Before Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke had never danced

Disney 45th Anniversary DVD Edition tells musical story of a magical nanny who makes families better – 4 stars ****

By Gabrielle Pantera

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2/18/2009 – “At a time in my life when the next break was a big question mark, suddenly there was Mary Poppins and Walt,” says star Julie Andrews. “The magical quality of Mary Poppins and the main reason for her to be in our life is she fixes things. She goes in and makes families better.”

The Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary Edition is two hours and 20 minutes of Disney magic. Poppins is a magical nanny who arrives to take charge of two children who’s eccentric parents are too preoccupied to notice. In the process, she teaches their father a thing or two about the magic of being a child. This delightful musical features Andrews with Dick Van Dyke as a charming chimney sweep.

Julie Andrews wanted to make the film My Fair Lady, having played the role of Eliza Doolittle in London and on Broadway. When Jack Warner chose the better-known Audrey Hepburn for the role, Andrews became available to do Mary Poppins. At the Golden Globe Awards in 1965, both Julie Andrews and Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady were nominated for best actress in a musical or comedy. Andrews won. In her acceptance speech, Andrews thanked Jack Warner for making it possible for her. At the Academy Awards, Mary Poppins received thirteen nominations. Andrews won again.

“I think all would agree that Mary Poppins is Walt Disney’s crowning glory,” says star Dick Van Dyke. “Like Mary Poppins herself, the film is ‘practically perfect’ in every way. When Mary Poppins was released in August, 1964, it was a phenomena. It was the biggest hit in the history of the studio. It stands as the perfect Walt Disney movie, as far as I’m concerned.”

“How could you not hum the songs?,” says Andrews. “They were so catchy and pretty. I guess it’s part of the huge success of the movie. Musicals are such a rare breed…a tremendous thrill for me.”

“Ever since I was I child I went to see Disney movies,” says Dick Van Dyke. “I always had an ambition to be in a Disney movie. So when I got the call from Walt to do this movie I about fell down. This is what I’ve dreamed of doing.”

For Mary Poppins, Disney mixed live actors with animation in a new process they’d invented. “There were a great number of visual effects in Mary Poppins,” says Andrews. “It was a great discipline for me…because who knew how to make a film? I certainly didn’t. Robert Stevenson, our director, was so patient with me because I had no idea what long shots and medium shots were and close ups and things like that meant.”

“Julie, despite that it was her first film, was a total professional,” says Van Dyke. “She knew where the camera was, where the lights were.”

“The animation scenes were extremely difficult, but it was a challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed,” says Van Dyke. “I loved working with the animators because one of my great loves is mime. I was working with characters who weren’t there. It was the high point of my life when I saw it put together with the real animation. What a masterful job it was.”

“I was worried mostly about the dancing,” says Van Dyke.”I hadn’t done much of that or singing. That was a big challenge for me. I had such fun. I’ve been singing and dancing ever since.” Van Dyke, who’d never had a dance lesson, rehearsed the big Mary Poppins dance number Step in Time for six weeks.

Another challenge for Van Dyke was the accent. “I was trying my best to do Cockney,” says Van Dyke. “In some scenes I almost get it and in other scenes it isn’t there at all. It’s amazing how the British forgave me for my bad accent.”

Mary Poppins is a lovable, feel-good film for the whole family. It has live action, animation, special effects and award-winning music. There are wonderful songs written by the Sherman brothers including: Jolly Holiday, Spoonful of Sugar, Let’s Go Fly a Kite and of course Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

With the permission of author P.L. Travers, Disney changed a few things from the 1934 book it’s based on. The Mary Poppins of the book isn’t as nice as Andrew’s Mary Poppins.

The 2-Disc 45th Anniversary Edition is available on DVD only. Disney’s not releasing a Blu-ray version just yet. DVD disc one has audio commentary by Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Karen Dotrice and Richard Sherman. Poppins Pop-Up Fun Facts is an option that if selected will pop up trivia about the creation of the film as you watch the movie.
On disc two is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Making of Mary Poppins, a 50- minute documentary. The segment Movie Magic describes the special effects process. There’s Gala World Premiere Footage from the Red Carpet, Dick Van Dyke’s Make-Up Test, and more.

With Mary Poppins you’ll be singing along with the catchy tunes.

Mary Poppins
Format AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number of discs: 2
Rating: G
Distributor: Walt Disney Video
DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009
Run Time: 139 minutes