Fun facts -This is Julie Andrews first film and she won an Oscar for her role - the scene where they have jumped into the chalk painting and have changed outfits is the first scene they filmed (therefore, the first movie scene Julie Andrews ever did) - for the animators, one of the hardest scenes to animate was the penguin dance scene due to the crazy dance steps Dick Van Dyke did. They had to keep redrawing it or the penguins would get kicked - the Robin animatronic with robotics like the ones in Disneyland - Mrs. Banks original name was Cynthia and it was changed to Winifred - Feed the birds was Walt Disney’s favorite song - Step in time was originally going to be shorter, but when Walt Disney saw the choreographers doing the dance with Mary Poppins, Walt Disney wanted that included in the movie, in addition to adding more stunts. - Dick Van Dyke plays Mr. Dawes the old man. The children did not know that was Dick Van Dyke while they were filming, so their reactions are genuine. - the actor that plays Uncle Albert plays the mad hatter in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland
This was her first movie, but Julie Andrews had already starred in three successful Broadway musicals *(The Boyfriend, My Fair Lady,* and *Camelot)* and in two television musicals *(High Tor* with Bing Crosby, and the original version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's *Cinderella).*
Yes. The birds were animatronic. In fact Walt Disney Productions pioneered and developed animatronics for films and at their various theme parks, notably The Hall Of Presidents at Disney World, where animatronic Presidents speak to the guests.
I know the animatronic bird on Julie Andrew’s finger, the wires ran across her hand but weren’t insulated properly, so it was zapping the heck out of her finger during that scene, the fact she kept singing with a straight face, that’s great commitment
Yes! It's not easy… especially for a very lively and happy song A Spoonful of Sugar✨… I really couldn't imagine how she shot that scene till I saw many pictures of her in that scene behind the camera😱😢…
That entire scene when Mr. Banks walks to the bank is gold. It's almost completely silent, the first time he's really gone that slow and silent the whole film, and then he gets to St. Paul's Cathedral and notices the old woman isn't there. Is she somewhere else? Is she dead? We don't know, and there's a chance he'll never see her again, which just reinforces Bert's message that his kids will be older and gone before he knows it. Also, if no one's mentioned, Dick Van Dyke also played the older bank President as well, so he did a FANTASTIC job in this movie. I recommend watching the movie "Saving Mr. Banks," which is about the process of this movie being made. While it's not entirely true to reality (the author of the original novel really didn't like this movie), it does a great job of looking at the inspiration for the characters.
This is still one of the most hauntingly beautiful films ever created, and is so much deeper in its themes and characters than it is typically given credit for! The "Feed the Birds" song, and the long sequence of Mr. Banks slowly walking through the dark streets of London knowing that he's about to lose his job - the one thing he's built his entire life around, ugh, my eyes sting every single time. I cannot wait to watch this, I'm sure you'll both adore it!
Took the words out of my mouth; that scene with Mr. Banks walking the empty street with that beautiful music is one of my favorite movie scenes. To quote the movie Saving Mr. Banks "It's not the children she comes to save. It's their father."
@@desertrose777 Precisely! I know it can sound exaggerated or pretentious, but that breathtaking score with those magnificent shots really makes you just want to keep quiet and reflect, what else can be said? (I'm sure plenty, but I'm always at a loss, lol.)
I lived in London for a while in my really young days and would quite often see older Ladies with bags of bread crumbs sitting on those steps feeding birds.For some reason every time I see that part of this movie it does make me a bit sad and brings back those memories.I also like what you said about Mr. Banks forlornly walking through the dark streets knowing he's about to be fired.
I’m so glad you guys picked up on the mother also being a sort’ve banal negligent parent, like negligent in a relatively innocent way. The movie is also great in that it does not make the parents entirely villainous for having ambitions, it just wants them to pull the camera back and realize they aren’t the only person on stage, they have children they need to love, guide, and enjoy before it’s too late for them to have that kind of fun.
During the late 1800s and early part of the 20th century, it was very common for upper middle class families to have several servants. Children were raised by nannies and governesses, until they went off to boarding school at about the age of 10. British upper middle class children were "seen and not heard". Upper classes still do not raise their own children. Just take the royals for example.
1968 - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is another classic musical that came out a few years after this. Definitely worth a look! Dick Van Dyke is in it as well! Edit: Haven't watched the full reaction, but I hope you noticed that the bag from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, was Mary Poppins infinite bag :) Edit 2: "Despite their short amount of screen time in the film, the robins seen in Mary Poppins were animatronic figures. This makes it an example of one of the first uses of animatronics in film history." I also read that she controlled them when on her finger with strings connected to her ring going up her arm and other puppeteers. Edit 3: Uncle Albert was played by Ed Wynn. Aka the Mad Hatter in the original Alice in Wonderland. Them having tea while floating 14 years after his role in that movie having tea has to be a throwback. Edit 4: The part is over, but did you realize Mr. Dawes Senior (bank owner) was also Dick Van Dyke?
one of my favorites as well. my grandparents had the vinyl soundtrack to that one and i'd always dance to it in their living room. dick van dyke's dancing and physical comedy are unparalleled
@@isomABC dick van dyke is one of my All time favorite actors so I love chitty chitty bang bang but I always fast forward the part with the child catcher. That guy was wayy too creepy. Lol
Walt Disney had wanted to do an adaptation of Mary Poppins since 1938 and it was through his daughter, Diane Disney who read and was a fan of the Mary Poppins books that convince her dad to have it adapted. But for 20 years he struggled to get the film adaptation rights to the Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers because Travers was very strict on having her books be adapted into a film cause apparently she has seen several film adaptations based on books being adapted into film by Hollywood and wasn’t a fan of them, it was by 1959 when Travers met Walt Disney that eventually won her over and according to Travers she said _"Talking to Walt was like talking to a friendly charming uncle who took from his pocket a gold pocket watch and dangle it enticingly before your eyes."_ Unfortunately Travers wasn’t a fan of the actual film itself as she criticized the film's version of Mary Poppins being too nice and disliked the Animated sequences. I would recommend reacting to the biopic _Saving Mr. Banks_ starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks which explored the behind the scenes and of Walt trying to convince P.L. Travers to adapt Mary Poppins into a film.
The effect of the animation sequence was achieved by using Sodium Vapor Process (Yellow screen). This method is very interesting! It starts with using a white screen with sodium vapor lighting, creating a specific shade of yellow. Not only did this color make it possible for the actors to wear blue (which is difficult with a blue screen), but so specific that the cast was also able to wear yellow and not interfere with the effect. Showing that this process gave great accuracy while isolating the subjects.
The sodium vapor process was so superior that Hitchcock borrowed it from Disney for The Birds. Sodium vapor created a near perfect matte so you did not get the halo common with blue screen of the period.
This is how they were able to do the chroma-key of Mary’s tulle hat and get the transparency effects. The prismatic lens for that camera alone is worth geeking out over - essentially a one-of-a-kind creation from space elves that was never duplicated.
“Feed the Birds” is so much more meaningful than it sounds at first. When Disney heard it he said something like, “That’s it isn’t it? It only costs a little bit to add a little kindness to the world.” For the rest of his life, when he said to the composer, “Play it”, Sherman knew this is what he wanted to hear.
The actress who played Miss Persimmon at 2:50 was the person who wore the mask in the original version of Palpatine in ESB (who had a different actor dub the lines) until McDiarmid replaced them in the new editions. The actress who played the woman scaring the kids at 42:53 was the woman who voiced Cruella de Vil. And the guy who played Uncle Albert was the Mad Hatter in AiW.
@@JulieShock??NO!! KA THE SNAKE 🐍 IN J.B. WAS ACTED BY MR. STERLING HOLLOWAY; and the same actor was Mr. Stork who delivered DUMBO into the Circus 🎪 Train 🚂 🚃 🚃🚃🚃🚃 CASEY JUNIOR, 2-4-0 Class, even with Casey Jr. In motion!!!!!
Yes, it was animatronics. Very early animatronics. Also, Disney had their own version of blue-screen, called "sodium matte" which tended to yield much better results.
You guys should definitely watch Mary Poppins Returns and also Saving Mr. Banks which is the story of how Walt Disney convinced and fought with the Mary Poppins author to have the rights to make the movie. It's amazing
Agreed, please watch saving Mr. banks. Tom hanks does an awesome job playing Walt Disney and kind of looks like him as well in my opinion. It also gives you a better sense of what they went through to get this movie made.
I saw “Saving Mr. Banks” when it came out, and it was one of the first times I’ve ever heard an entire theater burst into applause at the end of a movie.
Dick Van Dyke who portrayed Bert in the film also portrayed Mr. Dawes Sr. and during the end credits, Navckid Keyd (an anagram for Dick Van Dyke) was credited for the role of Mr. Dawes Sr. instead of Van Dyke. Eventually, the letters arrange themselves into his real name.
Just to piggyback off of this, the 'old' makeup was so successful on Van Dyke (and hes such a great actor with physicality) that people would actually mistake him for an old man. There are stories of him chasing after carts on tour of the backlot dressed as an old man just to baffle people at how spry and fast the old man actually was xD
It's also interesting to me that in the "old Mr. Dawes" makeup he looked almost exactly the way he looks now in 2023 (as could be seen on his recent appearance on the Masked Singer). The makeup artists on Mary Poppins did such an excellent job of aging him in a way that was totally natural to his face, no wonder it worked so well!
This is truly one of the greatest masterpieces Disney ever released. The amount of effort Walt put into it's production is unimaginable. It also contains his favorite song, "Feed The Birds." I love it and every other song in here.
Back in those days, it was extremely common for wealthier families to hire nannies and leave the kids to be fully raised by them. Parents rarely spent time with their kids. They wouldn't even eat meals together. The kids practically lived in their nursery, which was usually in the attic. There would be about 10mins before the kids went to bed where they would go downstairs to see their parents and there would rarely be any affection. The father would ask about their schooling and that's about all. For a father, in particular, to be affectionate with his kids was very looked down on. It's the British "stiff upper lip". To raise a child with love and affection was to make the child soft and subsequently that child would fail at life. Of course, now we know the opposite is true.
This was actually the first movie to use animatronics. Disney used it for the bird. Dick Van Dyke is such an amazing actor. Even at 97years old he can still sing and get around. He was just on the Masked Singer. Julie Andrews is amazing as well. They were going to give her a cameo in the sequel but she declined she said it’s Emily’s show and I really want it to be Emily’s show.
Ah, okay, that’s cool, then - for the longest time, I thought Andrews declined the role because she didn’t want to be part of a sequel cash-grab. With that said, I’m aware that the late Angela Lansbury cameoed in _Mary Poppins Returns_ , possibly in reference to that she was originally considered for the role of Mary in the original film. And funnily enough, Julie Andrews was asked to play Miss Price in _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_ , but turned it down due to concerns of typecasting, and thus the role went to Lansbury instead.
It is also possible that Andrews did not want any pressure of having to sing. She had surgery on her vocal cords several years ago, and the surgeon did some damage. She really doesn't sing anymore, which I find very sad.
Animatronics have existed long before electricity was harnessed by humans. East asian cultures had some.... very disturbing and realistic exhibits before British, Dutch, or Spanish ships arrived at their ports. IMO, I think we as a species haven't given the medium much advancement with electronics and miniaturization as we can. Though, I don't think we should at the same time.
I was one of those kids in 1964 when Mary Poppins was released. It was truly magical and was advertised as Walt Disney's Greatest Achievement. It won 5 Academy Awards including Best Song and Julie Andrews as Best Actress. The choreographer, Marc Breaux became one of my dearest friends and I'm also in touch with several of the chimney sweeps. BTW, the Robin was audioanimatronic and not a puppet. Disney also employed Peter Ellenshaw who was considered one of the best matte painters in Hollywood.
I was lucky enough to meet Julie Andrews back in 2001 at a book convention. She was signing her latest children’s book. The con had high-demand signings for ticket-holders only, and you would line up at 5:30 in the morning to get your tickets at 7 before the con opened at 9. I was in line very early that day, got my Julie Andrews ticket along with the other big-name authors, and was walking away from the ticket booths when they announced that her tickets were all gone, the first announcement of the day. The groans of sheer disappointment from those still in line was huge. When I finally was face-to-face with her, all I could think was “OMG, I am standing three feet from Mary Freakin’ Poppins!!!” while I just burbled out loud how much of a fan I was of hers. She.looked.AMAZING!! Utterly charming, everything you hope for when meeting such an icon.
This was my favourite film as a kid and I still love it. It stayed with me that in my youth I wrote short story called "Every Second Tuesday" about what Mary Poppins gets up to on her days off
Another great Disney Musical from this era to watch is Bedknobs and Broomsticks with Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson (the father) from this film. A few fun facts for this film: 1. Many of the "women" who wait outside to apply for the nanny position are actually men because they couldn’t find enough ugly women. 2. In the animation sequence people like the songwriters, Julie Andrews and multiple others do voices and David Tomlinson voiced Mary Poppins Parrot umbrella at the end. 3. The choreographers Marx Beraux and Dee Dee Wood would go on to do the choreography for many other classic musicals including: The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Slipper and the Rose. 4. The woman who played the Bird Woman is legendary Actress Jane Darwell who starred in over 100 films and at the time she had been retired, but Walt Disney convinced her to be in the film and personally sent a car to pick her up everyday and treated her like Royalty. This was her last film before her death and she said how wonderful it was especially the way Walt was for her. 5. Besides being Bert in the film Dick Van Dyke as Mr Dawes Sr when he would be dressed up in all that makeup he would troll the backlot tours by making them think it was an old man and cross in front of them as slowly as possible then right as they were about to pull away he would sprint off as quickly as possible! Also that credit was at the end of the end credits as Navckid Keyd and then the letters unscramble themselves to spell Dick Van Dyke plus there is a chorus reprise of Let’s Go Fly a Kite: ua-cam.com/video/Kt4IoCOztMU/v-deo.html 6. Julie Andrews was hoping to be in the film version of My Fair Lady which she started on broadway, but Warner Brothers wanted someone who was actually a star as Julie had not been in a film yet so they went with Audrey Hepburn. However the story doesn’t end there as Julie Andrews was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy opposite Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady and she won and in her acceptance speech she ended it with “Finally my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and made this all possible in the first place Mr Jack Warner.” and everyone lost it including Mr Warner. Then at the Academy Awards this film was nominated for 13 Oscars and won for: Best Actress, Best Song for Chim Chim Cheree, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing. It was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Costume Design, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Scoring Treatment, and Sound unfortunately losing many of those to My Fair Lady. 7. Ed Wynn (Uncle Albert) was the Mad Hatter Walt always wanted to have him in something he appeared in several other Disney films including: The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, and Babes in Toyland. 8. When they were in the early development stages of the film Walt gave his songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman a copy of the book to read of what they thought would be good material for the film and they underlined six chapters in red crayon and when they went in to see Walt they handed him the book and he chuckled because in his copy of the book he had underlined the exact same six chapters in red crayon as well. 9. The inspiration for the song “A Spoonful of Sugar came with Richard Sherman’s son came home from school and he asked what had happened to learn he had been given the polio vaccine to which his dad asked if it hurt and he explained no they put the medicine on a sugar cube on a spoon and we swallowed it. A literal spoonful of sugar helped the medicine go down. 10. When the brothers were playing songs for Walt one day a couple hours they thought would work for the film at the end he asked them to play that bird woman song again to which Walt walked over to the window saying “That’s what it’s all about isn’t it?” Referring to the theme of the film. It was Walt’s favorite song the studio ever made and every Friday Walt would meet with the brother and just talk about things going on at the studio and other projects and at the end of their meeting he would always ask them to play the song by saying “Play it” and when they finished it he would send them off saying “Have a good weekend boys.” 11. Even after Walt’s death Richard Sherman would still go into Walt’s office on a Friday afternoon and play the song and on what would have been Walt’s 100th Birthday he went the celebration when the dedication of the Partners statue was unveiled and played the song saying it was only for Walt at the end of the song he blew a kiss to the statue said Happy Birthday and walked off, but he was told later on that when he was nearing the end of the song out of the clear blue sky a single bird came down near the piano and off back into the sky. 12. All of Mary Poppins was filmed indoors. 13. The old woman that children encountered when they run away from the bank is the actress who voiced Cruella De Vil in “101 Dalmatians”. 14. P.L. Travers who was the original author of the Mary Poppins books had refused Walt Disney’s offers to make it into a film for over 20 years and so in the late 50’s he actually went to meet her in her London home hoping to use his personal charm on her and so soon after she finally gave him the rights to make the film, but during the early stages Robert Sherman who was one of the songwriters along with his brother said “She was a witch” and absolutely hated everything everyone was wanting to do, but she was basically only a consultant, after the release of the film she wanted nothing to do with it and in the early 90’s she allowed the studio to only do two things in regards to the property.If they so choose to a sequel film could be done. A broadway show, but no one involved with the original film could be part of that project, 15. When Glynis Johns received the call from Walt to be in the film she though she was going to play Mary Poppins, but Walt wanted her as the mother and so she said as a little incentive if she could haver her own song for the film and so the Sherman Brothers rewrote a previous unused song called “Practically Perfect” into “Sister Suffragette”, 16. Many songs and sequences for the film were thought up including where the children would spin a compass and it would take them to different areas and a different song for each area where one was called North Pole Polka, another Tea in Timbuktu, while the other two unused songs found their way in other Disney films later on with The Land of Sand being reworked to become Trust in Me in The Jungle Book from 1967, and The Beautiful Briny Sea would end up in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 17. Several of the chimney sweep dancers were the old men on the bench in Enchanted during the song “That’s How you Know” 18. Know before Walt had chose Julie to play Mary Poppins several people that were thought of as possibilities included: Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury then one sunday night the Sherman Brothers saw on the Ed Sullivan Show an excerpt performance of a broadway show called Camelot where Julie Andrews was the lead actress and they knew immediately she was the one so the next day they marched into Don Dagradi’s (another writer on the film) office and he said to them did you see the Ed Sullivan Show last night so all three of them went to Walt’s office and so then Walt went to see a performance of Camelot in New York and met with her after the show and was able to convince her to be in the film and Walt was willingly to wait as she was pregnant at the time and Julie’s husband then also ended up part of the film as he designed all of the costumes, 18. Dick Van Dyke ended up in the film because of an article Walt read of how he didn’t like that films then were becoming as he described as “dirty pictures” also it helped that basically everyone knew who Dick was as he had a hit tv show with The Dick Van Dyke show and this was only his second film after being in a film version of the broadway show Bye Bye Birdie, 19. The inspiration for the song Let’s Go Fly a Kite was actually from the Sherman Brothers childhood as there dad as they said would make these wonderful kites that would fly all day, 20. The inspiration for the song Step in Time is actually an old english folk song called Knees Up Mother Brown and the Sherman Brothers learned about it as Peter Ellenshaw who did the vidual effects and matte paintings and glass paintings for the film was basically they resident Brit taught the dance to on3 of the writer Bill Walsh and Walt Disney and Richard Sherman saw the three of them with their elbows linked together in the office kicking their knees up, 20. The inspiration for the song Supercalifragilisticexpiladocious was the Sherman Brothers wanted to make it so Mary Poppins gave the children a gift in the form of this ridiculously long word and the medley for it was two British Folk Songs: Boiled Beef and Carrots along with Any Old Iron, 21. When on the carousel the horses match their personalities, 22. The two children in the film Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber appeared in a total of three films for Disney together this was their second the previous is The Three Lives of Thomasina and the latter was The Gnome Mobile unfortunately Matthew would die of Food poisoning in the 70’s, 23. The reason there is Penguins is instead of waiters is that Walt Disney saw Storyboards where they were men and he said “Waiters always reminded me of penguins”. One other thing I want to note is my advising against watching Saving Mr. Banls and Mary Poppins Returns.
I adore this movie, it's whimsical, fun, and like Mary Poppins herself, practically perfect in every way. The only downside is Dick Van Dkye's less than convincing Cockney accent. Definitely one of Julie Andrews' finest performances.
apperently he had no idea that the accent was bad when they were filming! he was surrounded by actual british people (like literal julie freaking andrews) and no one told him how bad it was! he was shocked on opening night of the film when he heard himself 😂
Julie Andrews won the Oscar for Best Actress for this film, her first film. The story of how it came about is quite funny. Julie was getting a lot of attention after her performance as Eliza Doolittle in the original cast of 'My Fair Lady' on Broadway and in London with Rex Harrison. She was getting the offer for 'Mary Poppins' in her L.A. agent's office, when another agent ran in and said, "We did it! We got Audrey Hepburn for 'My Fair Lady' at Warner Brothers". They didn't realize Julie Andrews was there. Jack Warner, head of Warner Brothers and producer of the film had got two of the other original cast members for the film but didn't think Julie could carry the role on screen. So, 'My Fair Lady' was made with Audrey Hepburn as Eliza, Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins, and Stanley Holloway as Alfie Doolittle (both of whom won accolades in the original cast and reprised their roles). Come Oscar time, 'Mary Poppins' and 'My Fair Lady' were released the same year...and Audrey was not even nominated for Best Actress. I have heard that part of it was she was penalized for not doing her own singing, and part of it was she refused the nomination knowing that Julie Andrews should have played Eliza. Not entirely sure. What did happen was Julie won Best Actress for 'Mary Poppins' and Rex Harrison won Best Actor for 'My Fair Lady'. Dick Van Dyke was also a Broadway veteran as he did the musical 'Bye Bye Birdie' and reprised his role for the film version the year before 'Mary Poppins' came out. He was starring in his comedy series 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' on television at the same time he did 'Mary Poppins'. He is 97, still going strong...and even appeared in 'Mary Poppins Returns'.
I don't know if you guys have seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but it's a wonderfully fun Dick van dyke movie with some amazing dance sequences. Can't recommend enough, it's really good
Fun fact: The main Disney composers for the time, the Sherman Brothers, had a clause in their contract to allow them to do one non-Disney movie of their choice. They ended up deciding to do Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (which is probably why a lot of people think it is a Disney movie, though it very much isn't) It was also based on a book by Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) and the screenplay was co-written by Roald Dahl (of Matilda, the Witches, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame. He also did a screenplay for a James Bond movie)
Agree on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Me Ol' Bamboo is one of my favorite musical sequences ever. They should check out Bedknobs and Broomsticks too, which also has both live action and animation.
Frank Thomas, famous of the 9 old men animators, jokingly complained that Bert was stepping all over his animated penguins, so the penguins had to duck and jump under and over Bert's feet. Walt Disney wanted to make sure that keen eyes didn't know exactly what technique they used so he did a bunch of different techniques in each scene, much like a magician. The bird was animatronic, in fact one of the first and especially impressive for one so small, Mr President Lincoln and the tiki room birds were the predecessors. Julie Andrews did the bird whistling, so basically she sang with herself twice in one song.
Saving Mr. Banks should be next without a doubt. Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, and the story behind the making of this movie, which was the most heart wrenching thing I've seen in a while.
Actually, I rather like the sequel! It’s not a classic like the original, but it is solid, nonetheless. The music is decent, and the acting is top-notch. It references a lot of the original, too, so lots of fan service.
Yaaaay, one of my all time favourite movies! Feed the Birds always makes me cry! As an adult, this movie hits me hard with the serious issues. Those children have everything they could possibly want, except for what they need... Their fathers time and love. Mary Poppins comes to help the father, not the children. That always hits me hard. You guys should definitely watch Mary Poppins Returns and Saving Mr Banks!!!! 🥰
The effect process they used was explained on an episode of Corridor crew. The background was black and there was a special camera that was literally unique in how it recorded
I love Bert's talk with Mr. Banks at the end. He is extremely blunt with him and you can see in Banks' eyes that it lands and lands hard with him. He's finally able to see things past the end of his nose. And then his walk to the bank late at night, alone, slowly, knowing he is about to be fired... it's beautifully set up and acted.
I really admire you guys going back to watch all these Disney features. It definitely brings back memories to when I watched them as a kid. Much appreciated guys 🙏🏾
You said at one stage how kids reacted to this in the 60's, I don't know about that but as a teenager in the mid 80's I absolutely laughed my head off, how I didn't end up on the ceiling is beyond me, lol. Between Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks they are absolutely master pieces, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks should be the next movie to watch, seriously funny
Yes, Mr. Banks is in this one. He plays a down on his luck magician who finds a woman who can cast his spells he found from an old book. So entertaining!
I'm 63 years old and this was the first movie I saw in a theatre in 1964. It made a HUGE impression on me. It started my love of movies and Disney. Please watch Mary Popping Returns and Saving Mr. Banks. Great job guys!
I saw Mary Poppins in the theater when it came out in 1964. I was eight. It was magical. The songs were so memorable that we were able to sing them on the way home.
I recommend Bedknobs and Broomsticks because it's similar with it being partly animated. Also the actor who plays Mr Banks is in it and it stars Angela Landsbury. A great film!
The bird was an animatronic, with the cables hidden behind her hand along her arm. The screen is “yellow screen” or sodium Vapor process. And the very old man at the bank was also played by Dick Van Dyke.
George Banks is iconic. I love how at the beginning, he is so in his own head that he completely misses every sign that something is wrong. He just wants to live his boring and overly structured life, but everything is coming apart around him.
Actually for the scene at the park with the animation was with the first ever "Yellow Screen" in which Wadsworth E. Pohl used the yellow from sodium vapor and hand crafted a unique prism for the editing process. After the movie was released everyone was astounded how in the park there was no blue or green hue on the outsides of the actors and many tried to get their hands on the prism or begged Wadsworth to make another, but he was only able to make one. Which led this movie to be one of the only disney films awarded an Oscar and best animated feature while Walt Disney was still alive.
THIS IS A DISNEY MASTERPIECE👍👍🔥. SO HAPPY THAT YOU GUYS REACTED TO THIS😁😁. I LOVE YOUR REACTIONS/ANALYSIS, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK GUYS AND HAVE A GOOD ONE👍♥️
Katy Nana, the first Nanny who storms out, is played by Elsa Lanchester, best known as the original actress to play the Bride of Frankenstein/Frankenstein's Monster in the 1935 film. Poor kids, makes me wanna go hey what's under the hat, Katy Nana? 😅😆
Fun fact: The Nanny who tried to quit at the beginning of the film was the actress who played the title role in "The Bride of Frankenstein." Her name is Elsa Lancaster. She's also been in a hilarious and over-the-top murder mystery by Neil Simon called "Murder by Death" co-starring with a hilarious and talented all-star cast. It's prior to but with the same motif as "Clue." Worth checking out. Mary Poppins remains my all-time favorite Disney movie. It's a beautiful story with incredible songs. Now that you've seen this, you will love the backstory to how this movie almost never got made. Mary Poppins was a series of books written by "P.L.Travers" a pseudonym for an Australian author. Interestingly, the Mary Poppins in the novels is very different from that which is portrayed in this movie. She was not jolly or fun. She was commanding, gruff, strict, but also clever and controlling. The movie you'll want to see now is "Saving Mr. Banks." Excellent cast! Beautiful story. You'll see that Mary Poppins, the movie you just watched, is much more than just a cute and fun story. For "P.L. Travers" it was deeply personal and a story of profound pain. Walt Disney's movie, while not accurate to the novels as it relates to the character of Mary Poppins herself, but fairly well accurate in the various "adventures" she took the children on, was more important for what he did for "Pamela Travers" and the love he had for the characters in this story; the people in her life. You'll love Marry Poppins on a whole new level. I hope you'll react to "Saving Mr. Banks" very soon. It would be most interesting to see your take on Mary Poppins after learning about what it meant to both P.L. Travers and Walt Disney. I think you both will be mightily impressed. Love you guys.
Excellent analysis, gentlemen! 59:42 Your perceptive take on the deeper themes of this classic are right on. You remind us why the film works so well. Mary Poppins as a whole strikes a perfect balance between the lighthearted and more serious, challenging parts of life. A rare gem made even more special by the iconic songs, designs, and legendary performances. Julie Andrews' best actress Oscar she received for the role was well-deserved. Thanks for reacting to this. Enjoyed it!!
There's a fun recent film that details the making of this film. It's called "Saving Mr. Banks", starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. It's a Disney film, so there's a lot of Waltwashing, but it's a fun look at how something like this gets made. It focuses on the relationship between the writer of the book, PJ Travers, and Disney and his crew. It was a contentious relationship, as she really didn't want them to make the film at all, but that's what makes the story fun. You get to see a script breakdown; design decisions made; and music composed, developed, and approved (nothing went through without Walt's explicit say-so). Really worth a look.
Part of the reason to use a matte painting is because the time period is Edwardian England and there would not be landscape sized photos of that particular view/pan. Disney was famous for having some of the best matte painters on its staff.
“The robins… were animatronic figures. This makes it an example of one of the first uses of animatronics in film history. The animatronic robins were created by Walt Disney and his team of Imagineers.” “The magic behind the bird was the ring on her finger, which was connected to cables going up her arm. …A team was controlling the robin's every movement through the piece of jewelry.”
My favorite trivia with this beloved film is the fact that Walt Disney specifically wanted Julie Andrews to play Mary Poppins so much, that when he offered her the role and she declined due to being pregnant at the time, he said, "That's alright, we can wait for you."
"Feed The Birds" was known to be Walt Disney's favorite song up until he died. He would ask the Sherman Brothers (The ones who wrote the songs for the movie) to perform the song all the time in his office.
At the time of filming Mary Poppins, Disney was in the initial steps of the first Animatronics ever created, for their original Disneyland attraction “The Enchanted Tiki Room”. So they used the same experience for the movie. And there’s no chroma-key at that time (Green and Blue screen). They used to combine real sets painted like cartoons for the actors, plus animation added later in transparent cells superimposed. A masterpiece job, considering the time of release in the 60’s. A true Disney classic!
Cool facts: The bird in the "Spoonful of Sugar" scene (in the nursery) is animatronic. The wires for it ran on either side of Julie Andrews arm depending on which way she was facing the camera when filming. She also provided the whistling for the bird as well. The Sherman Brothers, who provided the music and lyrics for the movie, were stuck on getting a title and working lyrics for a song. Richard Sherman's niece (I believe, I could be wrong) came home one day and said she had gotten the Polio vaccine. She said they gave it to them on a small cube of sugar and then administered on kids on a spoon. Well, you can probably guess what happened...Richard Sherman suddenly had a song!
This came out when I was 4 years old, and it's one of the first movies I ever remember seeing in a theater. My mother bought the soundtrack album, and over the next 10 years or so it was on the record player constantly. I still have most of the songs memorized. And the penguin waiters later show up as waiters in the Ink and Paint Club in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Dick Van Dyke was still doing his iconic TV show when he made this movie and it doesn't bother him when people criticize his accent.
Dick Van Dyke also played Mr. Dawes Senior. He used to prank people on the film lot. People would be going by doing tours on buses, and he would walk in front of the bus very slowly in his old man costume, and then as soon as the bus went by, he would take off running as fast as he could to catch up with the bus. He said he never got tired of seeing the looks on their faces.. 😂
I watched a documentary on the making of Mary Poppins and the bird was animatronic, but Julie had a bunch of wires running through her sleeves so that the technicians could make the bird function in the scene.
Terrific reaction! This was the first movie I was taken to see. I was 4 and it was during the movie’s original release. It was the most important cultural event of my childhood. In a good way, I never really got over it. BTW, a few months after MP, my parents took me to see The Sound of Music… and I was under the impression that all movies were about Julie Andrews taking care of children with mean fathers. 😂
I have always had the feeling that when Bert was a child Mary Poppins was his nanny and that is how he knows her. Their relationship always seemed more friendly than romantic, though its clear they have a very special bond. As far as Mary herself, she seems like some sort of mystical character who exists in between this world and some other universe that she can travel between without ever aging.
So glad you watched Mary Poppins! One of my fav Disney movies from childhood. If you liked how Disney played with live action and animation in one movie I highly suggest you watch their other great "musicals " - Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pete's Dragon.
The chimney sweep dance was originally planned to last 9 minutes. It took six weeks to rehearse. When the producers tried to cut it to 2 minutes, Walt Disney objected and bumped it up to 14 minutes.
i think y'all need to do saving mr. banks next. i can't watch this movie without hearing the line about "oh you think she comes to save the children??" puts an entirely different perspective on the story of mary poppins for me.
Small detail I really appreciate since I have a major in horse science; in the chalk drawing scene, when you see the fox hunt, the way that the horses are animated to run is exactly how British artists originally drew/painted horses that were in a gallop. Then when you switch to the race, the horses are animated to run anatomically correct. This is because before 1887 and the invention of the camera where they could break the gait down beat by beat, artists would paint galloping horses so that all four feet were off the ground in the outstretched bound (the way we see it during the fox hunt). It's easy to see that when you're not used to watching the horse or when you're trying to remember it in your head. In reality, during a gallop, there is only a split second when all four feet are off the ground and it's when the front and hind feet are curled together. Other than that split second, each foot lands on the ground by itself, creating the four beat gait. So instead of two feet in front and two feet in back, one front leg will be before the other, and one back will be before the other. So back right lands, back left lands, front left lands, front right lands, all off the ground. There is no point during a typical gallop where two feet are on the ground at the same time My point is, throwing in the traditional form as artists originally thought of it, along with the actual way that a horse runs, feels like they're indicating that the chalk drawings come from multiple times or multiple perspectives On a complete side note, Savings Mr. Banks is a great film. It's about the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, and Disney working together to figure out how this movie could work. In terms of how accurate it is, a bit debatable, but it does make for an interesting movie
Thoroughly enjoyed this one, and ngl was nice just seeing you 2 reacting to it like old times. I HIGHLY suggest saving Mr banks. It's a movie based on the making of Mary Poppins, starring Emma Thompson as the lady who wrote the Mary Poppins books, and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney trying to get the rights from her to make the film. Collin Ferrell is also in it. They all give fantastic performances! It's one that really took me by surprise. Didn't have too high expectations when I first sat down to watch it, but turned out to be one of my favorite movies. It's also unexpectedly emotional in parts. A real gem that is criminally underrated imo I'd skip the sequel though if I were you. It lacked all the substance the original brought to the table. Just another lazy cash grab unfortunately
This is one of my favourites! Thanks for reacting to it. Many girls my age wanted to be princesses as young girls - I wanted to be Mary Poppins! Even the other day when I came home to a mess, I “Mary Poppin”ed the space in a hurry and kept hearing the spoonful of sugar song in my head
Loved the reaction. Very curious about what you'd think watching "Saving Mr. Banks" now that you've watched this. That's sorta "behind the scenes" depicting the author's backstory/inspiration, Walt Disney trying to convince her to allow this to be made at all along with struggles of making the movie with the author very involved in the process.
I saw this movie when it came out; I was eight. I remember being so excited. I read the book on which it was based, and had to have the Mary Poppins doll. Did you know Dick van Dyke also played the old, old bank president? This is still my favorite Disney film.
An absolute favorite. This was the Disney film that most distinctly marked the change in my life from Childhood to Adulthood. I watched it a lot when I was little, enjoying it for the fun. Then I went years without seeing it. I watched it again shortly after I graduated high school, because I remembered that it was my dad's favorite, and for the first time the entire ending sequence with Mr. Banks landed for me, and made me cry. It's such a beautiful, genuine movie, and Mary Poppins is such a fantastic lead. The choice to make the most fantastical character in the movie play the role of the straight man was genius. Fun fact time: If I'm remembering correctly, "Step in Time" was almost cut to a much much shorter dance sequence, or even scrapped entirely during production. But upon actually seeing what they'd been working on, it was decided it would stay in. It's a brilliant dance sequence, and there's a cool video out there with modern professional dancers trying to break it down and learn some of the choreography. It's NOT EASY. One more: In Enchanted, there were a lot of cameos from past Disney projects. In "That's How You Know," the sequence in Central Park, there is a moment where some older gents dance over to some older ladies to offer them huge yellow daisies. These old men were in fact dancers who had played Chimney Sweeps in Mary Poppins. :) Another one!: Julie Andrews was a successful Broadway actress before this, having had big success playing Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." When that musical was adapted into a movie, despite the director wanting her to reprise the role, Jack Warner, head of Warner Bros, vetoed the idea, instead opting for the better known Audrey Hepburn for the role. The same year, Julie Andrews was asked to play Mary Poppins, and beat out Hepburn for the Golden Globe (Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy) and the Oscar (Best Actress in a Leading Role). In her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, she said "My thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner.” Absolute icon. Glad you enjoyed the movie!
Re: the “benign neglect” of the parents I suspect that this is perceived as very typical of parents in this particular timeframe, at their particular “station” or socioeconomic class. They could afford servants so they didn’t get involved in the daily raising of the children.
The line that has me wondering what is the backstory is the Cook yelling, “They’re at it again!” in the “Step in Time” song. Have the sweeps gone crazy in the neighborhood before this? I love the depiction of Cherry Tree Lane as having been filled with weird goings-on long before Mary Poppins shows up (see Admiral Boom).
What animation should we watch next??
can you gyus watch monsters vs aliens movie
Y'all should watch "My Life As a Zucchini"
@@jenb_3048 i heard about that movie, but i couldn't tell if it was english or different language, and i never seen the movie.
@@awesomescarlet3.0 it's in French. I personally like that it's in French I think it matches the art style and all that.
Heavy Metal
Fun facts
-This is Julie Andrews first film and she won an Oscar for her role
- the scene where they have jumped into the chalk painting and have changed outfits is the first scene they filmed (therefore, the first movie scene Julie Andrews ever did)
- for the animators, one of the hardest scenes to animate was the penguin dance scene due to the crazy dance steps Dick Van Dyke did. They had to keep redrawing it or the penguins would get kicked
- the Robin animatronic with robotics like the ones in Disneyland
- Mrs. Banks original name was Cynthia and it was changed to Winifred
- Feed the birds was Walt Disney’s favorite song
- Step in time was originally going to be shorter, but when Walt Disney saw the choreographers doing the dance with Mary Poppins, Walt Disney wanted that included in the movie, in addition to adding more stunts.
- Dick Van Dyke plays Mr. Dawes the old man. The children did not know that was Dick Van Dyke while they were filming, so their reactions are genuine.
- the actor that plays Uncle Albert plays the mad hatter in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland
What a first film to get. So much material to demonstrate your skills with!
@@oscargill423 And Sound of Music was right after this, too, so Julie Andrews's start to the film world was truly practically perfect in every way.
@@nickthedreamer4434 How do you get so lucky a care-er?
This was her first movie, but Julie Andrews had already starred in three successful Broadway musicals *(The Boyfriend, My Fair Lady,* and *Camelot)* and in two television musicals *(High Tor* with Bing Crosby, and the original version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's *Cinderella).*
Yes. The birds were animatronic. In fact Walt Disney Productions pioneered and developed animatronics for films and at their various theme parks, notably The Hall Of Presidents at Disney World, where animatronic Presidents speak to the guests.
I know the animatronic bird on Julie Andrew’s finger, the wires ran across her hand but weren’t insulated properly, so it was zapping the heck out of her finger during that scene, the fact she kept singing with a straight face, that’s great commitment
she also did the whistling for the bird too
That last part I never heard!
And that bird is now the bird in one of the stage scenes at The Carousel of Progress in WDW Magic Kingdom
There’s a picture of her with the wires going up her arm to the bird. She looks like a cyborg.
Yes! It's not easy… especially for a very lively and happy song A Spoonful of Sugar✨… I really couldn't imagine how she shot that scene till I saw many pictures of her in that scene behind the camera😱😢…
That entire scene when Mr. Banks walks to the bank is gold. It's almost completely silent, the first time he's really gone that slow and silent the whole film, and then he gets to St. Paul's Cathedral and notices the old woman isn't there. Is she somewhere else? Is she dead? We don't know, and there's a chance he'll never see her again, which just reinforces Bert's message that his kids will be older and gone before he knows it. Also, if no one's mentioned, Dick Van Dyke also played the older bank President as well, so he did a FANTASTIC job in this movie.
I recommend watching the movie "Saving Mr. Banks," which is about the process of this movie being made. While it's not entirely true to reality (the author of the original novel really didn't like this movie), it does a great job of looking at the inspiration for the characters.
Dick Van Dyke also plays the older Mr. Dawes, owner of the bank. It's so cool to see that he actually ended up looking like that, haha
That's funny. Michael J. Fox does not look like he did in the older version of himself in BBF 2
No way! I didn't know that!
He doesn't look like that. He looks a lot younger than Mr Dawes
He still looks younger than that at 98 😂
And he reprised that character in saving Mr. Banks.
This is still one of the most hauntingly beautiful films ever created, and is so much deeper in its themes and characters than it is typically given credit for! The "Feed the Birds" song, and the long sequence of Mr. Banks slowly walking through the dark streets of London knowing that he's about to lose his job - the one thing he's built his entire life around, ugh, my eyes sting every single time. I cannot wait to watch this, I'm sure you'll both adore it!
Took the words out of my mouth; that scene with Mr. Banks walking the empty street with that beautiful music is one of my favorite movie scenes. To quote the movie Saving Mr. Banks "It's not the children she comes to save. It's their father."
@@desertrose777 Precisely! I know it can sound exaggerated or pretentious, but that breathtaking score with those magnificent shots really makes you just want to keep quiet and reflect, what else can be said? (I'm sure plenty, but I'm always at a loss, lol.)
When Walt was sick he'd go up to the Sherman Brothers office and ask them to sing Feed the Birds for him before he'd go home.
I lived in London for a while in my really young days and would quite often see older Ladies with bags of bread crumbs sitting on those steps feeding birds.For some reason every time I see that part of this movie it does make me a bit sad and brings back those memories.I also like what you said about Mr. Banks forlornly walking through the dark streets knowing he's about to be fired.
I’m so glad you guys picked up on the mother also being a sort’ve banal negligent parent, like negligent in a relatively innocent way. The movie is also great in that it does not make the parents entirely villainous for having ambitions, it just wants them to pull the camera back and realize they aren’t the only person on stage, they have children they need to love, guide, and enjoy before it’s too late for them to have that kind of fun.
During the late 1800s and early part of the 20th century, it was very common for upper middle class families to have several servants. Children were raised by nannies and governesses, until they went off to boarding school at about the age of 10. British upper middle class children were "seen and not heard". Upper classes still do not raise their own children. Just take the royals for example.
A true Disney masterpiece. Julie Andrews & Dick van Dyke are magnificent & thankfully, both still with us. I always cry at Let’s Go Fly a Kite ❤
1968 - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is another classic musical that came out a few years after this. Definitely worth a look! Dick Van Dyke is in it as well!
Edit: Haven't watched the full reaction, but I hope you noticed that the bag from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, was Mary Poppins infinite bag :)
Edit 2: "Despite their short amount of screen time in the film, the robins seen in Mary Poppins were animatronic figures. This makes it an example of one of the first uses of animatronics in film history." I also read that she controlled them when on her finger with strings connected to her ring going up her arm and other puppeteers.
Edit 3: Uncle Albert was played by Ed Wynn. Aka the Mad Hatter in the original Alice in Wonderland. Them having tea while floating 14 years after his role in that movie having tea has to be a throwback.
Edit 4: The part is over, but did you realize Mr. Dawes Senior (bank owner) was also Dick Van Dyke?
one of my favorites as well. my grandparents had the vinyl soundtrack to that one and i'd always dance to it in their living room. dick van dyke's dancing and physical comedy are unparalleled
Bedknobs and Broomsticks and the original Pete’s dragon with Helen Reddy and Mickey Rooney would also be fun to see.
@@hilarypotter3334 pete's dragon!! i forgot about pete's dragon!!oh that would be so much fun as well.
Chatty chatty Bang Bang is kind of a messed up movie!!!! But Bedknobs and Broomsticks is very much in this genre. Cute.
@@isomABC dick van dyke is one of my
All time favorite actors so I love chitty chitty bang bang but I always fast forward the part with the child catcher. That guy was wayy too creepy. Lol
Walt Disney had wanted to do an adaptation of Mary Poppins since 1938 and it was through his daughter, Diane Disney who read and was a fan of the Mary Poppins books that convince her dad to have it adapted.
But for 20 years he struggled to get the film adaptation rights to the Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers because Travers was very strict on having her books be adapted into a film cause apparently she has seen several film adaptations based on books being adapted into film by Hollywood and wasn’t a fan of them, it was by 1959 when Travers met Walt Disney that eventually won her over and according to Travers she said _"Talking to Walt was like talking to a friendly charming uncle who took from his pocket a gold pocket watch and dangle it enticingly before your eyes."_
Unfortunately Travers wasn’t a fan of the actual film itself as she criticized the film's version of Mary Poppins being too nice and disliked the Animated sequences.
I would recommend reacting to the biopic _Saving Mr. Banks_ starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks which explored the behind the scenes and of Walt trying to convince P.L. Travers to adapt Mary Poppins into a film.
The effect of the animation sequence was achieved by using Sodium Vapor Process (Yellow screen).
This method is very interesting! It starts with using a white screen with sodium vapor lighting, creating a specific shade of yellow. Not only did this color make it possible for the actors to wear blue (which is difficult with a blue screen), but so specific that the cast was also able to wear yellow and not interfere with the effect. Showing that this process gave great accuracy while isolating the subjects.
The sodium vapor process was so superior that Hitchcock borrowed it from Disney for The Birds. Sodium vapor created a near perfect matte so you did not get the halo common with blue screen of the period.
This is how they were able to do the chroma-key of Mary’s tulle hat and get the transparency effects. The prismatic lens for that camera alone is worth geeking out over - essentially a one-of-a-kind creation from space elves that was never duplicated.
“Feed the Birds” is so much more meaningful than it sounds at first. When Disney heard it he said something like, “That’s it isn’t it? It only costs a little bit to add a little kindness to the world.” For the rest of his life, when he said to the composer, “Play it”, Sherman knew this is what he wanted to hear.
I think it also played at his funeral. I cry whenever I hear it
It's heartbreaking that Matthew Garber, who played Michael Banks, died from hepatitis he'd contracted while in India. He was only 21 years old. 💔
Oh my goodness, seriously?! I had no idea! How sad.
Saving Mr Banks makes this movie way more emotional than I wanted it to be lol
The actress who played Miss Persimmon at 2:50 was the person who wore the mask in the original version of Palpatine in ESB (who had a different actor dub the lines) until McDiarmid replaced them in the new editions.
The actress who played the woman scaring the kids at 42:53 was the woman who voiced Cruella de Vil.
And the guy who played Uncle Albert was the Mad Hatter in AiW.
And Pooh in the early cartoons, ka the snake and more.
@@JulieShock??NO!! KA THE SNAKE 🐍 IN J.B. WAS ACTED BY MR. STERLING HOLLOWAY; and the same actor was Mr. Stork who delivered DUMBO into the Circus 🎪 Train 🚂 🚃 🚃🚃🚃🚃 CASEY JUNIOR, 2-4-0 Class, even with Casey Jr. In motion!!!!!
Yes, it was animatronics. Very early animatronics. Also, Disney had their own version of blue-screen, called "sodium matte" which tended to yield much better results.
You guys should definitely watch Mary Poppins Returns and also Saving Mr. Banks which is the story of how Walt Disney convinced and fought with the Mary Poppins author to have the rights to make the movie. It's amazing
Agreed, please watch saving Mr. banks. Tom hanks does an awesome job playing Walt Disney and kind of looks like him as well in my opinion. It also gives you a better sense of what they went through to get this movie made.
Yes they are both great movies. Definitely Mary Poppins returns for Dick Van Dykes performance. Tom Hanks does do a great job portraying Walt Disney.
Yes 😀
I saw “Saving Mr. Banks” when it came out, and it was one of the first times I’ve ever heard an entire theater burst into applause at the end of a movie.
@@itsjuliescottyay Yes Saving Mr. Banks is excellent they should definitely give it a watch. It definitely deserved that applause.
Dick Van Dyke who portrayed Bert in the film also portrayed Mr. Dawes Sr. and during the end credits, Navckid Keyd (an anagram for Dick Van Dyke) was credited for the role of Mr. Dawes Sr. instead of Van Dyke. Eventually, the letters arrange themselves into his real name.
Just to piggyback off of this, the 'old' makeup was so successful on Van Dyke (and hes such a great actor with physicality) that people would actually mistake him for an old man. There are stories of him chasing after carts on tour of the backlot dressed as an old man just to baffle people at how spry and fast the old man actually was xD
It's also interesting to me that in the "old Mr. Dawes" makeup he looked almost exactly the way he looks now in 2023 (as could be seen on his recent appearance on the Masked Singer). The makeup artists on Mary Poppins did such an excellent job of aging him in a way that was totally natural to his face, no wonder it worked so well!
@@gailkreyns124 He does not look like that. He looks way younger in real life than he did as Mr Dawes
This is truly one of the greatest masterpieces Disney ever released. The amount of effort Walt put into it's production is unimaginable. It also contains his favorite song, "Feed The Birds." I love it and every other song in here.
'Look father, she's saying it!'
'Well, of course, she's saying it! What else would she be saying?'
Definitely. It's like Disney gave all of their real talent to Pixar.
But funny enough the author hated it. She was furious over this film.
It's impossible not to love Julie Andrew's in all of her roles!
Back in those days, it was extremely common for wealthier families to hire nannies and leave the kids to be fully raised by them. Parents rarely spent time with their kids. They wouldn't even eat meals together. The kids practically lived in their nursery, which was usually in the attic. There would be about 10mins before the kids went to bed where they would go downstairs to see their parents and there would rarely be any affection. The father would ask about their schooling and that's about all.
For a father, in particular, to be affectionate with his kids was very looked down on.
It's the British "stiff upper lip". To raise a child with love and affection was to make the child soft and subsequently that child would fail at life.
Of course, now we know the opposite is true.
This was actually the first movie to use animatronics. Disney used it for the bird. Dick Van Dyke is such an amazing actor. Even at 97years old he can still sing and get around. He was just on the Masked Singer. Julie Andrews is amazing as well. They were going to give her a cameo in the sequel but she declined she said it’s Emily’s show and I really want it to be Emily’s show.
Ah, okay, that’s cool, then - for the longest time, I thought Andrews declined the role because she didn’t want to be part of a sequel cash-grab.
With that said, I’m aware that the late Angela Lansbury cameoed in _Mary Poppins Returns_ , possibly in reference to that she was originally considered for the role of Mary in the original film. And funnily enough, Julie Andrews was asked to play Miss Price in _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_ , but turned it down due to concerns of typecasting, and thus the role went to Lansbury instead.
That’s interesting. I didn’t know that about Angela Lansbury. Her role in Mary Poppins Returns is what they had in mind for Julie Andrews.
@@bidwell13 Not to mention that Julie Andrews was in a movie that came out at the same time as Mary Poppins Returns (Aquaman)
It is also possible that Andrews did not want any pressure of having to sing. She had surgery on her vocal cords several years ago, and the surgeon did some damage. She really doesn't sing anymore, which I find very sad.
Yes, those were animatronics. They had them by then for film and the parks. Specifically the Tiki Room attraction.
Suddenly drawn back to The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room song. I think Hilary Duff did it ? Obviously way later than this movie.
Animatronics have existed long before electricity was harnessed by humans. East asian cultures had some.... very disturbing and realistic exhibits before British, Dutch, or Spanish ships arrived at their ports.
IMO, I think we as a species haven't given the medium much advancement with electronics and miniaturization as we can. Though, I don't think we should at the same time.
Apparently, "feed the birds" was Disney's favourite song from all the movies he ever worked on. His favourite movie that he made was Cinderella.
Oh that’s super interesting
I was one of those kids in 1964 when Mary Poppins was released. It was truly magical and was advertised as Walt Disney's Greatest Achievement. It won 5 Academy Awards including Best Song and Julie Andrews as Best Actress. The choreographer, Marc Breaux became one of my dearest friends and I'm also in touch with several of the chimney sweeps. BTW, the Robin was audioanimatronic and not a puppet. Disney also employed Peter Ellenshaw who was considered one of the best matte painters in Hollywood.
Right. The film was incredibly successful and adjusted for inflation, it's one of the top 20 grossing films of all time.
I saw it as a kid in the 90s (they showed it in theater at some point) and it was magically too.
I was lucky enough to meet Julie Andrews back in 2001 at a book convention. She was signing her latest children’s book. The con had high-demand signings for ticket-holders only, and you would line up at 5:30 in the morning to get your tickets at 7 before the con opened at 9. I was in line very early that day, got my Julie Andrews ticket along with the other big-name authors, and was walking away from the ticket booths when they announced that her tickets were all gone, the first announcement of the day. The groans of sheer disappointment from those still in line was huge. When I finally was face-to-face with her, all I could think was “OMG, I am standing three feet from Mary Freakin’ Poppins!!!” while I just burbled out loud how much of a fan I was of hers. She.looked.AMAZING!! Utterly charming, everything you hope for when meeting such an icon.
This was my favourite film as a kid and I still love it.
It stayed with me that in my youth I wrote short story called "Every Second Tuesday" about what Mary Poppins gets up to on her days off
Who else started vibing with the Chimney Sweepers when they were dancing on the rooftops? God I loved that scene.
It was magical seeing this as a young child, in a theater, when it first came out.
Another great Disney Musical from this era to watch is Bedknobs and Broomsticks with Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson (the father) from this film.
A few fun facts for this film:
1. Many of the "women" who wait outside to apply for the nanny position are actually men because they couldn’t find enough ugly women.
2. In the animation sequence people like the songwriters, Julie Andrews and multiple others do voices and David Tomlinson voiced Mary Poppins Parrot umbrella at the end.
3. The choreographers Marx Beraux and Dee Dee Wood would go on to do the choreography for many other classic musicals including: The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Slipper and the Rose.
4. The woman who played the Bird Woman is legendary Actress Jane Darwell who starred in over 100 films and at the time she had been retired, but Walt Disney convinced her to be in the film and personally sent a car to pick her up everyday and treated her like Royalty. This was her last film before her death and she said how wonderful it was especially the way Walt was for her.
5. Besides being Bert in the film Dick Van Dyke as Mr Dawes Sr when he would be dressed up in all that makeup he would troll the backlot tours by making them think it was an old man and cross in front of them as slowly as possible then right as they were about to pull away he would sprint off as quickly as possible! Also that credit was at the end of the end credits as Navckid Keyd and then the letters unscramble themselves to spell Dick Van Dyke plus there is a chorus reprise of Let’s Go Fly a Kite: ua-cam.com/video/Kt4IoCOztMU/v-deo.html
6. Julie Andrews was hoping to be in the film version of My Fair Lady which she started on broadway, but Warner Brothers wanted someone who was actually a star as Julie had not been in a film yet so they went with Audrey Hepburn. However the story doesn’t end there as Julie Andrews was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy opposite Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady and she won and in her acceptance speech she ended it with “Finally my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and made this all possible in the first place Mr Jack Warner.” and everyone lost it including Mr Warner. Then at the Academy Awards this film was nominated for 13 Oscars and won for:
Best Actress,
Best Song for Chim Chim Cheree,
Best Original Score,
Best Visual Effects,
and Best Film Editing. It was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Costume Design, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Scoring Treatment, and Sound unfortunately losing many of those to My Fair Lady.
7. Ed Wynn (Uncle Albert) was the Mad Hatter Walt always wanted to have him in something he appeared in several other Disney films including: The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, and Babes in Toyland.
8. When they were in the early development stages of the film Walt gave his songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman a copy of the book to read of what they thought would be good material for the film and they underlined six chapters in red crayon and when they went in to see Walt they handed him the book and he chuckled because in his copy of the book he had underlined the exact same six chapters in red crayon as well.
9. The inspiration for the song “A Spoonful of Sugar came with Richard Sherman’s son came home from school and he asked what had happened to learn he had been given the polio vaccine to which his dad asked if it hurt and he explained no they put the medicine on a sugar cube on a spoon and we swallowed it. A literal spoonful of sugar helped the medicine go down.
10. When the brothers were playing songs for Walt one day a couple hours they thought would work for the film at the end he asked them to play that bird woman song again to which Walt walked over to the window saying “That’s what it’s all about isn’t it?” Referring to the theme of the film. It was Walt’s favorite song the studio ever made and every Friday Walt would meet with the brother and just talk about things going on at the studio and other projects and at the end of their meeting he would always ask them to play the song by saying “Play it” and when they finished it he would send them off saying “Have a good weekend boys.”
11. Even after Walt’s death Richard Sherman would still go into Walt’s office on a Friday afternoon and play the song and on what would have been Walt’s 100th Birthday he went the celebration when the dedication of the Partners statue was unveiled and played the song saying it was only for Walt at the end of the song he blew a kiss to the statue said Happy Birthday and walked off, but he was told later on that when he was nearing the end of the song out of the clear blue sky a single bird came down near the piano and off back into the sky.
12. All of Mary Poppins was filmed indoors.
13. The old woman that children encountered when they run away from the bank is the actress who voiced Cruella De Vil in “101 Dalmatians”.
14. P.L. Travers who was the original author of the Mary Poppins books had refused Walt Disney’s offers to make it into a film for over 20 years and so in the late 50’s he actually went to meet her in her London home hoping to use his personal charm on her and so soon after she finally gave him the rights to make the film, but during the early stages Robert Sherman who was one of the songwriters along with his brother said “She was a witch” and absolutely hated everything everyone was wanting to do, but she was basically only a consultant, after the release of the film she wanted nothing to do with it and in the early 90’s she allowed the studio to only do two things in regards to the property.If they so choose to a sequel film could be done. A broadway show, but no one involved with the original film could be part of that project,
15. When Glynis Johns received the call from Walt to be in the film she though she was going to play Mary Poppins, but Walt wanted her as the mother and so she said as a little incentive if she could haver her own song for the film and so the Sherman Brothers rewrote a previous unused song called “Practically Perfect” into “Sister Suffragette”,
16. Many songs and sequences for the film were thought up including where the children would spin a compass and it would take them to different areas and a different song for each area where one was called North Pole Polka, another Tea in Timbuktu, while the other two unused songs found their way in other Disney films later on with The Land of Sand being reworked to become Trust in Me in The Jungle Book from 1967, and The Beautiful Briny Sea would end up in Bedknobs and Broomsticks,
17. Several of the chimney sweep dancers were the old men on the bench in Enchanted during the song “That’s How you Know”
18. Know before Walt had chose Julie to play Mary Poppins several people that were thought of as possibilities included: Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury then one sunday night the Sherman Brothers saw on the Ed Sullivan Show an excerpt performance of a broadway show called Camelot where Julie Andrews was the lead actress and they knew immediately she was the one so the next day they marched into Don Dagradi’s (another writer on the film) office and he said to them did you see the Ed Sullivan Show last night so all three of them went to Walt’s office and so then Walt went to see a performance of Camelot in New York and met with her after the show and was able to convince her to be in the film and Walt was willingly to wait as she was pregnant at the time and Julie’s husband then also ended up part of the film as he designed all of the costumes,
18. Dick Van Dyke ended up in the film because of an article Walt read of how he didn’t like that films then were becoming as he described as “dirty pictures” also it helped that basically everyone knew who Dick was as he had a hit tv show with The Dick Van Dyke show and this was only his second film after being in a film version of the broadway show Bye Bye Birdie,
19. The inspiration for the song Let’s Go Fly a Kite was actually from the Sherman Brothers childhood as there dad as they said would make these wonderful kites that would fly all day,
20. The inspiration for the song Step in Time is actually an old english folk song called Knees Up Mother Brown and the Sherman Brothers learned about it as Peter Ellenshaw who did the vidual effects and matte paintings and glass paintings for the film was basically they resident Brit taught the dance to on3 of the writer Bill Walsh and Walt Disney and Richard Sherman saw the three of them with their elbows linked together in the office kicking their knees up,
20. The inspiration for the song Supercalifragilisticexpiladocious was the Sherman Brothers wanted to make it so Mary Poppins gave the children a gift in the form of this ridiculously long word and the medley for it was two British Folk Songs: Boiled Beef and Carrots along with Any Old Iron,
21. When on the carousel the horses match their personalities,
22. The two children in the film Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber appeared in a total of three films for Disney together this was their second the previous is The Three Lives of Thomasina and the latter was The Gnome Mobile unfortunately Matthew would die of Food poisoning in the 70’s,
23. The reason there is Penguins is instead of waiters is that Walt Disney saw Storyboards where they were men and he said “Waiters always reminded me of penguins”.
One other thing I want to note is my advising against watching Saving Mr. Banls and Mary Poppins Returns.
Few things in life disappointed me as much as a child as realizing that snapping my fingers would NOT actually clean my room.
I adore this movie, it's whimsical, fun, and like Mary Poppins herself, practically perfect in every way. The only downside is Dick Van Dkye's less than convincing Cockney accent. Definitely one of Julie Andrews' finest performances.
apperently he had no idea that the accent was bad when they were filming! he was surrounded by actual british people (like literal julie freaking andrews) and no one told him how bad it was! he was shocked on opening night of the film when he heard himself 😂
I think it could be argued that most of the American audience would have been mystified by an authentic Cockney accent.
The bird lady who feeds the birds is an Academy Award winning actress, Jane Darwell, It was her final role in a very long career.
Julie Andrews won the Oscar for Best Actress for this film, her first film. The story of how it came about is quite funny.
Julie was getting a lot of attention after her performance as Eliza Doolittle in the original cast of 'My Fair Lady' on Broadway and in London with Rex Harrison. She was getting the offer for 'Mary Poppins' in her L.A. agent's office, when another agent ran in and said, "We did it! We got Audrey Hepburn for 'My Fair Lady' at Warner Brothers". They didn't realize Julie Andrews was there. Jack Warner, head of Warner Brothers and producer of the film had got two of the other original cast members for the film but didn't think Julie could carry the role on screen. So, 'My Fair Lady' was made with Audrey Hepburn as Eliza, Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins, and Stanley Holloway as Alfie Doolittle (both of whom won accolades in the original cast and reprised their roles).
Come Oscar time, 'Mary Poppins' and 'My Fair Lady' were released the same year...and Audrey was not even nominated for Best Actress. I have heard that part of it was she was penalized for not doing her own singing, and part of it was she refused the nomination knowing that Julie Andrews should have played Eliza. Not entirely sure. What did happen was Julie won Best Actress for 'Mary Poppins' and Rex Harrison won Best Actor for 'My Fair Lady'.
Dick Van Dyke was also a Broadway veteran as he did the musical 'Bye Bye Birdie' and reprised his role for the film version the year before 'Mary Poppins' came out. He was starring in his comedy series 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' on television at the same time he did 'Mary Poppins'. He is 97, still going strong...and even appeared in 'Mary Poppins Returns'.
Fun fact, the eldest Mr. Dawes is also played by Dick Van Dyke. That man is a master at character performance.
I don't know if you guys have seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but it's a wonderfully fun Dick van dyke movie with some amazing dance sequences. Can't recommend enough, it's really good
Recently watched that, didn’t remember it was over 2 hours. But just to watch that one villain!
Fun fact: The main Disney composers for the time, the Sherman Brothers, had a clause in their contract to allow them to do one non-Disney movie of their choice. They ended up deciding to do Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (which is probably why a lot of people think it is a Disney movie, though it very much isn't)
It was also based on a book by Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) and the screenplay was co-written by Roald Dahl (of Matilda, the Witches, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame. He also did a screenplay for a James Bond movie)
Agree on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Me Ol' Bamboo is one of my favorite musical sequences ever. They should check out Bedknobs and Broomsticks too, which also has both live action and animation.
LOVE the puppet and music box scene. Heard it was done in one take!
I loved that movie till I realised for the first time that the whole adventure was just made up.
Julie Andrews...Imagine your film debut being Mary Poppins...and then following it up the following year with The Sound of Music. Legend.
Frank Thomas, famous of the 9 old men animators, jokingly complained that Bert was stepping all over his animated penguins, so the penguins had to duck and jump under and over Bert's feet.
Walt Disney wanted to make sure that keen eyes didn't know exactly what technique they used so he did a bunch of different techniques in each scene, much like a magician. The bird was animatronic, in fact one of the first and especially impressive for one so small, Mr President Lincoln and the tiki room birds were the predecessors. Julie Andrews did the bird whistling, so basically she sang with herself twice in one song.
Saving Mr. Banks should be next without a doubt. Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, and the story behind the making of this movie, which was the most heart wrenching thing I've seen in a while.
The "Step In Time" dance scene is my favorite of the movie! And at 97 years old, Dick Van Dyke is still just as spry and talented!
Actually, I rather like the sequel! It’s not a classic like the original, but it is solid, nonetheless. The music is decent, and the acting is top-notch. It references a lot of the original, too, so lots of fan service.
Yaaaay, one of my all time favourite movies! Feed the Birds always makes me cry! As an adult, this movie hits me hard with the serious issues. Those children have everything they could possibly want, except for what they need... Their fathers time and love. Mary Poppins comes to help the father, not the children. That always hits me hard. You guys should definitely watch Mary Poppins Returns and Saving Mr Banks!!!! 🥰
When Mr. Banks makes his epiphany at the end, it makes me smile every single time. Always a wonderful classic of a movie.
The effect process they used was explained on an episode of Corridor crew. The background was black and there was a special camera that was literally unique in how it recorded
I love Bert's talk with Mr. Banks at the end. He is extremely blunt with him and you can see in Banks' eyes that it lands and lands hard with him. He's finally able to see things past the end of his nose. And then his walk to the bank late at night, alone, slowly, knowing he is about to be fired... it's beautifully set up and acted.
I really admire you guys going back to watch all these Disney features. It definitely brings back memories to when I watched them as a kid. Much appreciated guys 🙏🏾
You said at one stage how kids reacted to this in the 60's, I don't know about that but as a teenager in the mid 80's I absolutely laughed my head off, how I didn't end up on the ceiling is beyond me, lol.
Between Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks they are absolutely master pieces, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks should be the next movie to watch, seriously funny
Yes, Mr. Banks is in this one. He plays a down on his luck magician who finds a woman who can cast his spells he found from an old book. So entertaining!
toss chitty chitty bang bang into the mix and these three movies were my childhood!!!
I'm 63 years old and this was the first movie I saw in a theatre in 1964. It made a HUGE impression on me. It started my love of movies and Disney. Please watch Mary Popping Returns and Saving Mr. Banks. Great job guys!
I saw Mary Poppins in the theater when it came out in 1964. I was eight. It was magical. The songs were so memorable that we were able to sing them on the way home.
I recommend Bedknobs and Broomsticks because it's similar with it being partly animated. Also the actor who plays Mr Banks is in it and it stars Angela Landsbury. A great film!
In Mary Poppins I really loved how they combined a live action version with a cartoon version.
The bird was an animatronic, with the cables hidden behind her hand along her arm. The screen is “yellow screen” or sodium Vapor process. And the very old man at the bank was also played by Dick Van Dyke.
George Banks is iconic. I love how at the beginning, he is so in his own head that he completely misses every sign that something is wrong. He just wants to live his boring and overly structured life, but everything is coming apart around him.
43:53 To quote that one henchman from _Rio_ , "Sure, *anything* sounds stupid when you say it like that."
Actually for the scene at the park with the animation was with the first ever "Yellow Screen" in which Wadsworth E. Pohl used the yellow from sodium vapor and hand crafted a unique prism for the editing process. After the movie was released everyone was astounded how in the park there was no blue or green hue on the outsides of the actors and many tried to get their hands on the prism or begged Wadsworth to make another, but he was only able to make one. Which led this movie to be one of the only disney films awarded an Oscar and best animated feature while Walt Disney was still alive.
THIS IS A DISNEY MASTERPIECE👍👍🔥. SO HAPPY THAT YOU GUYS REACTED TO THIS😁😁. I LOVE YOUR REACTIONS/ANALYSIS, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK GUYS AND HAVE A GOOD ONE👍♥️
The scene of the bird lady in the "home alone" movie made me have flashbacks to the "feed the birds" song in this movie.
Burt is the owner of the Bank as well - what a talent ❤
This was a childhood favorite, and it still holds up. Such a great story, well portrayed.
Weird. I was just on a Mary Poppins binge of other reactors and re-watching the film.
My mom took me to see this when it was first released. The line to get in went almost around the block.
"Feed the birds" is one of my favourite songs. I dont know why it just has such a special athmospere to it
Also Katie Nana is played by the great Elsa Lanchester who played the Bride of Frankenstein....
Katy Nana, the first Nanny who storms out, is played by Elsa Lanchester, best known as the original actress to play the Bride of Frankenstein/Frankenstein's Monster in the 1935 film. Poor kids, makes me wanna go hey what's under the hat, Katy Nana? 😅😆
I love that the old man is also Dick Vandyke. Showed the awesome talent the man has.
Fun fact: The Nanny who tried to quit at the beginning of the film was the actress who played the title role in "The Bride of Frankenstein." Her name is Elsa Lancaster. She's also been in a hilarious and over-the-top murder mystery by Neil Simon called "Murder by Death" co-starring with a hilarious and talented all-star cast. It's prior to but with the same motif as "Clue." Worth checking out. Mary Poppins remains my all-time favorite Disney movie. It's a beautiful story with incredible songs. Now that you've seen this, you will love the backstory to how this movie almost never got made. Mary Poppins was a series of books written by "P.L.Travers" a pseudonym for an Australian author. Interestingly, the Mary Poppins in the novels is very different from that which is portrayed in this movie. She was not jolly or fun. She was commanding, gruff, strict, but also clever and controlling. The movie you'll want to see now is "Saving Mr. Banks." Excellent cast! Beautiful story. You'll see that Mary Poppins, the movie you just watched, is much more than just a cute and fun story. For "P.L. Travers" it was deeply personal and a story of profound pain. Walt Disney's movie, while not accurate to the novels as it relates to the character of Mary Poppins herself, but fairly well accurate in the various "adventures" she took the children on, was more important for what he did for "Pamela Travers" and the love he had for the characters in this story; the people in her life. You'll love Marry Poppins on a whole new level. I hope you'll react to "Saving Mr. Banks" very soon. It would be most interesting to see your take on Mary Poppins after learning about what it meant to both P.L. Travers and Walt Disney. I think you both will be mightily impressed. Love you guys.
Saving Mr Banks is fantastic
Excellent analysis, gentlemen! 59:42 Your perceptive take on the deeper themes of this classic are right on. You remind us why the film works so well. Mary Poppins as a whole strikes a perfect balance between the lighthearted and more serious, challenging parts of life. A rare gem made even more special by the iconic songs, designs, and legendary performances. Julie Andrews' best actress Oscar she received for the role was well-deserved. Thanks for reacting to this. Enjoyed it!!
There's a fun recent film that details the making of this film. It's called "Saving Mr. Banks", starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. It's a Disney film, so there's a lot of Waltwashing, but it's a fun look at how something like this gets made. It focuses on the relationship between the writer of the book, PJ Travers, and Disney and his crew. It was a contentious relationship, as she really didn't want them to make the film at all, but that's what makes the story fun. You get to see a script breakdown; design decisions made; and music composed, developed, and approved (nothing went through without Walt's explicit say-so). Really worth a look.
Part of the reason to use a matte painting is because the time period is Edwardian England and there would not be landscape sized photos of that particular view/pan. Disney was famous for having some of the best matte painters on its staff.
Definitely check out Pete’s Dragon and The Love Bug.
31:10
BTW, this actor also played the toymaker in Babs In Toyland and he was the voice for the Mad Hatter in Disney’s Alice In Wonderland (1951).
“The robins… were animatronic figures. This makes it an example of one of the first uses of animatronics in film history. The animatronic robins were created by Walt Disney and his team of Imagineers.”
“The magic behind the bird was the ring on her finger, which was connected to cables going up her arm. …A team was controlling the robin's every movement through the piece of jewelry.”
My favorite trivia with this beloved film is the fact that Walt Disney specifically wanted Julie Andrews to play Mary Poppins so much, that when he offered her the role and she declined due to being pregnant at the time, he said, "That's alright, we can wait for you."
"Feed The Birds" was known to be Walt Disney's favorite song up until he died. He would ask the Sherman Brothers (The ones who wrote the songs for the movie) to perform the song all the time in his office.
The nannies being blown away was done with practical effects, and each nanny had her own fly team.
At the time of filming Mary Poppins, Disney was in the initial steps of the first Animatronics ever created, for their original Disneyland attraction “The Enchanted Tiki Room”. So they used the same experience for the movie. And there’s no chroma-key at that time (Green and Blue screen). They used to combine real sets painted like cartoons for the actors, plus animation added later in transparent cells superimposed. A masterpiece job, considering the time of release in the 60’s. A true Disney classic!
I recommend BedKnobs and Broomsticks next and The Classic Petes Dragon
Cool facts:
The bird in the "Spoonful of Sugar" scene (in the nursery) is animatronic. The wires for it ran on either side of Julie Andrews arm depending on which way she was facing the camera when filming. She also provided the whistling for the bird as well.
The Sherman Brothers, who provided the music and lyrics for the movie, were stuck on getting a title and working lyrics for a song. Richard Sherman's niece (I believe, I could be wrong) came home one day and said she had gotten the Polio vaccine. She said they gave it to them on a small cube of sugar and then administered on kids on a spoon. Well, you can probably guess what happened...Richard Sherman suddenly had a song!
Richard Sherman said his son inspired "A Spoonful of Sugar" by telling him sbout receiving the polio vaccine.
"I'M MARY POPPINS, Y'ALL!!!"
Disney created animatronics. He used them in many of the rides, which go back to the 1955
This came out when I was 4 years old, and it's one of the first movies I ever remember seeing in a theater. My mother bought the soundtrack album, and over the next 10 years or so it was on the record player constantly. I still have most of the songs memorized. And the penguin waiters later show up as waiters in the Ink and Paint Club in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Dick Van Dyke was still doing his iconic TV show when he made this movie and it doesn't bother him when people criticize his accent.
I wore my copy of the album out too. And it drove my siblings crazy! Can still say Super... Backwards too!
Dick Van Dyke also played Mr. Dawes Senior. He used to prank people on the film lot. People would be going by doing tours on buses, and he would walk in front of the bus very slowly in his old man costume, and then as soon as the bus went by, he would take off running as fast as he could to catch up with the bus. He said he never got tired of seeing the looks on their faces.. 😂
You should also watch “Bedknops and broomsticks” - it’s one of the best film ever. I still don’t understand, how they did it!
I watched a documentary on the making of Mary Poppins and the bird was animatronic, but Julie had a bunch of wires running through her sleeves so that the technicians could make the bird function in the scene.
Terrific reaction! This was the first movie I was taken to see. I was 4 and it was during the movie’s original release. It was the most important cultural event of my childhood. In a good way, I never really got over it.
BTW, a few months after MP, my parents took me to see The Sound of Music… and I was under the impression that all movies were about Julie Andrews taking care of children with mean fathers. 😂
I have always had the feeling that when Bert was a child Mary Poppins was his nanny and that is how he knows her. Their relationship always seemed more friendly than romantic, though its clear they have a very special bond. As far as Mary herself, she seems like some sort of mystical character who exists in between this world and some other universe that she can travel between without ever aging.
So glad you watched Mary Poppins! One of my fav Disney movies from childhood. If you liked how Disney played with live action and animation in one movie I highly suggest you watch their other great "musicals " - Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pete's Dragon.
The chimney sweep dance was originally planned to last 9 minutes. It took six weeks to rehearse. When the producers tried to cut it to 2 minutes, Walt Disney objected and bumped it up to 14 minutes.
Dick Van Dyke plays in another family movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Thanks for reviewing this wonderful classic! You two are the best!
i think y'all need to do saving mr. banks next. i can't watch this movie without hearing the line about "oh you think she comes to save the children??" puts an entirely different perspective on the story of mary poppins for me.
Small detail I really appreciate since I have a major in horse science; in the chalk drawing scene, when you see the fox hunt, the way that the horses are animated to run is exactly how British artists originally drew/painted horses that were in a gallop. Then when you switch to the race, the horses are animated to run anatomically correct.
This is because before 1887 and the invention of the camera where they could break the gait down beat by beat, artists would paint galloping horses so that all four feet were off the ground in the outstretched bound (the way we see it during the fox hunt). It's easy to see that when you're not used to watching the horse or when you're trying to remember it in your head.
In reality, during a gallop, there is only a split second when all four feet are off the ground and it's when the front and hind feet are curled together. Other than that split second, each foot lands on the ground by itself, creating the four beat gait. So instead of two feet in front and two feet in back, one front leg will be before the other, and one back will be before the other. So back right lands, back left lands, front left lands, front right lands, all off the ground. There is no point during a typical gallop where two feet are on the ground at the same time
My point is, throwing in the traditional form as artists originally thought of it, along with the actual way that a horse runs, feels like they're indicating that the chalk drawings come from multiple times or multiple perspectives
On a complete side note, Savings Mr. Banks is a great film. It's about the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, and Disney working together to figure out how this movie could work. In terms of how accurate it is, a bit debatable, but it does make for an interesting movie
Thoroughly enjoyed this one, and ngl was nice just seeing you 2 reacting to it like old times. I HIGHLY suggest saving Mr banks. It's a movie based on the making of Mary Poppins, starring Emma Thompson as the lady who wrote the Mary Poppins books, and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney trying to get the rights from her to make the film. Collin Ferrell is also in it. They all give fantastic performances! It's one that really took me by surprise. Didn't have too high expectations when I first sat down to watch it, but turned out to be one of my favorite movies. It's also unexpectedly emotional in parts. A real gem that is criminally underrated imo
I'd skip the sequel though if I were you. It lacked all the substance the original brought to the table. Just another lazy cash grab unfortunately
This is one of my favourites! Thanks for reacting to it. Many girls my age wanted to be princesses as young girls - I wanted to be Mary Poppins! Even the other day when I came home to a mess, I “Mary Poppin”ed the space in a hurry and kept hearing the spoonful of sugar song in my head
Loved the reaction. Very curious about what you'd think watching "Saving Mr. Banks" now that you've watched this. That's sorta "behind the scenes" depicting the author's backstory/inspiration, Walt Disney trying to convince her to allow this to be made at all along with struggles of making the movie with the author very involved in the process.
This was Julie Andrew's first role and that was an anisotropic bird she had wires up her arm
I saw this movie when it came out; I was eight. I remember being so excited. I read the book on which it was based, and had to have the Mary Poppins doll. Did you know Dick van Dyke also played the old, old bank president? This is still my favorite Disney film.
An absolute favorite. This was the Disney film that most distinctly marked the change in my life from Childhood to Adulthood. I watched it a lot when I was little, enjoying it for the fun. Then I went years without seeing it. I watched it again shortly after I graduated high school, because I remembered that it was my dad's favorite, and for the first time the entire ending sequence with Mr. Banks landed for me, and made me cry. It's such a beautiful, genuine movie, and Mary Poppins is such a fantastic lead. The choice to make the most fantastical character in the movie play the role of the straight man was genius.
Fun fact time:
If I'm remembering correctly, "Step in Time" was almost cut to a much much shorter dance sequence, or even scrapped entirely during production. But upon actually seeing what they'd been working on, it was decided it would stay in. It's a brilliant dance sequence, and there's a cool video out there with modern professional dancers trying to break it down and learn some of the choreography. It's NOT EASY.
One more:
In Enchanted, there were a lot of cameos from past Disney projects. In "That's How You Know," the sequence in Central Park, there is a moment where some older gents dance over to some older ladies to offer them huge yellow daisies. These old men were in fact dancers who had played Chimney Sweeps in Mary Poppins. :)
Another one!:
Julie Andrews was a successful Broadway actress before this, having had big success playing Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." When that musical was adapted into a movie, despite the director wanting her to reprise the role, Jack Warner, head of Warner Bros, vetoed the idea, instead opting for the better known Audrey Hepburn for the role. The same year, Julie Andrews was asked to play Mary Poppins, and beat out Hepburn for the Golden Globe (Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy) and the Oscar (Best Actress in a Leading Role). In her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, she said "My thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner.” Absolute icon.
Glad you enjoyed the movie!
Re: the “benign neglect” of the parents
I suspect that this is perceived as very typical of parents in this particular timeframe, at their particular “station” or socioeconomic class. They could afford servants so they didn’t get involved in the daily raising of the children.
The line that has me wondering what is the backstory is the Cook yelling, “They’re at it again!” in the “Step in Time” song. Have the sweeps gone crazy in the neighborhood before this? I love the depiction of Cherry Tree Lane as having been filled with weird goings-on long before Mary Poppins shows up (see Admiral Boom).