The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 201 Days to go: 205
Movie #176: Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins is kind of a long movie. Like, much longer than I would’ve thought. Even though I’ve seen it I don’t even know how many times, I never realized it was almost two and a half hours long. That’s long for a kid-centric Disney movie, right? It is.
Luckily for Mary Poppins, it’s so delightful and engaging nobody (as far as I know) has ever felt it was too long. Being practically perfect in every way, Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) is like a dream for a young child. In fact, it’s the advertisement (pronounced ad-VER-tis-mint, because we’re British here) written by the Banks children, Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber), that Mary Poppins responds to, not the one written by Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson). It gave agency and authority to the children and to their wishes. The whole film, in fact, is interested in treating these children as people whose desires and preferences matter just as much as anyone else’s. That’s still an innovative approach for a family film, even fifty years later.
There are so many great songs in Mary Poppins it can be hard to pick one as the best. “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is the marquee tune, but the simpler ones speak more profoundly to me. “A Spoonful of Sugar” is something I actually think about pretty often. I think about it in the literal sense, with how all syrup medicine is sugary flavored, and I think about it in the metaphorical sense, with the way a good attitude or a bit of fun during a hard task makes it easier to accomplish and in quicker time. It’s a clever little ditty that I enjoy.
“Stay Awake,” on the other hand, is slow and peaceful, without losing any of its cleverness. “Stay Awake” is like a trick to play on your kids. It’s reverse psychology put into a lullaby. “Don’t even think about sleeping, kids, except for the fact that this is the sleepiest song ever recorded.” As a parent, it’s like the best idea ever. I’ve never had to pull it out, but I hope if I ever do, I’ll have it there in my back pocket. It’s diabolical and perfect.
There are, too, a lot of lovely little magical details in Mary Poppins, of course. I always loved the idea of jumping into a chalk drawing, or riding a carousel horse off into the countryside. I love Bert (Dick Van Dyke) doing that weird thing with his pants and dancing with the penguins. I love the idea of giggling yourself up onto the ceiling. I love the idea of a talking umbrella handle. And I really really love the idea of an infinite, bottomless carpetbag. It’s my favorite thing in all the world, be it here or in Harry Potter or in Sofia the First. It’s just such a great, silly, perfect idea. Who wouldn’t want to be able to carry around a light little bag that has literally anything you could ever want in it?
The more maudlin parts (the bird woman, the growth and dreams of Mr. Banks) don’t move me as much as they’re clearly meant to, but I do like the idea of going to fly a kite, even if I don’t really like flying kites at all. (It’s the thought that counts.)
Viable Option 