It goes without saying that after this, there were further attempts at family-style musicals at Disney and elsewhere. The likes of Doctor Dolittle (1967), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and others all owed their existence to Poppins. So did the inevitable stage version of Poppins that Disney produced forty years after the movie opened. Even so, Mary Poppins is a once-in-a-lifetime film, and Julie Andrews is an equally rare talent. They belong together.
“Let’s Go Fly a Kite”: Karen Dotrice, Glynis Johns, Matthew Garber, David Tomlinson
WHAT’S MORE
Everyone in Hollywood knew that the head of Warner Bros. had kept Julie Andrews out of the film of My Fair Lady. When she won a Golden Globe award for playing Mary Poppins, Andrews exacted an especially classy revenge. To end her gracious acceptance speech, she thanked “the man who made all this possible in the first place, Jack L. Warner.” There were gasps from the audience, and then applause and loud cheers. Even from Warner himself.
Mary Poppins is one of the few films to spawn a “behind the scenes” movie that is not a documentary. Saving Mr. Banks (2013) told the story of Disney’s ultimately successful attempt to convince P. L. Travers that he could film her stories, with Emma Thompson playing Travers and Tom Hanks as Disney. Somewhat softened and glamorized in the great Disney tradition, it was also reasonably convincing and extremely entertaining.
MUSICALLY SPEAKING
In its music, lyrics, and mix of animation and live action, “Jolly Holiday” is one of the best numbers in the film. The voices behind those cartoon characters include Marni Nixon, who gave Eliza Doolittle her voice after Julie Andrews was denied the role, and the longtime character actor J. Pat O’Malley. O’Malley also coached Dick Van Dyke in his Cockney accent, which was well and good except that O’Malley’s background was more Irish than British and he had little experience with Cockney. Hence the one unconvincing part of an otherwise excellent performance.
Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, Matthew Garber, Karen Dotrice
“A Spoonful of Sugar”: Julie Andrews