disney has produced a countless array of cinematic classics. Obviously, they’re mainly known for their animated features, from the original masterpieces like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio to more recent classics like Zootopia and Frozen. But, of course, Disney’s also produced several live-action films that have been huge hits with both critics and audiences. And in 1964, Walt Disney and his team produced what is arguably the most beloved Disney film of all-time (yes, even more so than any of their animated films…), Mary Poppins. This adaptation of author P.L. Travers’ popular book series was a longtime passion project for Walt Disney after promising his daughters Diane and Sharon that he would make a film about it. However, as generally documented in the 2013 drama Saving Mr. Banks, Disney’s efforts to convince Travers to sign off on the film rights didn’t exactly go smoothly. Specifically, Travers disapproved of many of the changes that Disney and his team made to the story, including an overall dilution of the title character’s strict attitude, the music by Bob and Richard Sherman, and most notably, the big animated sequence involving dancing penguins. Nevertheless, Disney’s vision for the film ultimately won out and it went onto become a staple of the studio’s prestigious filmography, winning five Oscars out of the 13 that it was nominated for (a studio record) at that year’s ceremony. However, because Travers was so disenchanted by her experience with the studio, she forbade them from making any more sequels, a decision that stood for at least five decades. But now, 54 years after the original came out, Emily Blunt will take on the role of the nanny who’s ‘practically perfect in every way’ in the long-gestating sequel, Mary Poppins Returns. Before the new film hits theaters, however, it’s time to finally look at the original that still stands as one of the greatest films ever made.
(FUN FACT: Back in 2016, I was originally planning on including this film as a bonus review in my retrospective of Walt Disney Animation’s output from the ’60s and ’70s mostly due to its prominent animated sequence. However, I ultimately decided not to include it because Returns was already in pre-production at that point and I figured that I’d just save this for when it came out. Plus, given this film’s legacy, a full review of it felt much more appropriate instead of a smaller 1-2 paragraph review in a larger retrospective.)
At the home of the Banks family on 17 Cherry Tree Lane, things are in quite a state of disarray. With their father George (David Tomlinson) fully committed to his job as a banker and their mother Winifred (Glynis Johns) spending most of her time with the suffragette movement of the 1910’s, siblings Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) constantly get into trouble due to a lack of any proper supervision. When it gets to the point where the family must find a new nanny, the two kids request one that’s more nurturing than the ones they’ve had before despite Mr. Banks being fully intent on finding a stricter nanny who will keep the two of them in line. Soon enough, their new nanny arrives in the form of the elegant (and ‘practically perfect in every way’) Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), who matches Jane and Michael’s demands for a kinder nanny while still promising Mr. Banks that she will be firm with them when needed. And as Jane and Michael soon discover, Mary Poppins has quite a few magical tricks up her sleeve (and in her carpetbag) to help straighten them out along with the aid of Bert (Dick Van Dyke), a friendly jack-of-all-trades who they frequently interact with. Along the way, Mary’s magic even begins to rub off on Mr. Banks, who learns to find a greater appreciation for his family.
Mary Poppins is quite arguably the very definition of a masterpiece. Under the wonderful direction of Disney mainstay Robert Stevenson, every aspect of this film is excellently crafted. Despite the issues that Travers had with the changes that Walt and his team made to her book, the film never loses sight of the heart of its story; in other words, Mary Poppins’ efforts to help revitalize the Banks family’s lives, especially in terms of the relationship that Jane and Michael have with their father. After all, as it was observed in Saving Mr. Banks, this story is arguably more about the redemption of Mr. Banks than the delightful adventures that his kids go on with their new nanny. And while the film’s cheery atmosphere was one of the most notable bits of divergence from the novel, which went about things in a more bitingly sharp manner, it just ends up making this one of the most pleasant films ever made. For starters, there are the film’s wonderful visual effects, which saw Disney and co. do everything from stop-motion animation to the art of combining live-action elements with animation that they’d already been doing marvelously for years. And then, of course, there’s the amazing soundtrack by Bob and Richard Sherman that runs the full emotional gamut when it comes to its tunes. For cheerful songs, there’s the toe-tapping ‘Step in Time’, the delightfully energetic melody that introduced audiences to the one and only word that is ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, and the uplifting final melody ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’, just to name a select few. But then these tunes are perfectly balanced with some great emotional songs that are perhaps best exemplified by ‘Feed the Birds’, which is widely touted as being one of Walt’s all-time favorite songs.
As noted earlier, one of the biggest changes to Travers’ original story came via the overall characterization of her title character. Instead of the strict, no-nonsense nanny that was seen in the books, the film’s interpretation of Mary Poppins has a much warmer personality as per Jane and Michael’s request. But in this instance, the change does ultimately work because she still manages to be stern with them when the situation requires it while never once coming off as unlikable. Plus, the film still retains one of the character’s most definitive traits from the book through her consistent refusals to explain any of the magical things she does. And, of course, Julie Andrews is phenomenal in the role, exuding nothing but full charm whenever she’s on-screen. She also works wonderfully with Dick Van Dyke as the lovable Bert, and while nowadays his role in the film is arguably known more for his ‘infamous’ attempt at a cockney accent, his commitment to the role and infectious enthusiasm more than make up for it. After that, there are a wide array of memorable performances from main cast members like Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, who perfectly convey Jane and Michael’s childhood innocence, to memorable supporting players like Ed Wynn as the jovial Uncle Albert who loves to laugh. But to reference the ideas of Saving Mr. Banks one last time, arguably the biggest unsung hero of the cast is David Tomlinson, who handles Mr. Banks’ redemption arc with the utmost class.
Really, when it comes to this film, what more is there to say about it that hasn’t already been said by all the generations of people who have grown up with it and have then passed it on to their kids? Just like many of the early Disney animated classics like Snow White and Pinocchio, this is Walt Disney and his team at the top of their game, as they come together to craft a film that quite simply has it all. The film’s gorgeous visual style is strong throughout, Bob and Richard Sherman’s songs are catchy and iconic, and the film is stacked with outstanding performances headlined by the charismatic duo of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. And overall, the film works incredibly well even when considering all the creative conflicts that Walt Disney and P.L. Travers had during pre-production about the changes that were being made to her story. Because while Travers, of course, wasn’t too happy with the final film due to all its deviations from the source material, she would later admit that she eventually warmed up to it as time went on despite it still not being the most ideal interpretation of her work. As noted earlier, perhaps the biggest difference from the book is the film’s overall tone, as it dials back on the book’s harsher elements to create a more light-hearted affair that’s very much in line with the kind of films that Disney has always been known to make. As such, there are some out there who feel that the film is perhaps a bit ‘too’ sweet, even by Disney standards. And yet, when you have a film like this that’s so well-made and is always a delight to watch year in and year out, it’s easy to see why Mary Poppins still stands as one of the most beloved films to come from the world of Disney.
Rating: 5/5!
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