[Musical of the Month] Mary Poppins

[F Horn of Valere]

In the Band's Musical of the Month, we trace a featured musical with a brief spoiler-filled synopsis, with embedded YouTube videos throughout to show where the music fits in context to the plot. Band members can request musicals in the designated thread in The Campfires board. At the end of the year, a Musical of the Year will be chosen through a cage match series of polls. Feel free to discuss anything about this musical in this thread.

For our first Musical of the Month, we bring you one of my personal favorites, Mary Poppins! Based on the first volume in P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins book series, Disney's adaptation featured Julie Andrews (as Mary Poppins) in her first move from Broadway to the big screen, as well as the worst Cockney accent ever (thanks to an Irish voice coach), from Dick Van Dyke (as Bert). While the books take place in the 1930s, the film's events are set during the Edwardian era, just after the turn of the century.

 

The movie starts with Bert in his One-Man Band outfit, his first of many jobs, as he plays a medley of songs to be featured in the film. This is not really a song, but it is still a fun scene. This clip ends as Bert realizes that his good friend Mary Poppins is on her way.

http://youtu.be/KKTknLD9eWw

 

 

Later, at the estate of the Banks family, Mrs. Banks returns from a suffrage event, ready to burst into song, no matter how hard the children's nanny tries to quit her post due to the antics of Jane and Michael, the Banks children, who are starved for attention from their father, Mr. Banks.

http://youtu.be/Kvk1NZDFvZU

 

 

When Mr. Banks comes home from his job at a prominent bank, he is also bursting with song as he expresses his satisfaction with his life. The song drips with irony and foreshadowing as he boasts about a life that is about to be turned upside down, while ignoring his wife, a suffragist, as his boasting seemingly requires his full attention.

http://youtu.be/LZXITCwBdJQ

 

 

An unhappy Mr. Banks, and a patient and motherly Mrs. Banks, listen to their children, Jane and Michael. The children sing a letter that they have composed, listing their requirements for the new nanny. Mr. Banks is displeased that they are not able to keep new nannies for long, and the content of their letter reveals why!

http://youtu.be/fNTzp9grp2Q

 

 

Upon arriving as the new nanny via a suspiciously supernatural method of disposing of the other applicants, Mary Poppins immediately sees that Jane and Michael's brief period of freedom has left the nursery in disarray. One of the film's most iconic songs tricks them into not only willingly tidying up, but even enjoying the activity. "A Spoonful of Sugar" also can boast that it is Julie Andrews' first song on the big screen.

http://youtu.be/HrnoR9cBP3o

 

 

After cleaning the nursery, they go on an outing, where they meet Bert. After magically entering through the world drawn by his street chalk, Bert sings about the good time that is always had with Mary Poppins. While still in this world, they also introduce us to a new word that has since entered our modern English vocabulary.

http://youtu.be/PYSpBwv5Em0

http://youtu.be/U3zAbQ0aMK8

 

 

After a very long day, the Banks children do not want to go to sleep, so Mary Poppins tells them to stay awake instead while she sings them a song that, while pretty, used to make me as sleepy as the children when I was young and watching this film!

http://youtu.be/8yC_voMY6kY

 

 

The next day, they visit Mary's uncle, who floats in the air when he laughs.

http://youtu.be/pOMqqI-kzHY

 

 

That evening, Mary sings about a women they saw in town, asking for money to help feed the birds. (This was Walt Disney's favorite song from the film.)

http://youtu.be/XHrRxQVUFN4

 

 

The next day, Mary Poppins brings the children to their father's bank for a visit. While at the bank, Michael Banks is encouraged by Mr. Banks' boss to begin an investment account in the bank.

http://youtu.be/XxyB29bDbBA

 

 

Immediately following this "encouragement" for Michael to invest, Michael inadvertently starts a riot as patrons panic due to the impression that the bank is refusing to return his money. The children, scared from the events of the day, run away. After running into Bert in the street, he takes them home while singing them a song to cheer them up.

http://youtu.be/te_Nv3lMUnA

 

 

After Bert is hired to sweep the Banks family chimney, the children inadvertently are sucked up the chimney, even after a warning from Mary Poppins. She comes up after them and gives them a tour of London's rooftops. Following the tour, there is a celebration with the other chimney sweeps of London!

http://youtu.be/yu23HHmOG48

 

 

After getting home from the bank, a very depressed Mr. Banks (he knew he was going to be in trouble due to the events earlier in the day) confides with Bert, reflecting about his life, and lessons taught by Mary Poppins.

http://youtu.be/LOVqb7qMSog

 

 

Mr. Banks, summoned to the bank by the board of directors, makes his way to work, with a reprise of "Feed the Birds" played in the background. At the bank, he is fired, but he leaves the board with a joke (told to him by his children after they met Mary Poppins' uncle). He leaves looking quite insane, laughing on his way out. The next morning, he arrives home holding a homemade kite, and he calls his children downstairs, where he offers to do what they have been wanting all along: to spend time with them, this time in the form of going to fly a kite.

http://youtu.be/i2FVLQrvUik

[wheeloftime13]

Feed the Birds is on my too 2 list for this movie... I just love the music...

[F Horn of Valere]

When my sister, mom, and grandma visited London, my sister had my grandma sit on the same steps and got a picture with her in the same pose!

[wheeloftime13]

o.o awesome!! the chimney sweep song always made me laugh and try to imitate them...

[BridMorgan]

This is one of my favorite movies of all time.  how could I have forgotten!  Great choice to start us off Horn.  Feed the Birds is also one of my favorites, I always sing it to myself when I had a bird feeder in the back yard.  LOL  Now I'm going to have to go order this from amazon. 

 

I love Mr. Banks.  My favorite role for him is as the con-artist witch instructor in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (another one of my favorites!)

[dicetosser1]

reaches for the exalt button   we really need one of thos so i can hit it a bunch of times for Horn!

 

I LOVE Mary Poppins!!!!

 

Chim chim Cherree for me!   Ive always really liked the winds in the east bit too   and birds makes me choke up.

 

 

lol i was sing fly a kite at my kids the other day

[Nyanna al'Meara]

YESYESYEEES!!!! I freaking loooove Mary Poppins!!! My brothers and I watched it sooo much. This film makes anyone's childhood XD And of course the music....oh, probably one of the best Disney musicals ever - definitely the best live-cast one I feel.

 

I will confess I use Mary Poppins references a lot in rl

 

 

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICESPIALIDOCIOUS!

[dicetosser1]

can you actually sing that entire song nya?   i can   grin

[Mayleigh Aes Sedai]

This was my all time favrouite growing up!! I'm still know to belt out a bit of "suppercalafragalisticexpeealadosush" every now and then but I am a major dick van dike fan and love chin chin cherry!!!

[dicetosser1]

even if you cant type it lol

[F Horn of Valere]

I've had many of these songs stuck in my head for a couple weeks now because of this. It's been a great couple weeks!

[Mayleigh Aes Sedai]

Haha yea true but it's not a bad attempt for the dislexic girl!! Lol

I spent all day yesterday singing mary popins songs to my self yesterday I think the passengers to Copenhagen thought I was crazy!!! Lol

[Nikonis]

Just a spoonfull of sugar helps the medicine go down, Chim Chiminie, the song durring the street chalk scene and the bird lady songs are some of the first to come to mind when I think of the disney movie.

[dapianoplay3r]

I went and saw this on stage a few months back. The stage show had a bunch more adult things in it than the film

Mary poppies has weirder and darker powers. At one point she controls the evil nanny into a giant bird cage where she vanishes into a it of fire in the basement.

The kids don't play nicely with their toys so Mary puts them to sleep with magic and makes all the toys human size (and very creepy) come alive and "play" with the kids. Cos they refuse to play nicely still Mary leaves them in the nightmare and vanishes for a while

Also creepy statues came alive in the park

 

But all in all I love this show and film, I know all the words and its awesome

The stage show had epic costumes and sets and I liked it

 

Still creepy though

[BridMorgan]

Ok, that does sound creepy.  Probably closer to the actual story I'm guessing since Disney likes to tame it down. 

[dapianoplay3r]

Apparently mary poppins is the only100% G rated film

 

all films gets a percentage removed for swearing, scary things, sex and stuff. If you are above say 90 with no swearing or sex its a G. pg is no sex and a tad bit of scary and fighting but kid friebdly and so on

 

mary poppins got no poinrs taken off

[The Bard Babe]

I like Mary Poppins.   :)

 

I haven't seen it for aaaages though, I should definitely find it and watch it again.

 

Ha ha, I remember being in junior choir and singing Supercalafragalisticexpealidocious, and every year they sing a Mary Poppins song, usually Feed the Birds and Chim Chim Cheree   

[dicetosser1]

i got the CD for the stage show with the paper   played it once  then used it as a frisbee....

[BridMorgan]

i got the CD for the stage show with the paper played it once then used it as a frisbee....

*huge grin*. Dice, I love you! ROFL

 

Piano - do you is there a website I can look that up on? I'd love to look at other movies and see how they rate.

 

I'm off to amazon to buy this now. LOL

[dapianoplay3r]

I dont know. Google says

http://www.filmratings.com/downloads/rating_rules.pdf

Originally in the movie, there was a scene when all of the toys in the
nursery come alive. Since it proved to be too scary for children, it was
cut out. However, in the Broadway musical of Mary Poppins, the toys
coming alive idea is used.

 

 

but i remembered this

 

Dunno where i heard it lol. But it must be true if i cant verify it

[Basel Gill]