Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Directed by: Robert Stevenson

Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, and David Tomlinson.

Plot: It's London in 1910, and the Banks family is having trouble keeping a nanny, due to the children (Jane and Michael) constantly running away.  This leads Mr. Banks, who runs a strict and firm household, to put an advertisement in the paper in search of a new governess.  The next day, a woman by the name of Mary Poppins literally blows away the competition, and immediately becomes the new nanny, much to the confusion of Mr Banks.  Wary at first, the children warm up to her after they realize that there's something magical about their new governess.  Through a series of adventures, Mary Poppins and her friend Bert will teach the children valuable life lessons, but Mr. Banks remains unmoved.  Will Mary be able to make him see the importance of family and the values of kindness?

Good: This film is a masterpiece in nearly every aspect.  It has amazing performances from all of its leads, including Julie Andrews as the titular character.  She pulls off the complexities of the mysterious character, while also making her seem human enough for the audience to care about her.  Andrews's singing voice is also amazing, and she's one of the reasons the songs are so memorable.  Dick Van Dyke is also very entertaining as Bert.  He accomplishes a lot of the comedy with ease, and the chemistry he has with the rest of the cast feels genuine.  Another fantastic performance comes from David Tomlinson as George Banks. He starts out as completely unlikable, but throughout the course of the movie, as the lordly life he leads becomes slowly tarnished, he becomes more and more sympathetic.  The other cast members are also good, including a delightful performance from Ed Wynn as Uncle Albert.  The writing is also amazing, with a subtle feminist feel to it.  Whether its Mrs. Banks being a suffragette to Jane being the more reasonable of the two children, this film can be interpreted as pro-women's rights.  All of the characters are written wonderfully, especially Mary Poppins.  She's firm but kind, whimsical but sensible, and proper but energetic, which makes her a fascinating character to watch.  While she does show some characteristics of a Mary Sue (such as the majority of the characters taking an instant liking to her, as well as being described as "practically perfect in every way"), unlike Bella Swan, Mary is more of a plot device than a character, pushing the characters in a certain direction.  Also, Mary has a charisma and energy that Mary Sues don't have.  The special effects are pretty good for the time, with the blending of the live action characters and the animated backgrounds being a particular highlight.  However, the best aspect of the film is the music.  The Sherman brothers have done great soundtracks before (such as The Jungle Book and The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh) but this is probably their best work.  These are songs the audience will be humming for many days to come, including "A Spoonful of Sugar", " Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", and "Feed the Birds".  Without these songs the film would fall into obscurity.

Bad: Despite being a great movie, Mary Poppins isn't perfect.  One of the most common criticisms towards the film is that Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent is something quite atrocious.  And yeah, if you know what a real cockney accent sounds like, those criticisms ring very true.  Also, some of the scenes can go on for just a bit too long, such as the Jolly Holiday and Step In Time sequences.  Finally, some people might not like some of Mary Poppins's Mary Sue tendencies.

Trivia:

• Karen Dotrice's and Matthew Garber's (Jane and Michael Banks, respectively) reactions to the medicine changing color were genuine. They were also unaware that Mr. Dawes Sr. was played by Dick Van Dyke.
• Despite saying that this was the best film he's worked on, Dick Van Dyke believes that he was miscast as Bert.
• "Feed the Birds" was Walt Disney's favorite song while working on the film, and would tell the Sherman brothers to play it for him after long days at work.
• P.L. Travers (the author of the original book) was very resistant to the idea of Disney creating an adaptation of her story.  She had major qualms about the musical numbers, the casting of Dick Van Dyke, and the animation sequences.  After years of begging and compromising, Walt Disney finally convinced her to give him the rights.  Even after the movie was released, she still disliked the film's treatment of her creation.

Final Verdict: When I had to make the Bad section of this review, I had to really stretch to find anything I disliked about it.  In my opinion, this is one of Disney's best movies as well as one of the best musicals ever made.  The characters are memorable, the acting is great, and the songs are amazing.  If you haven't watched this movie yet, stop reading this review and go buy it now.  You won't regret it.  It's practically perfect in nearly every way.

Next time, I'll take a look at what would happen if two '90s kids found themselves trapped in a '50s sitcom.  What could possibly go wrong?  

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