Mary Poppins (1964)

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:

Carousel | Farm | Bank Of England | Horse Racing | Housekeeper

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Julie Andrews	...	Mary Poppins
Dick Van Dyke	...	Bert / Mr. Dawes - Senior
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 - Junior
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

Costume Design by
Tony Walton

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 director: second unit
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

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	....	costume execution

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)

Other crew
Xavier Atencio	....	nursery sequence designer
Marc Breaux	....	choreographer
Walt Disney	....	presenter
Nat Farber	....	dance accompanist
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)
• CBS Television (1981) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Walt Disney Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• 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)
• Suomi-Filmi (1965) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Company (1964) (UK) (theatrical)
• 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:

USA:Approved (certificate #20453) (original rating) | France:U | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | 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:

Ordinarily a stickler for keeping to the script, director Robert Stevenson allowed Ed Wynn free rein to improvise.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mary uses the tape measure on herself, she holds the tape horizontally to read it, however the close up shows the tape vertically with the words oriented that way.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bert: Aw'right ladies an' gents! Comical poem! Suitable for the occasion, extemporised 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:

Featured in The 100 Greatest Family Films (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

A Spoonful of Sugar

Simply a delight

The children Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) want a new nanny and not one that is as strict as their father George (David Tomlinson). Secretly their mother Winifred (Glynis Johns) wants the same for the children. The new nanny is the wonderful and magical Mary Poppins, played by the beautiful Julie Andrews.

Bert (Dick Van Dyke) is a street artist who knows Mary Poppins. She and the children meet him when they take a walk in the park and the four of them take a trip inside one of the paintings made by Bert. This painting is really painted and therefore this world is in animation. The way animation and live-action are combined in these scenes is wonderful. When it starts raining they have to leave the painting and return home where everybody is happy except the strict father George.

A lot of other magical things happen with Bert, Mary Poppins and the children and in the meanwhile their father is having some trouble with his job. May be this gives him the time and the possibility to care for his children a little more.

'Mary Poppins' is a delightful movie with great musical numbers. Some of the songs have become real classics. The special effects are very good, considering the time this movie was made, and the whole world of Mary Poppins looks great. The children are not annoying, something you see in a lot of movies. They do a pretty good job. David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns and of course Dick Van Dyke are very good and Julie Andrews is wonderful in every scene. This is a true classic.