Mary Poppins

[judyindisguise]

Yes, it's a live-action film, but it has a good deal of animation in it.

Tonight ABC Family aired Mary Poppins, and I watched it with my niece and nephew. And they sat there in awe and barely budged throughout. Do you guys know how rare that is? Their mom rents stuff for them all the time and they just get restless. But not during Poppins. And I can't say I blamed them. My god, what a wonderful, magical, joyous film! I hadn't seen it in a while, and I didn't plan to watch it all the way through again (had gift wrapping to do), but I couldn't make myself leave my chair. That film has an artfulness that is simply nonexistent in just about any film I've seen since I was a kid. The Disney Renaissance in the '90's came very close, with Beauty and the Beast and Lion King, but Poppins is in a pantheon all by itself. The incredibly intelligent scripting, the witty lyrics and soaring melodies...after seeing it again, it has replaced Wizard of Oz as my all-time favorite musical.

And there's a moment in the film that really struck me. Some of us here have commented on the relentlessly negative portrayal of adults that plagues so many kids' shows now - particularly on Nickelodeon. The adults are evil, they're incomprehensible, they're the enemy. There's a moment in Poppins where adults, especially their no-nonsense, career-obsessed father, seem just that to Jane and Michael, the two child protagonists. But then Bert the chimney sweep sits them down and points out that they have their parents, and Mary Poppins, and Bert to look after them. But who looks after their father? It's a thoughtful moment that my niece and nephew talked about after the film was over. They'd never thought of adults that way. That was a gratifying thing to me. Kids are far better than many in children's television believe. And Walt knew it. :D

Anyway, I just had to express how great Mary Poppins is. Some think of it as a sugary kids' musical. But that's just on the surface. There's good medicine there - the sugar is just there to make it more palatable, so it can be easily absorbed and it can do you good. Anyway JMO.

[oofadoofa]

And there's a moment in the film that really struck me. Some of us here have commented on the relentlessly negative portrayal of adults that plagues so many kids' shows now - particularly on Nickelodeon. The adults are evil, they're incomprehensible, they're the enemy. There's a moment in Poppins where adults, especially their no-nonsense, career-obsessed father, seem just that to Jane and Michael, the two child protagonists. But then Bert the chimney sweep sits them down and points out that they have their parents, and Mary Poppins, and Bert to look after them. But who looks after their father? It's a thoughtful moment that my niece and nephew talked about after the film was over. They'd never thought of adults that way. That was a gratifying thing to me. Kids are far better than many in children's television believe. And Walt knew it. :D


That's my favorite part of the movie. Well, that and the song that directly follows it.

[Michael24]

Mary Poppins was one of my favorite Disney movies when I was little. My favorite song/sequence was "Step In Time," and I thought Bert was one of the coolest movie characters ever. I can remember endlessly quoting his "Mary Poppins!" for years with my attempt at an English accent. I need to pick up that two-disc DVD.

[Yash]

I didn't think much of it until I watched it in my choir class a couple years back.

It's a great movie. I want to see the Broadway version soon.