Mary PoppinsReleased: August 27th, 1964
Julie Andrews is a genuine delight, whether she's being fun or she's irritated. It's not just her voice, her whole presence is just delightful. George and Winifred Banks are excellent side characters, and the kids are as adorable as they need to be. Dick Van Dyke is a national treasure and I won't hear a word against him.
Structurally, there's not really a plot, but that makes sense given that it's based on a series of kind of episodic books. It's also very long. I think the length and episodic nature takes away from the character study of stuffy, cross Mr. Banks and how he learns from his children (and Mary Poppins and Bert) how to retain a sense of wonder and joy. But it's consistently fun. The music is delightful, the dancing is wonderful, and the adventures Mary Poppins and Bert and the kids go on are spectacular. I'm sure I have nostalgia for it but I think this stands up, to be honest.
The dings on the grade are for occasional bad costumes, bad makeup, the length, the imperialist nonsense. I'm honestly tempted to raise it back up because of the flawless animation/live action melding.
PEOPLE. I am enraged. Since I started this gargantuan project, I have been working off of the list at Wikipedia's List of Disney theatrical animated feature films. When I was back in the 1960s list of films, I stormed and bitched about how Mary Poppins wasn't on that list, especially because I had already sat through the trashfire of a combo animated/live action film that is So Dear to My Heart. I bitched about it again when I did Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So imagine my shock and horror when I went back to the list to get rolling again and found not one, not two, BUT THREE combo animated/live action films that have been added (appropriately) to the list that I have missed: Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks (one of my FAVORITE FILMS OF ALL TIME), and Pete's Dragon.
Notable Grossness
There's a lot of grossness related to Imperial Britain. Admiral Boom references the Hottentots twice.
Dawes and Banks talk about conquest and affluence when telling Michael what his tuppence can do - build railways through Africa, dams across the Nile, fleets of ocean grayhounds, self-amortizing canals, plantations of ripening tea.....yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssshhhhhhhh. Dawes literally says, "think of the foreclosures, ...[and] chattels." Jeeeeezus.
Also when the kids are recounting the fox hunt, they're yelling "tally-ho, tally-ho!" and then one of them says, "Tchunga, tchunga; yoiks!" (at least that's what the subtitles say). I've been looking for quite a while and can't find any other reference to the word "tchunga" but given the time period and the activity, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an appropriated or racist term. I guess the good news is, even if it is, it's fallen enough out of use to be beyond the easy reach of the internet?
Also Banks says colonists dressed as "Red Indians," referring to indigenous people in North America with a racist term, when referencing the Boston Tea Party.
HOW VERY DARE YOU WIKIPEDIA
In order to get back into my groove (and to put off Pocahontas as long as is humanly possible), I'm going to dive back into these three films in a row to catch back up.
BUCKLE UP EVERYONE, I AM MAD AND I LOVE THIS FILM.
Starting the movie out with the instrumental of "Feed the Birds" really sets the dang tone. Like, this is gonna be a sad film, people. We scan across a Edwardian, sooty London in what I assume is a hand-painted cel. And it just feels dirty as hell, which honestly I do think comes out in the cinematography, not just when they're on the rooftop. Dammit, Mary Poppins, just sitting on a cloud like a goddamn BADASS. She's just waiting for the wind to come in.
Also..."Consultant: P.L. Travers" - BOLD MOVE WALT. (For more info on how much say P.L. Travers had over her own work, see this article by Amy Henderson of the Smithsonian Magazine: How Did P.L. Travers, the Prickly Author of Mary Poppins, Really Fare Against Walt Disney?
And here we start with Dick Van Dyke with his wearable band. Everyone says this is the worst British accent in film history, but I'm gonna tell you people, I don't care. I don't care, I love it. It's so fun to imitate and it brings a smile to my face. you will let me have my joy or so help me
"The constable's responstible" - just :chef's kiss:
I'm not a big fan of a lot of the costume design in this film. Not all of it, but I hate the pink and blue dresses on Mrs. Corey's two daughters.
I'm gonna be real serious, I don't think I noticed until right now that Admiral Boom's house is a painted flat, but now I really really really noticed. "TIME GUN READY?" sounds like it's a line from Doctor Who. I can't believe Bert didn't take off the walking band to walk to their house, so fucking rude.
The dialogue in this film starts out so great. "COO, YOU DON'T THINK THE LIONS COULD HAVE GOT AT 'EM DO YA?!"
AND HERE COMES THE BEST WOMAN ON THE PLANET, WINIFRED BANKS
Katie Nanna is so cross. I mean, I would be too, kids are the worst. I also hate Katie Nanna's outfit - it's just too..........boring, in color and texture. This is the same complaint I have of Mrs. Corey's daughters, and will continue in non-main characters throughout.
I love how much George Banks is just so ignorant of Winifred as she tells him the kids aren't there. Also what monster sends their children to bed at 6:03pm? George Banks, that's who. Side note: my parents always used to say "Winifred, where are the children?" all the time - there were a lot of us.
"Kindly do not attempt to cloud the issue with facts!" - George Banks
Everyone's so fussy in this movie, "While going about my duties on the oother side of the park, I noted some valuables that had gone astray. I believe they're yours, sir." Guess you gotta talk to the rich bank guy that way, but he's just gonna be a dick to you anyway.
The captions on this film are also not great on Disney+, they miss a lot of words.
I swear to pete I'm going to be quoting so much of this movie, there are so many excellent lines. "I'm sorry dear, but when I chose Katie Nanna, I thought she would be firm with the children. She seemed so solemn and cross." "Winifred, never confuse efficiency with a liver complaint." 😂🔥 Sick burn George.
My headcanon tells me Winifred just picked some bad nannies so George would do it himself. She's a suffragette after all. I also love that she tells him "The Times will be so pleased" about his nanny ad. 😂 Michael is so proud he put in the part about not wanting the nanny to have warts. I'd like to take approximately 5 seconds to insist that MICHAEL BANKS IS THE CUTEST CHILD OF ALL TIME.
This man is not letting nannies in until 8:00 and Ellen is 12 seconds early. GEORGE DO YOU THINK YOU PAY THIS WOMAN ENOUGH TO HAVE A POCKETWATCH?! YOU SURE DO NOT.
We all assume Mary Poppins blew those other nannies away, right? Like, that doesn't just happen every season. Mary Poppins is out here commanding the winds like an Airbender. Where are you even blowing those ladies? What if they get impaled on those park fence spikes?
I love Julie Andrews so dearly, but I hate that she's standing with her feet turned out how she is, it just looks uncomfortable and is actually drawing my attention. Also she says, "I'm never cross," but we sure see her being cross later on. LIES, Mary Poppins!
Okay I'm gonna stop picking on Mary Poppins because she's the best ever. "Close your mouth, please, Michael, we are not a codfish." ZING. Sorry, Andrew, no nanny job for you, take your dog ass home.
I really need to stop typing every quote but seriously. She says the nursery does look a bit like a bear pit. Then comes the magical bag! Imagine also having to live in the same bedroom with the kids and just a curtain to separate you. Horrifying. The kids while she's emptying the bag have the greatest faces of shock and joy.
I always wanted to get a tattoo of Mary Poppins' measurement on the tape measure for herself, "Practically Perfect in Every Way" on my toe, where I need to stop or start decreases when knitting socks. The design of that tape measure is excellent.
In retrospect I'm wondering if my biggest complaints about the costumes (and the one I was about to make about the make-up jobs) are just because I'm watching in high-def and it was never meant to be seen in this quality. But sometimes the makeup is so obviously caked on that it's distracting in close-ups; rarely on Mary Poppins but often on Dick Van Dyke and George Banks. WOOF THAT LEAPING INTO THE CHALK DID NOT HOLD UP TO HIGH DEF.
I'm glad they retained the chalk background while they're in Bert's drawing instead of making it "real" - it's very tonally appropriate. Regardless of Dick Van Dyke's accent, his comedy is so well suited to the chalk painting section of the film. The animation at the beginning in the barnyard is very standard, nothing to shout about. Mary Poppins flying when Bert twirls her is one of my favorite moments in animated movies so far, it's so romantic. I forgot about it until just now. What does stand up to scrutiny is the mixture of the live action with the animation, it's basically seamless. I am exceptionally pleased.
Lyrics wise - Mary's part of Jolly Holiday is like, "I don't have to worry about you assaulting me because you're very nice." Yeeks. Kids wouldn't notice but I sure did this time O_O
The penguin bit/dance with Bert is just perfection. I have no more words for it.
Depressing or accurate that the fox is Irish while the redcoats are hunting? 😳 Fox hunting terms
Bert and Mary's chalk painting costumes are my favorite; I need to cosplay them with my husbo one year. It's on my list.
Winifred: "Have you put the spoiled eggs in my carry-all? After our meeting at the Albert Hall, we're all going to Downing Street to throw things at the Prime Minister." I love this woman. George is so out of sorts and everyone else is so happy, what a complete tool.
Uncle Albert is a joy! I love this whole section of the film. The idea is delightful and the staging is excellent, and of course Ed Wynn, who plays Uncle Albert, is a delight. The voice of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, he was born in the 1880s and was in Ziegfeld Follies. What a delight.
Was "Feed the Birds" and the end of this film my first intro to anti-capitalism? Maybe. Just maybe. BANK GUYS ARE SCARY AF.
Dick Van Dyke's makeup job and physical acting as the elder Mr. Dawes is genuinely excellent. Definitely stands up to HD much better than I would have thought.
I love the chimney sweep section of the movie, but this is about the time I started to feel like this movie is very long. It's a great dance number but it maybe didn't have to be a 15 minute sequence. Most of these sections could have been cut down a bit, I think. As much as I love the songs, most of them are full-length songs in the middle of full-length scenes. I looked at the time bar and this movie is 2 and half hours long. I had no idea it was that long.
After the chimneysweep number, when the kids come down to apologize, Michael is wearing the button-butt pajamas people associate with little boys in that time period and I just noticed it for the first time and it made me laugh so hard. Costume win!
I forgot the bank was mad because the last time there was a run on the bank was because of the Boston Tea Party. I also love that punishing/firing Banks involves destroying his signals of class - his umbrella, his hat, and his lapel flower. So foolish and just so British.
For what it's worth, even at it's outrageous length, I find this movie eminently rewatchable, so it's going to get a high ranking from me.
