Mary Poppins

Plot synopsis:
In Edwardian London, 1910, Bert entertains a crowd when he senses a change in the wind. Afterwards, he directly addresses the audience and gives them a tour of Cherry Tree Lane, stopping outside the home of the Banks family. George Banks returns home from his job at the bank to learn from Winifred that Katie Nanna has left their service after Jane and Michael ran away "again". They are returned shortly after by the local constable, who reveals the children were chasing a lost kite. The children ask their father to help build a better kite, but he dismisses them. Taking it upon himself to hire a nanny, George advertises for a stern, no-nonsense nanny. Instead, Jane and Michael present their own advertisement for a kinder, sweeter nanny, but when George rips up the letter and throws the scraps in the fireplace, the remains of the advertisement magically float up and out into the air.
The next day, a queue of elderly, sour-faced nannies appear outside. However, a strong gust of wind blows the nannies away, and Jane and Michael witness a young nanny descend from the sky using her umbrella. Presenting herself to George, Mary Poppins calmly produces the children’s now restored advertisement and agrees with its requests, but promises the astonished banker she will be firm with his children. As George puzzles over the return of the advertisement, Mary is forced to hire herself and meets the children, then helps the children to tidy their nursery through song, before heading out for a walk in the park.
Outside, they meet Bert who now works as a screever. Mary uses her magic to transport the group into one of the drawings. While the children ride on a nearby carousel, Mary Poppins and Bert go on a leisurely stroll and are served tea by a quartet of penguin waiters. Mary enchants the carousel horses and participates in a horse race which she wins. While being asked to describe her victory, Mary announces the nonsense word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". However, the outing is ruined when a thunderstorm demolishes Bert's drawings, returning the group back to London. On another outing, the four meet Uncle Albert who has floated up in the air due to his uncontrollable laughter; they join him for a tea party on the ceiling, telling jokes.
George becomes increasingly annoyed by the cheery atmosphere of his family and threatens to fire Mary. Instead, Mary inverts his attempt by convincing him to take the children to the bank for a day. George takes Jane and Michael to the bank, where they meet Mr. Dawes Sr. and his son. Dawes aggressively attempts to have Michael invest his tuppence in the bank, snatching the money from him. Michael demands it back, causing other customers to misinterpret and all demand their money back, causing a bank run.
Jane and Michael flee the bank, getting lost in the East End until they run into Bert, who is now a chimney sweep, then escorts them home. The three and Mary venture onto the rooftops where they have a song-and-dance number with other chimney sweeps until George returns home, receives a phone call from his employers and speaks with Bert who tells him he should spend more time with his children before they grow up. Jane and Michael give their father Michael’s tuppence in the hope to make amends.
George walks through London to the bank, where he is given a humiliating cashiering and is dismissed. Looking to the tuppence for words, he raucously blurts out "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!", tells one of Uncle Albert's jokes, and happily heads home. Dawes mulls over the joke, but finally "gets" it, and floats up into the air, laughing.
The next day, the wind changes, which means Mary must leave. A happier George is found at home, having fixed his children’s kite, and takes the family out to fly it. In the park, the Banks meet Mr. Dawes Jr, who reveals his father died happily laughing from the joke and re-employs George as a junior partner. With her work done, Mary flies away with Bert bidding her farewell, telling her not to stay away too long as the film ends.

Tags: cute, humor, psychedelic, entertaining, sentimental

Review:
"Mary Poppins" is one of that select group of films that can truly be called 'Classic', a project conceived in love and filled with so much child-like wonder that it will never grow old or 'out-of-date'.
Years of negotiations only whetted Disney's desire to make a definitive, truly 'special' film, and by 1960, despite the box office failure of another fantasy-themed 'pet' project, "Darby O'Gill and the Little People", he was more confident than ever in the story's potential, bringing together a remarkable array of talent, including songwriting brothers Richard and Robert Sherman, production head Bill Walsh, and the brilliant artist Peter Ellenshaw to 'visualize' 1910 London through his matte paintings.With Travers' grudging approval, casting began.
Veteran stars Ed Wynn, Elsa Lanchester, Reginald Owen, Arthur Treacher, and Jane Darwell (as the Bird Woman, in her last screen appearance), headed the strong supporting cast.But it was the casting of Julie Andrews, in her first film, as Mary Poppins, that truly 'made' the film!
"I'll wait!"And thus a Classic was born!A multiple 1964 Oscar winner (including 'Best Actress' for Andrews, who got to share the stage with her "Lady" costar, Rex Harrison, who won 'Best Actor'), the film was a major hit, worldwide, and quickly achieved the legendary status it holds today.With songs both silly and sublime, seamless intermeshing of live performers and animation as only the Disney studio, at that time, was capable of, and the undeniable magnetism of Andrews and Van Dyke, it is nearly impossible NOT to like "Mary Poppins"!.
Every time I see it, I think back to the beautiful old movie theater in which I saw it (a block away from the Catholic school I then attended, no less), to getting my mother to buy a certain box of cereal so I could get the Mary Poppins prize inside, to gathering on weekends with cousins to listen to the soundtrack and try to dance like Bert.
It's great fun, and its packed with amazing performances especially from the multi-talented and beautiful Julie Andrews.I saw it again recently, may be I have more capacity to understand the double sense of things now and found out that this film has so many subliminal great messages that are enriching for the mind and soul...As a little girl I never cried on this film, but it has got so many reasons to cry for(I'm crying now)because it truly is beautiful.
Disney gave real depth to the film through his use of Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Ed Wynn and (especially) Jane Darwell (who is cited in the IMDb biography as best known for her cameo portrayal of the Bird Lady, despite her 1940 Academy Award for one of the great all-time performances in Grapes of Wrath).
It's a good movie and a classic, so the fact that it looks dated is not a major problem.It's easy to understand why "Mary Poppins" is such a beloved classic: its simplicity, its magic, its special/visual effects, its beautiful songs, its good morals, its charm, its characters, its classic humor, its combination of live-action and animation and great actors.
Amazing for its time and keeps working out fine.The sceneries and landscapes of London city are stunning when Mary Poppins is floating on the air (angles of view never seen before or after this, not even in Peter Pan's movies).
Now I can say it easily, but I had serious difficulties to say this word at first."Mary Poppins" is an amusing and magical tale, with some valuable morals about family, education and stuff like that as well, combined with light humor.The characters are interesting in general.
The parents (David Tomlinson and Glynnis Johns) don't take much notice of their children Jane and Michael, and it is only until a mysterious woman named Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) appears from the sky that things begin to change.
She works wonders on the family, in particular taking the children on a number of adventures with Bert (Dick van Dyke), the local Jack-of-all-trades.Everybody has seen this movie, but I'll review it anyway; it is a bona-fide classic, not because it is an old film, but because it has endured.
The new nanny is the wonderful and magical Mary Poppins, played by the beautiful Julie Andrews.Bert (Dick Van Dyke) is a street artist who knows Mary Poppins.
May be this gives him the time and the possibility to care for his children a little more.'Mary Poppins' is a delightful movie with great musical numbers.
The special effects are very good, considering the time this movie was made, and the whole world of Mary Poppins looks great.
A magic nanny (Julie Andrews) comes to work for a cold banker's unhappy family.When you look over the history of the Disney film, you have some good eras and some bad eras.
Genre: Family film with real people, Julie Andrews, musical, positive feeling.Main characters: Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), Bert (Dick van Dyke), Jane and Michael.What happens: Jane and Michael need a nanny, after their last one went off in huff.
There are some very catchy musical numbers and Julie Andrews is great in the main role but the movie just feels like a hodgepodge of ideas and quirky imagery that doesn't lead anywhere for most of its running time.
For the most part however, the movie was just alright, certainly a bit of a letdown, especially after recently watching the Sound of Music which I thought was excellent and much better than Mary Poppins..
The film has all the hallmarks of a Disney classic, wonderful songs from Richard & Robert Sherman, animation fusing delightfully with live action, colour to dazzle the eyes, and of course a charming and career making performance from Julie Andrews.
Much has been made of Dick van Dyke's woeful cockney accent, and in truth it's almost cringe inducing, but his performance is so brim full of gusto and effervescent fun, we should surely let it go in the name of splendid entertainment values.The restoration job done on the 40th anniversary DVD does the film proud, and it's hopefully opened up the film to be seen more by the modern day audience, because Mary Poppins is an ode to joy, an ode to good behaviour, and basically an ode to being practically perfect--just like Mary herself actually.Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 9/10.
MARY POPPINS is one of the wittiest and most magical movies Disney ever made, full of boundless energy, inventive wit and on top of all that, a priceless musical score as good as anything one could expect from even a Broadway musical.
The wistful "Feed the Birds" (sung by Julie as birdlady Jane Darwell does just that) is one of its nicest ballads.Furthermore, the comic contributions of DICK VAN DYKE (as Bert, the chimney sweep), GLYNIS JOHNS and David TOMLINSON as the confused parents, and a brood of other lively characters, are not to be underestimated.By all means, the kind of family entertainment that will fascinate any child who has ever fantasized about taking magical trips to other places rather than just a trip to the zoo.JULIE ANDREWS fully deserved her Oscar as the world's most wonderful nanny, as popularized in the novels of P.L. Travers.
The Banks household needs a new nanny.So comes Mary Poppins flying with her umbrella.Mary Poppins (1964) is a movie directed by Robert Stevenson.It's Walt Disney's baby, and he fought for many years to get the rights to make the film from author P.L. Travers.Luckily he finally got them.I can't imagine anybody else than Julie Andrews doing the part of Mary Poppins.Dick Van Dyke is a force of nature as Bert.And also as Mr. Dawes Senior, even though he moves a bit slower.David Tomlinson is terrific as Mr. Banks.Glynis Johns is wonderful as Mrs. Banks.Their children Jane and Michael are played by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, and they're just adorable.You've got to love Ed Wynn and his laughter as Uncle Albert.You find yourself floating in the air as you're watching that.Jane Darwell was brought from her retirement to make one more performance as The Bird Woman, and what a performance it is!
Also Elsa Lanchester gives a memorable performance as Katie Nanna.The 1910 London looks very magical in this film.You can very well imagine someone like Mary Poppins popping up in a place like that.The film is filled with great musical numbers, like "A Spoonful of Sugar", "Chim Chim Cher-ee", "Step in Time", "Stay Awake", "I Love to Laugh" and "Feed the Birds" (Disney's personal favorite).And let's not forget "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius".Man, that's a long word!
Sherman were behind the perfect score.There are lots of classic scenes there, like when they jump into the chalk drawing.You can see them racing with carousel horses.And Dick Van Dyke dancing with animated penguins.Entertaining movie can't get more entertaining than this.For the whole family to enjoy!.
'Mary Poppins' has managed to entertain children for decades with its imaginative story, quirky characters, and musical score including unforgettable favourites like 'A Spoonful of Sugar' and 'Let's Go Fly a Kite'.
In this film, Mary Poppins comes flying down to earth because two children, Jane and Michael Banks, are being ignored by parents who are too preoccupied with their own problems.
The fact that we are able to view Mary Poppins as first and foremost a caring and loving nanny who just happens to have magical powers is what makes this film works, and can be attributed solely to Ms. Andrews.
The fact that Julie Andrews has one of the most magnificent singing voices to land on the big screen didn't hurt a bit either.David Tomlinson made two other films for the Disney studios, but his role as George Banks is the one for which he will always be remembered.
Both are beautiful, lyrical songs that show the depth and range of Julie Andrew's voice.It takes a very special film that one can love as a child; yet as an adult appreciate the craftsmanship even more.
Christmas is a time when the TV channels normally wheel out classic family movies, and this Boxing Day I caught "Mary Poppins", one of my favourite films as a child, but one which I had not seen for many years.
The musical score- cheerful, lively, witty and bursting with great tunes- is one of the film's best features; every time we saw it my sisters and I would be singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "Feed the Birds" and "Chim-Chim-Cher-ee" for days.
The need to break the action occasionally so that people can break into song means that musicals generally take longer to tell their stories than "straight" films, and "Mary Poppins" is no exception.
This works great if you're a kid, but as an adult, the movie's episodic structure, superficial characterizations and lack of real drama (Oz was a far more intense emotional experience) feels a little dull and definitely childish.Mary Poppins has some very good elements.
Dick Van Dyke, in spite of the awful accent, uses his distinctive physicality well, especially in the marvelous chimney sweep number Step in Time (which I probably didn't care for as a child; I wasn't much into long musical extravaganzas).
Performances are quite good, and there are amusing moments throughout.Mary Poppins is typical of the very kid-focused approach of their 1960s movies, which I loved growing up but which don't hold up to adult viewings the way movies like Miracle on 34th Street or Toy Story do.
Having seen this movie as a child , adolescent and an adult, I have to say that despite being a trifle long that the movie still impresses with it's innovation, energy and the justly rewarded Oscar winning performance by the much under-rated Julie Andrews As evidenced by Thoroughly Modern Millie, TSOM and the later Star!, she revels in and has a definite flair for the vaudevillian style delivery of song and dance, along with a delicious feel for comedy.The movie also delivers a degree of sophisticated music and choreographyA successful re-make is almost unimaginable!.
Mary Poppins has been my favorite Disney movie since I saw it at four years old (43 now.
Of course it`s easy to scoff at this movie now , in fact it`s fashionable to laugh out loud at Dick Van Dyke`s " Cor blimey Mary Poppins " cockney accent.
Worse it`s probably fashionable to laugh out loud at Dick Van Dyke`s surname but come on guys it`s the naive charm of MARY POPPINS that makes it a classic family movie , who can`t be failed to be bowled over by the engaging animated sequences of the human characters getting served by those penguins or the memorable scene of the chimney sweeps dancing around the rooftops , sure as hell no one is going to confuse this movie with BLACK HAWK DOWN Despite my praise this isn`t the best Disney film ever made , that honour goes to the one with James Mason and the giant squid but it`s a great throwback to less cynical times.
Nothing makes any sense at all - besides from a loose conceptual framework of two kids being neglected by their parents - the whole movie consists of only singular events, everyone of them seemingly going on forever, without any connection, a greater story, character development, nothing has anything to do with anything.The successor, Disney Bednobs and Broomsticks, again with music by the Sherman Brothers and following the same concept of mixing animated with live cinematography, is another matter altogether and showcases, how to do it right.
A beautiful story, brilliant songs, weaved careful together while the movie progresses, characters connect with each other and the audience and the music itself is not decoration, but integrated core of the plot.If you leave nostalgia behind, this movie really fails in every aspect of simple movie-making ABC and the author of Mary Poppins, Pamela Travers, rejected this movie in total for good reasons.
While Travers would ultimately hate the flick with all it's Sherman Brothers songs and animated sequences, Mary Poppins would still be a critically acclaimed flick in the public eye and after all these years, it's still one of the greatest fantasy films of the last couple decades.
It has a great story that teaches the moral family values really well; the special effects are solid for a film released in the 1960s, the music score is perfect and the songs from the Sherman Brothers are fantastic (including A Spoonful of Sugar, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and Feed The birds).
Disney has produced an incredible amount of beloved and classic films whether they are animated or live-action, but possibly the most adored of all is Mary Poppins.
It is one of a select range of films that will never go out of date and can be enjoyed at any age, it remains a wonderful achievement.The story sees the dysfunctional Banks family of London in need of a nanny to look after their two children.
The performances of Andrews and Van Dyke cannot be praised enough, the support (especially Tomlinson) is outstanding, the music is so of the best put to film, the visuals are stunning and there is a real emotion to the story that draws you in.
Ed Wynn was a player that Disney put to good use in his last years and never in better use than as Uncle Albert the laughing flying fool.Mary Poppins took home five Oscars for Original Score, Film Editing and Special Effects.
Dame Julie Andrews won an Academy Award for her performance in this film as Mary Poppins, the nanny ever child and adults loves.
We have just seen the Musical "Mary Poppins" with our kids and granddaughter and it brought memories of this movies which is one of my all time favorites.
However, it is movies like this that help fill in that void, making us feel that we too have been affected by Mary Poppins.What sticks out most about this film is Julie Andrews portrayal of Mary Poppins, whom, dare I say, is practically perfect in every way.
Everything in this movie is perfect: Julie Andrews is perfect as Mary Poppins, and truly deserved the Oscar for Best Actress, and Dick Van Dyke is just hilarious as Bert, in his best performance of his career (and I liked him in the first Night at the Museum movie).
Bosley Crowther in his review on the film (1964), he calls MARY POPPINS 'irresistible' stating further that it can boast of 'the enchantments of a beautiful production, some deliciously animated sequences, some exciting and nimble dancing and a spinning musical score.' It would be hard not to agree with all those points, especially if one has a privilege to see the movie on the big screen in a restored version.
Let me start with the woman who could truly 'become' the role she played with the most unforgettable childlike attitude and enchanting respect for the audiences, young and old alike, JULIE ANDREWS.Just before playing another of her milestone role in SOUNDS OF MUSIC (the film I called a movie of childlike hearts in my review), she portrays Mary Poppins with enormously heartfelt attitude.
What they get is a magical nanny by the name of Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews in her amazing, Oscar-winning theatrical debut) who changes the entire family's lives forever.
They got to choose the nanny, sort of.While watching this magical tale, it is incumbent upon you to understand the story is not about Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), Bert (Dick Van Dyke), or the children.
a wonderfull film great cast julie andrews made her debut in this film and what a start she had a great film i loved the song feed the birds that brought tears to my eyes it was quite sad when mr banks got fired from his job but in the end mary poppins done her job she got the family back togther now it was time to go best musical ever.
The film also has Dick Van Dyke in the role of Bert, who is a very good friend of Mary Poppins and also handles magic very well.