Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Mary Poppins

Oh boy, here we go. Ladies, gentlemen and others, this is one of the big ones. Arguably one of the most celebrated Disney classics of all time. I’m honestly a little intimidated by this one. But in any case, welcome to Deep Dive Disney and welcome to our very special look at the 1964 classic, Mary Poppins. Where do I even begin with this one. This movie has been warming the hearts of many a viewer since the day it premiered in theatres. And yes, I most assuredly count myself amongst said viewers as this film has been a favorite of mine since I was five years old. So, what are we actually looking at? Well, based on a book by P. L. Travers, (the long and drawn out battle for film rights between Walt Disney and Miss Travers having been detailed in the film Saving Mr. Banks), Mary Poppins brings us to London where we meet the Banks Family, specifically George, his wife Winnifred and his children Jane and Michael. Jane and Michael are good children by all accounts but don’t always do what they’re told because they’re father is always working and their mother is always out fighting for women’s rights, and as such, the two lack a positive adult role model in their lives. Most nannies who have come through their door don’t seem to know how to handle Jane and Michael and all agree that drastic action must be taken. Mr. Banks wants a stern and strong willed nanny who will keep the children in line while Jane and Michael want someone kind who will play games and sing songs. When Mr. Banks rips up the children’s written advertisement, he seems to inadvertently summon the mysterious Mary Poppins, a nanny who may or may not be some sort of supernatural being. Whatever Mary Poppins is, she seems to have some kind of magical powers which she uses to bring the children on exciting adventures, irritating Mr. Banks to no end. However, what Mr. Banks doesn’t realize is that everything Mary does is for a very specific reason and she ultimately helps him see what’s truly important in life. It’s one of the most celebrated Disney films of all time and a movie so deeply ingrained in the very DNA of popular culture that even people who have never seen it before have likely found themselves quoting it without even realizing their doing so. Let us waste no further time with introductions and look at Mary Poppins. Spit Spot.

Main Character:

I’ve been mulling it over for a while and I’ve come to the conclusion that despite her name being in the title, Mary Poppins is not the main character of this movie. No, it’s not Jane and Michael either. They’re important to the plot, sure, but they aren’t the one with the most significant arc. No, that honor goes to Mr. Banks, you just don’t realize it at first. In fact, when the film begins, you’re led to believe that Mr. Banks is something of a villain in this movie, but in actuality, Mary Poppins neither has nor needs an antagonist. Mr. Banks is depicted as a man who is very set in his ways. He feels that his house should be run precisely on schedule and that his children should be obedient in all things. There’s no malice in this, it’s just what he knows. He’s been working at the bank for so long that he’s had a difficult time understanding that the rules of the bank do not necessarily apply outside of it. When you really think about it, labeling Mr. Banks as the villain really isn’t fair once you understand where he’s coming from. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just extremely set in his ways and needs to loosen up. And it’s abundantly clear that he loves his children, he just can’t really express it in a way that they want him to. He wants to show his love in a way he knows how, which in this case means introducing them to his world, the world of finance. Watch the scene in the bank and look how excited Mr. Banks gets when he’s telling Jane and Michael all about how exciting he thinks banking is. You have to respect a man who both loves and has passion for what he does. And yeah, his kids aren’t really into it, but that’s hardly his fault. It’s only natural for a parent to try and encourage their children to follow in their footsteps. My parents often suggested I become a teacher like them, but it simply wasn’t my path. It is through the influence of Mary Poppins that he learns how to loosen up and prioritize his family over his career. And to the film’s credit, they never say that working at the bank is a bad thing, it just shouldn’t consume his life the way it did. That is, of course, David Tomlinson playing George Banks and what can I say, the man is an utterly brilliant actor. In our last article, we saw him play a fast talking con man, while here he plays a stern father with no patience for nonsense and he does both excellently. I truly believe that this is one of the great characters in Disney history.

Side Characters:

Let’s start with Jane and Michael, who are, at the very least, secondary protagonists. Honestly, they’re actually pretty interchangeable with one another and don’t get all that much development but they do a decent job as far as child actors go. Way better than the Bedknobs and Broomsticks kids at any rate. I personally wish they had actually made the kids a little more rebellious instead of just telling us that they were, but I guess I can’t complain too much.

Glynnis Johns plays Winnifred Banks, Jane and Michael’s mother. She’s obsessed with fighting for women’s rights, a noble pursuit if ever there was one and a clever way to give her a reason to neglect the children.

Mr. Dawes and the other bankers are the closest this movie ever gets to having a true antagonist, but even then, they’re not necessarily evil, just insanely out of touch. They’ve forgotten what it is to view things through the eyes of a child. Fun fact, that’s Dick Van Dyke playing the older Mr. Dawes, and I never even realized it until someone told me years later. And now, Dick Van Dyke looks exactly like that without all that makeup. Impressive.

Comedian Ed Wynn plays Uncle Albert, a man who laughs so much that it causes him to float. I’ve always had this theory that this is actually the Mad Hatter before they sent him off to Wonderland and started spreading butter on the inner workings of other people’s pocket watches.

Remember the scene where the kids are running away from the bank and nearly get jumped by this menacing old crone? Well, it turns out the kids were absolutely right to run for their lives because that was actually a cameo from Betty Lou Gerson, the original voice of Cruella De Vil.

A character we absolutely need to talk about is Admiral Boom, an admiral in the British Royal Navy and the next-door neighbor of the Banks family. I’m fairly certain that Admiral Boom is legitimately insane. Maybe something happened to him during his time in the service that caused him to snap because why else would he put sails on his roof and fire off a canon every hour on the hour, likely singlehandedly lowering the property value of the whole neighborhood. What I love about this is how acclimated the Banks family seems to be to their house getting horribly shaken by canon fire. Mr. Banks barely even seems phased by it. Even more hilarious, Admiral Boom has absolutely no impact on the plot. He’s just a strange character for the sake of a strange character.

Now let’s talk about, in my opinion, the best character in the movie, Bert. First thing’s first, Bert is played by the incomparable Dick Van Dyke and his horrendous cockney accent. Yeah, the accent is pretty bad, but it’s a shame that people get so hung up on that, because literally everything else about this character is awesome! Dick Van Dyke just has so much energy that he actually moves like a cartoon character, it’s kind of incredible. Bert himself is something of a jack of all trades. Every time we see him, he seems to have a different job but always gives that job his all and seems to enjoy it immensely. By all accounts, Bert probably lives on the street, but he doesn’t really care. He’s just out here in the world living his best life. It’s made clear that he has a history with Mary Poppins and is aware of her magical abilities, but we never learn how they know one another. Though, I’ve always theorized that much like she did for the Banks family, Mary Poppins once helped find Bert find his sense of childlike wonder and he took that lesson to heart.

And that will lead us nicely into Mary Poppins herself, easily one of the most fascinating characters in Disney History. What’s really interesting about Mary Poppins is just how little we know about her. All we really learn is that she’s “Practically Perfect in Every Way.” Beyond that, we don’t really know who she is or even what she is. Mary is clearly more than just human, so what is she? Is she a witch, an angel, a child of Oberon, an alien, what? A popular theory is that she’s a Timelady like from Doctor Who and given the fact that she never ages, has a bag that seems to operate on TARDIS technology and the fact that the next time we see her, she’s played by a completely different actress, yeah, I can see where people are getting that from. And hey, it’s only a matter of time before Disney buys the rights to Doctor Who like they’ve bought literally everything else, so this might actually be canon one day, but until then, we may never know and Mary herself never explains anything. The point is, Mary Poppins is a tough one to figure out. She’s definitely a kind and compassionate person who loves a bit of fun here and there, but she also is very firm and strict when she needs to be, but in either case, it’s never to the point where she goes too far. She’s always just as fun as she needs to be and just as firm as she needs to be, no more, no less. While Mary Poppins magical adventures may seem spontaneous, but in reality, they’re highly calculated in order to achieve her desired outcome, even if the children having fun does bring a smile to her face. That’s something I really like about Mary, her skill with manipulation. I swear to god, a young David Xanatos must have watched this movie every day and took extensive notes. Not only can she talk circles around everyone in the movie, knowing exactly what to say to get them to do what she wants, by the time she’s done, they’ll convinced that it was their idea, even if they were completely against it five minutes ago. However, under the surface, there are hints that she does have real emotions, even if she doesn’t always wear them on her sleeve. Julie Andrews is a phenomenal actress and can convey a lot with a simply look. This was one of her earliest film roles and she knocks it out of the park. By the way, want to feel old, Julie Andrews was younger than I am now when she played Mary Poppins. That’s insane to me. In any case, it’s clear that she cares deeply for the Banks family, but she can’t get too attached because she’s needed elsewhere. It makes you want to know more about her all the more, but you also know that she’s one of those characters who’s more interesting because of the mystery surrounding her. A triumph of a character if ever there was one.

Songs:

The Sherman brothers pulled out all the stops for this one. Nearly all of these songs have become household tunes over the course of the past sixty years, so this is going to be a big section, so lets go through these songs one by one.

The first number is called Sister Suffragette. Apparently Glynnis Johns was under the impression that she was to play Mary Poppins herself, so the powers that be gave her this song as an apology. It’s a fun song with a decent message but doesn’t really connect that much to the plot and compared to the iconic numbers that come later in the film, it struggles to stand out.

Speaking of songs that don’t get their due, let’s talk about Mr. Banks’ introductory number, The Life I Lead. It’s actually one of my favorites even if I can’t quite put my finger on why. It might just be the raw charisma of David Tomlinson combined with the incredibly catchy melody.

The perfect Nanny is a clever number that nicely showcases the contrast in the values of Mr. Banks compared to those of his children.

Now we’re getting into the really good ones with A Spoonful of Sugar, an absolutely iconic number and our first real look at the full extent of what Mary Poppins is all about. It goes without saying that Julie Andrews has a beautiful singing voice and the sequence is a ton of fun and showcases that trademark Disney Magic, back during a time when that felt like more than just a corporate slogan. Hell, at one point Mary is singing with a bird like snow white. I especially like the bit where Mary gets trolled by her own reflection.

Next up we have Jolly Holiday. I don’t really have much to say about this one. It’s a perfectly fine number, but it goes on a bit too long for my taste.

Now it’s time for the big one, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It’s a great song that’s a blast to sing along with. Even if the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you sing it loud enough you’ll always sound precocious, SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!! Got a bit carried away there, but I think the point is made.

Stay Awake is a sweet lullaby sung by Mary that captures her ability to manipulate others perfectly. Using reverse psychology to get the children to fall asleep, very clever.

I Love to Laugh is Uncle Albert’s big number. It’s fine, but in my opinion, one of the weaker numbers in the score. The whole sequence is only there to set up something for later in the movie, but if not for that, the entire sequence could be cut with little consequence.

Now for the big one. Feed The Birds is a Hauntingly Beautiful Number about the importance of charity and kindness. Julie Andrew’s voice is otherworldly in this number and I can’t listen to it without shedding a tear. I don’t know how anyone could. Apparently, this was Walt Disney’s favorite song and though I don’t agree with Walt all of the time, what can I say, the man had great taste.

Moving right along, Fidelity Fiduciary Bank is the closest we get to a villain song, but like I said, these bankers aren’t evil, just very enthusiastic about finance. The song itself is not too bad, but one of those that can’t stand up to the stronger numbers in the score.

Speaking of stronger numbers, we’ve reached my personal favorite. Chim Chim Cheree, Burt’s big number. It’s unbelievably catchy, Dick Van Dyke is unbelievably charming, and the whole sequence is unbelievably fun. It’s a good look at Bert’s outlook on life. He may be doing some fairly unglamorous work, but he enjoys it and takes pride in it. I think more people need to be like Bert.

Step In Time is just pure fun. Bert and Mary take the children to the London rooftops where they meet Bert’s chimney sweep pals and big dance party ensues. The party just keeps on going and never slows down. They even invade the Banks home and keep the party going. Even after Mr. Banks throws them out, they just keep on a-partyin’ down the streets. Nice!

After the madness of Step In Time, we get an often overlooked duet between Bert and Mr. Banks called A Man Has Dreams. I love this moment. Mr. Banks is forced to realize that he’s to blame for all his woes and Mary Poppins has brought real joy into his children’s lives. It’s the start of his big turn at the end, and I love it.

Finally, there’s the big finale, Let’s Go Fly a Kite. It’s nothing short of pure joy. Mr. Banks has lost everything, but now, that doesn’t anymore, because he has his family and that should have been his focus all along. And as a result of his new attitude, he ends up getting his job back. It’s a nice note to end on, even with the bittersweet moment of Mary leaving without saying goodbye.

Memorable Scenes:

I think you already know the scene I need to talk about. It’s the scene where Mr. Banks walks to the bank at night, knowing full well that he’ll be losing job when he gets there. Doug Walker has called this one of the best scenes in cinema history and I think he may be on to something. There’s no song here, just haunting music as this man makes this slow march towards ruin. There’s even this one moment where he stops at the spot the Bird Woman once sat and the music seems to imply that she died. It’s a powerful scene to be sure.

Story:

I think the message here is fairly straight forward. One’s job may be important, but it should never blind one to what’s truly important in life, love, family and maintaining a sense of childlike wonder. It actually reminds me quite a bit of the lesson we discussed back when we covered The Princess & The Frog. Much like Mr. Banks, Tiana had become consumed with her work and let what was right in front of her pass her by. It’s a nice lesson and vital to surviving in the adult world. Sometimes your job can feel like all you have to live for, especially if you’re struggling financially, but if you don’t live for the moment every now and then, you’ll either lose your mind or just retreat further into yourself like Mr. Banks. We all need a bit of whimsy and wonder back in our lives, especially with all the bad stuff out there in today’s world. I think we can all learn a thing or two from Mary Poppins.

The Dark Disney Factor:

So, this is a mostly lighthearted affair, but it’s not without a bit of edge to it, though most of it is implied. How about the part where Mary Poppins invokes the power of the winds to blow the other potential nannies away? You can’t tell me one of them wasn’t injured in the process. Or, how about the bit at the end of the Spoonful of Sugar segment where the stuff in the room that’s come to life goes haywire and it briefly turns into a poltergeist movie or something. Fortunately, Mary Poppins is always in control of the situation, so it doesn’t last, but still, yeesh! Oh, but here’s my favorite. Mr. Banks kind of killed a guy. Mind you, Mr. Dawes was an exceptionally old man and was likely not too far from death’s door to begin with, but the fact that a joke that Banks told caused him to laugh so hard he literally died, that’s more than a little messed up, even if his last moments were the happiest of his life.

Final Thoughts: Wow, what else can I even say. This movie is a masterpiece, pure and simple. It is even better than I remember it from childhood. The cast and characters, incredible. The songs, top notch, the story, unbelievably powerful, the visuals, unforgettable. This movie has been parodied and homaged time and time again, and it's easy to see why. It leaves a lasting impact and fills you with that feeling of being a child again no matter how old you are. Thank you all for joining me for this special look at an old favorite. Next time, we'll be kicking off a series of articles I've been excited about for months now, Wes's Top 20 Disney Songs. But before we get to the main event, there are a lot of honorable mentions to get through.