The story of two children and their nanny, a talented new star named Julie Andrews, and thirty years of Walt Disney’s show business experience paid off big time in the massive box office hit “Mary Poppins.” This musical-fantasy-comedy film combined every area Disney had been working on for decades: Live-action and animation combinations, catchy songs, family-oriented fare, and more.
Producer Walt Disney used his own in-house personnel to put this film together: Director Robert Stevenson (“The Love Bug” 1968), screenwriters Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, and musical composers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The story was based on a series of “Mary Poppins” children’s books by P. L. Travers, first published in 1934. It took Walt twenty years to convince Travers to let him adapt her books into a motion picture. (The 2013 film “Saving Mr. Banks” tells this story.)
Julie Andrews was an excellent choice to portray Poppins, the woman who literally descends from the heavens to apply for a nanny job. Andrews accepted the job offer from Disney shortly after being turned down by Jack Warner of Warner Bros. Pictures for the Eliza Doolittle role in the big screen version of “My Fair Lady,” despite originating the role in the long-running Broadway play. In the end, Andrews won the Oscar for the Poppins film, while Audrey Hepburn was not even nominated for her Eliza role in Warner’s “My Fair Lady.”
Television’s Dick Van Dyke perfectly fit the part of Bert the Chimney Sweep. His comedic talents, musical abilities, and energetic manner contributed much to “Poppins.” Co-stars include Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber as the two Banks children, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns were the parents, as well as Hermione Baddeley, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Ed Wynn, and Oscar winner Jane Darwell as the Bird Woman, her final film appearance. She started in silent pictures in 1913. “Mary Poppins” also marked Arthur Treacher’s last movie role in a career that began in 1929. The voice cast includes Marni Nixon, J. Pat O’Malley, and Alan Napier.
“Mary Poppins” was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, winning five: Best Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee” – Sherman Brothers), Best Music Score (Sherman Brothers), Best Film Editing, and Best Special Visual Effects. “Mary Poppins” was a huge blockbuster and personal triumph for producer Walt Disney, Walt Disney Productions, and Buena Vista Distribution Company. “Mary Poppins” was also the highest-grossing film of 1964, beating “My Fair Lady” and “Goldfinger.” A sequel called “Mary Poppins Returns” was released in 2018 from the Disney people.
Mary Poppins (1964)
cinema
My Review
The story of two children and their nanny, a talented new star named Julie Andrews, and thirty years of Walt Disney’s show business experience paid off big time in the massive box office hit “Mary Poppins.” This musical-fantasy-comedy film combined every area Disney had been working on for decades: Live-action and animation combinations, catchy songs, family-oriented fare, and more.
Producer Walt Disney used his own in-house personnel to put this film together: Director Robert Stevenson (“The Love Bug” 1968), screenwriters Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, and musical composers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The story was based on a series of “Mary Poppins” children’s books by P. L. Travers, first published in 1934. It took Walt twenty years to convince Travers to let him adapt her books into a motion picture. (The 2013 film “Saving Mr. Banks” tells this story.)
Julie Andrews was an excellent choice to portray Poppins, the woman who literally descends from the heavens to apply for a nanny job. Andrews accepted the job offer from Disney shortly after being turned down by Jack Warner of Warner Bros. Pictures for the Eliza Doolittle role in the big screen version of “My Fair Lady,” despite originating the role in the long-running Broadway play. In the end, Andrews won the Oscar for the Poppins film, while Audrey Hepburn was not even nominated for her Eliza role in Warner’s “My Fair Lady.”
Television’s Dick Van Dyke perfectly fit the part of Bert the Chimney Sweep. His comedic talents, musical abilities, and energetic manner contributed much to “Poppins.” Co-stars include Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber as the two Banks children, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns were the parents, as well as Hermione Baddeley, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Ed Wynn, and Oscar winner Jane Darwell as the Bird Woman, her final film appearance. She started in silent pictures in 1913. “Mary Poppins” also marked Arthur Treacher’s last movie role in a career that began in 1929. The voice cast includes Marni Nixon, J. Pat O’Malley, and Alan Napier.
“Mary Poppins” was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, winning five: Best Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee” – Sherman Brothers), Best Music Score (Sherman Brothers), Best Film Editing, and Best Special Visual Effects. “Mary Poppins” was a huge blockbuster and personal triumph for producer Walt Disney, Walt Disney Productions, and Buena Vista Distribution Company. “Mary Poppins” was also the highest-grossing film of 1964, beating “My Fair Lady” and “Goldfinger.” A sequel called “Mary Poppins Returns” was released in 2018 from the Disney people.