Family / Musical
1964 / 139 minutes
Rating: 8/10
This is a magical musical movie, full of dancing penguins and jumping and leaping chimney sweeps, singing barnyard animals, and a vast array of nannies, only one of which can fly. When first we meet that particular nanny, Mary Poppins (played by Julie Andrews), she’s sitting atop a cloud, trying to make sure her umbrella and carpet bag don’t sink down through their soft fluffy perch. She seems to be waiting for something.
Down below, one of the chimney sweeps, Bert (Dick Van Dyke), introduces us to a London family who are just in the process of losing their latest nanny. The Banks children, it seems, have run away. Or at least their kite did, and when the two of them ran after it, their nanny wasn’t able to keep up. So, she lost them… and she’s had quite enough of it.
Entering scene right, Mary Poppins, floating down from the clouds, her umbrella slowing her descent. Somehow she turns the table on the stern Mr. Banks, turning his interview with her into a tryout for him – she’ll stay the week and see how they get on!
The children love her instantly, as she slides up the bannister, and unpacks from her short carpet bag a very talk coat track – what is going on here? All sorts of field trips ensue, including on in which the children, Mary, and Bert too, jump into a chalk drawing and proceed to race carousel horses right round the Derby track.
Set in the 1910s, in the England of old when some rich parents seemed to hire out the raising of their children, this film preaches the importance of the homefront. It’s also worth watching simply for its place in the film lexicon. We all know snippets, whether its songs like “A Spoonful of Sugar makes the Medicine Go Down” or “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” or the image of Mary and her umbrella held aloft. This is a classic that’s been watched for 60 years now, and very likely will be for 60 more.
Cautions
What should we make of Mary? Parents who aren’t wild about the popularization of cinematic witches in the Harry Potter film franchise and Marvel’s WandaVision and Agatha All Along, might wonder about the origins of Mary Poppins’ own magical abilities. She can fly, and talk to dogs. She can also make chalk pastural scenes come to life, and turn merry-go-round horsies into Derby winners. But its never explained as to why. That mystery is left mysterious. So, is she a witch? Well, not in any broom-riding, black-cat associating, crooked hat-wearing, green-skinned, sort of way. So no, I don’t think so. And she’s not the only one who can fly – apparently we all can, if only we learn to laugh. So, I think this easy to just leave unquestioned. After all, we live in our own magic world, where caterpillars with their 100 legs can turn into butterflies with just 6, but now wing-equipped. So the wondrous and magical is all around!
The only other caution I’ll raise is that there is a bit of the “dumb dad” trope going on here, with a side helping of dumb mom too. Mr. Banks is more concerned with his workplace, and his house being ordered just so, that he doesn’t have time for his children. Mrs. Banks also leaves the raising of her children to someone else, the nanny, so she can devote time to the cause of women’s suffrage – getting women the vote. Both learn that the home front should rank much higher among their priorities.
Conclusion
Mary Poppins combines live-action with animation, the children, Bert and Mary, dancing and singing their way through impossible but delightful animated scenery. Dick Van Dyke’s dance-off with a quartet of very talented penguins is a reason to watch all on its own, as is the live-action scene with a host of other chimney sweeps dancing on the house peaks of London’s skyline.
The story isn’t deep. It mostly doesn’t make sense, leaving so much unanswered. Who is Mary and where does she come from? How does Bert already know her? And why is it that laughing makes people float? No answers are even attempted, making this silly nonsense fun for the whole family.
I will say, this is long – more than 2 hours. So even as under 12s will enjoy this a lot, it might be too much of a good thing to watch in one go. For parents, the biggest fun might be in watching your kids’ faces, but if the length has you dozing by the end, be sure to rewind and check out the chimney sweep dance – it’s something special!