Mary Poppins

 

Jan 26 2024

Dear Listeners, 

 

Mary Poppins is one of the most beloved movies of all time, a classic known by all generations. Produced by Walt Disney himself, and directed by Robert Stevenson this movie is a gem. It is a timeless movie for all generations, and though much has changed in the past 60 years, the themes are still a good reminder for today’s generations. Mary Poppins’ fantastical story has reintroduced joy to families everywhere.

 

Mary Poppins has a magical plot that applies to all generations. The story is set in Edwardian London, in 1910. It all begins when the original nanny, Katie Nanna, quits her job when the children run off again. The children struggle to have a good relationship with their parents. Their father (Mr. Banks) is always at work, and their mother is at protests for women’s voting rights. This leads to the father and the children (Jane and Michael), each making their own letters of advertisement for a new nanny. The father disapproves of the children’s letter, tearing it up and throwing it in the fire. When Mr. Banks is not looking, the pieces of paper float up the chimney and find their way to Mary Poppins, who applies and interviews for the job. After his initial hesitation and confusion, Mr. Banks hires her. 

 

          Once Mary Poppins gets upstairs, she goes to her room to unpack,  and starts magically pulling items from her carpet bag, as Jane and Michael watch in shock. Immediately after this, Mary Poppins gets straight to work by making the children clean the nursery, but instead of doing this the normal way, they clean up magically by snapping their fingers and singing. Still not done, Mary Poppins then takes the children to the park where they meet Bert, Mary Poppins’ old acquaintance.

 

 Together many magical things happen to the children. One day, Mary Poppins encourages the children to go to the bank with their father. Leading up to this, Mary Poppins had sung a song about a woman feeding the birds, so when the children passed her the next day on the way to their father‘s work, they wanted to feed the birds. This was a great way for Mary Poppins’ main goal to take place; the children spending time with their father. When the children refuse to give their tuppence to the bank, they ultimately get their father fired, and that leads to him being able to spend more time with his children. Eventually, at the end of the movie Mr. Banks gets hired back. Mary Poppins ultimately succeeded and allowed the family to be kinder and spend more time with each other.

 

The movie had great visual effects , especially for its time period. Mary Poppins used many different types of visual effects including animation. There were many different scenes that had animation, one of my favorites being ‘Jolly Holliday’.  In “Jolly Holliday”, there are many animated animals, some of my favorites being the singing farm animals and the penguin waiters. They are so funny and joyful, it is impossible not to laugh. All of these animations were hand drawn, making them extra special. 

 

Another interesting thing is that Mary Poppins used matte  paintings instead of making sets for all the backgrounds. Most of the paintings were painted by Peter Ellenshaw, he is a talented artist and played a big role in bringing this movie to life. One of my favorite backgrounds by Ellenshaw, is the painting that you see when Mary Poppins and the children are on the rooftop looking down at the city. Ellenshaw’s paintings are so special and even though you may not realize it, his works are so famous because they have been seen by anyone who has watched Mary Poppins, even though you might not know him by name.

 

Mary Poppins has great themes, some are more hidden and others tell you directly. One of the prevailing themes of Mary Poppins is the importance of family connection and relationship. In the movie, Mary Poppins helps the Banks family become closer together, by helping the Banks realize how enjoyable spending time with each other is. For example, in the last scene, the Banks family all “go fly a kite up to the highest height” where flying the kite together as a family serves to bring them back together.  This connects  back to the very first scene when Jane and Michael ask their father to help them fix their kite and he refuses. This scene, in my opinion, is Stevenson’s way of bringing the Banks family full circle in the importance of relationships. One reason why my family loves this movie so much is because it helps bring our family closer together.

Another leading theme is goodwill and generosity. In the song “Feed the Birds,” Mary Poppins sings a song about an old woman selling bread crumbs so that passersby can feed the birds. The old woman who is not well off, demonstrates a powerful act of generosity by using her limited money to buy bread crumbs for the birds.  Mary Poppins sings "Feed the birds, Tuppence a bag.”’ to Jane and Michael in hopes of emphasizing the importance of goodwill towards all things in the world. The song continues  “All around the cathedral, the saints and apostles look down as she sells her wares. Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling.” To me this scene shows me that I don’t have to be the most wealthy person in the world to help someone else out.

One of the most important themes of all in Mary Poppins is to have a positive outlook on life. In the song “A Spoonful of Sugar” Mary Poppins convinces the children who need to clean the nursery, that “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” When she sings the metaphor “ a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”, she is teaching the Banks children that they can do hard things when they have a positive outlook on life. Mr. Banks even learns this lesson himself.  When we first meet Mr. Banks, he is somewhat grouchy and very scheduled, but when he gets fired, Mr. Banks starts to loosen up and become less serious. Despite losing his job,  he is able to have a positive attitude by singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. This is one of my favorite songs of the movie because it is so happy and uplifting, and anyone singing the words cannot help but be happy.

 

In summary I think that Mary Poppins is a great movie. Overall, I would rate it a 9 out of 10 because it is a little outdated, but it is still a great movie for everyone to see. Mary Poppins has a great plot and even better themes, and considering that all the animation was hand drawn, the animation is amazing as well. Together, my family has watched this movie at least 10 times. So if you are ever looking for a great family movie, Mary Poppins is one of the best.

 

Yours Truly, 

MaryVon Guth