The movie opens high above London in the spring of 1910 with a mysterious woman hovering within the clouds. Below the Banks family’s latest nanny is at her wits end and walks off the job after the children run off in pursuit of a runaway kite. When the children arrive home they are confronted by their parents Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson) and Mrs. Banks (Glynis Johns). The Banks draft an advertisement for a new more authoritarian nanny as the children decide to write one themselves. The children’s turns into a song about a fun and caring nanny in which Mr. Banks quickly tears up and throws into the fireplace. The next morning the potential new nannies line-up waiting to be seen. However the streets turn into a wind tunnel and all of the nannies are blown away. When the maid finally answers the door to let the new nanny in, only one is there to greet her. It’s Mary Poppins who moments before descended from the sky with her trusty umbrella. Mary Poppins presents the children’s letter as her resume and before Mr. Banks can get a word in, she hires herself for the job.
From there on the magical journey with the children and Mary Poppins is a musical ride full of unusual characters both real and animated. Mary Poppins is one of Walt Disney’s best live action film and now available on a 2-disc set is here with some bonus material that you’ve come to expect with a Disney DVD.
On disc one we have the feature film that includes an optional Poppins Pop-Up Fun Facts and a commentary track that includes Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and even some stock audio with the director and Walt himself. You can also go directly to a musical song moment with Disney Song Selection that allows you an option to see the lyrics on the screen.
Disc two is where all the bonus material resides. A lot of this material was actually made for the 40th Anniversary edition. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Making of Mary Poppins is a great documentary that covers everything in the process of making this classic. Movie Magic is a special effects featurette, there’s a Dick Van Dyke make-up test and even a feature on the world premiere of the film.
Some of the more unique features are a new live-action animated short with Julie Andrews reprising herself as Mary Poppins narrating a short from the P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins Opens the Door entitled "The Cat That Looked at a King." The Magical Music Reunion (with Andrews, Van Dyke, and Richard Sherman) is like hanging out with old friends and is great to see the two of them back together reminiscing. There’s even Sherman sharing a deleted song entitled "Chimpanzoo." New to the 45th Anniversary is Mary Poppins: From Page to Stage. This is a whole series of featurettes on how the story has come to the Broadway stage. It’s amazing it took them so long to finally make it into a play.
Who hasn’t grown up mesmerized by Mary Poppins, the chimmey sweep Bert (Dick Van Dyke) and the children as they go on their magical journey? If you haven’t seen the film in a while, what better way then to pick up this new special edition to add to your musical library? Walt Disney and his studio was on top of their game when they made this wonderful film. Mary Poppins is more then just for the family and it will continue to delight people of all ages for years to come.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0!
Entertainment
