Mary Poppins (1964)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Bill Walsh (screenplay) &
Don DaGradi (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 August 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

See It Again and Again with that Supercalifragilistic Music! [re-release Australia 1976]

Plot:

A magic nanny comes to work for a cold banker's unhappy family.

Plot Keywords:

Banker | Bank | Magic | Umbrella | Nanny

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Julie Andrews	...	Mary Poppins
Dick Van Dyke	...	Bert / Mr. Dawes Sr
David Tomlinson	...	Mr. Banks
Glynis Johns	...	Mrs. Banks
Hermione Baddeley	...	Ellen
Karen Dotrice	...	Jane Banks
Matthew Garber	...	Michael Banks
Elsa Lanchester	...	Katie Nanna
Arthur Treacher	...	The Constable
Reginald Owen	...	Admiral Boom
Ed Wynn	...	Uncle Albert
Reta Shaw	...	Mrs. Clara Brill
Arthur Malet	...	Mr. Dawes Jr
Jane Darwell	...	The Bird Woman
James Logan	...	Citizen
Don Barclay	...	Mr. Binnacle - Admiral's servant
Alma Lawton	...	Mrs. Corry - Old woman in park
Marjorie Eaton	...	Miss Persimmon - Old woman in park
Marjorie Bennett	...	Miss Lark - Old woman in park
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Banas	...	Chimney Sweep (uncredited)
Marc Breaux	...	Cow (voice) (uncredited)
Daws Butler	...	Turtle / Penguin (voice) (uncredited)
Cyril Delevanti	...	Mr. Grubbs (uncredited)
Betty Lou Gerson	...	Old Crone (uncredited)
Clive Halliday	...	Mr. Mousley (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Citizen (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Depositor (uncredited)
James MacDonald	...	Penguins, Guard, News Reporter, Photographer (voice) (uncredited)
Lester Matthews	...	Mr. Tomes (uncredited)
Dal McKennon	...	Fox (voice) (uncredited)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Horseman (voice) (uncredited)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Pig / Andrew's Wimper (voice) (uncredited)
Larri Thomas	...	Woman in Carriage (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Stevenson

Writing credits
Bill Walsh		(screenplay) &
Don DaGradi		(screenplay) (as Don Da Gradi)
P.L. Travers		("Mary Poppins" books)

Produced by
Bill Walsh	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Richard M. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman

Cinematography by
Edward Colman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Cotton Warburton

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark
William H. Tuntke

Set Decoration by
Hal Gausman
Emile Kuri

Makeup Department
La Rue Matheron	....	hair stylist
Pat McNalley	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Feiner	....	assistant director
Joseph L. McEveety	....	assistant director
Arthur J. Vitarelli	....	live action second unit director
Tom Leetch	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
McLaren Stewart	....	animation art director
Tony Walton	....	design consultant
Al Gaynor	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound supervisor
Dean Thomas	....	sound mixer
Chris Pinkston	....	dialogue editor (restored version) (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Peter Ellenshaw	....	special effects
Eustace Lycett	....	special effects
Robert A. Mattey	....	special effects
George Brown	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Bob Broughton	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
May Boss	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Travers Hill	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Calvin A. Maehl	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Animation Department
Hal Ambro	....	animator
Jack Boyd	....	animator
Al Dempster	....	background artist
Don Griffith	....	background artist
Ollie Johnston	....	animator
Milt Kahl	....	animator
Ward Kimball	....	animator
Eric Larson	....	animator
Bill Layne	....	background artist
John Lounsbery	....	animator
Hamilton Luske	....	animation director (as Hamilton S. Luske)
Cliff Nordberg	....	animator
Art Riley	....	background artist
Frank Thomas	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gertrude Casey	....	costumer
Chuck Keehne	....	costumer
Bill Thomas	....	costumes executed by
Tony Walton	....	costumes

Music Department
Evelyn Kennedy	....	music editor
Irwin Kostal	....	conductor
Irwin Kostal	....	music arranger
Irwin Kostal	....	music supervisor
James MacDonald	....	assistant to conductor (as James Macdonald)
Richard M. Sherman	....	lyricist
Robert B. Sherman	....	lyricist

Other crew
Xavier Atencio	....	nursery sequence designer
Marc Breaux	....	choreographer
Walt Disney	....	presenter
Bill Justice	....	nursery sequence designer
P.L. Travers	....	consultant
Dee Dee Wood	....	choreographer
Robert E. Blair	....	dog trainer (uncredited)
Larri Thomas	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• Buena Vista Distribution Company (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1981) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Walt Disney Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Suomi-Filmi (1965) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Company (1964) (UK) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Brazil) (VHS)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Gativideo (Argentina) (video)
• Walt Disney Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

France:U | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | USA:Approved (certificate #20453) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

This was the only film personally produced by Walt Disney to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. (Beauty and the Beast (1991) was also nominated for Best Picture, but that film was made in 1991, and Disney died in 1966).

Goofs:

Continuity: Jane's teeth grow in erratically.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bert: All right, ladies an' gents! Comical poem! Suitable for the occasion, extemporized and thought up before your very eyes! All right, 'ere we go! Room 'ere for everyone. Gather around. The constable - responstable! Now 'ow does that sound? Hm. 'Ello, Miss Lark, I've got one for you. Miss Lark... likes to walk... in the park... with Andrew! Hello, Andrew. Ah, Mrs. Corry, a story for you. Your daughters were shorter than you - but they grew!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Torn Curtain' Rising (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Stay Awake

An auspicious film debut for Julie Andrews

Julie's film debut began the world's love affair with her--and what a marvelous vehicle for doing so. Julie appears here in fine voice and is radiantly beautiful.

The performance is more than deserving of the Oscar, especially considering that she had to act to blue screens and objects/characters from within her imagination. No easy task, certainly.

I also love the way Julie, as Mary, refuses to acknowledge the free-for-all that is going on around her. She simply pushes her hair primly back in place and presses on, despite the dancing chimney sweeps and giggling uncles that surround her. "I never explain anything," she blithely comments.

The score is one of my favorites in all the Disney canon. The Sherman brothers outdid themselves with "Stay Awake," one of the most under-appreciated lullabys ever written, and the hauntingly winsome "Feed the Birds."

The Disney animators have created a visual feast as bottomless and surprising as Mary Poppins' carpetbag. The Peter Ellenshaw matte shots are breathtaking. My favorite visual moments? Bert and Mary's live-action reflections in a pond are eddied by a family of cartoon geese. I also love when Bert, Mary, and the children ascend a staircase constructed only of chimney smoke. Brilliant!

There are a few drawbacks: The film's a little over-long, especially in the final third where Mary's but an afterthought in all the plot resolution. In addition, Van Dyke was an excellent choice for his singing and dancing (and popularity), but his cockney accent does grate after a while.

But all in all, this is a tour de force for all involved!