Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Only a crazy dictator or a piece of insentient slime on the floor of a locker room would find Mary Poppins anything
less than delightful. (And we're saying "delightful" the way it's meant to be pronounced—in a Poppins-style posh
British accent—for extra delightfulness).
The movie is a carefree, light-hearted romp. It's got a dance sequence where chimney sweeps essentially breakdance
on the roofs of London. It's got Julie Andrews at her most amazing. It has Dick Van Dyke with a truly terrible
British accent…but he's so charming that you don't even notice. It has a plot that revolves around a hardened banker
learning how to love flying kites. It's a treatise on the joy of feeding pigeons.
And this movie has penguin waiters. Penguin waiters, guys. Even the pre-Whoville miracle Grinch probably liked
this movie.
But because we're in the business of complicating things (or "film analysis" if you want to get all technical about it)
we're going to give you the backstory. Mary Poppins, like so many great things, began as a book—or, actually, a
series of books by the British author P.L. Travers. Like the movie, the books detailed the adventures of a magical
nanny and the two children, Jane and Michael Banks, she watches over. But, in Travers' version, Mary is super-stern
and demanding—like a martial arts master from a '70s Kung Fu movie. (Don't worry: she doesn't land any flying
kicks on the kids.)
But, since staring at a screen requires less energy than moving your eyes across a page, people wanted to make it
into a movie. Good idea. Travers obliged.
Yet, after selling the movie rights to Disney, she fought with Disney over basically everything. In the end, they
rolled with some of her changes and focused on making the movie about how Mary's attempts to teach the children a
little bit about life end up forcing their work-obsessed dad, George Banks, to chill, and spend more time with his
kids.
(In fact, this backstory was full of so many twists and turns that they made a movie about making the movie Mary
Poppins: Saving Mr. Banks.)
As it turned out, Mary Poppins wound up being a classic almost as soon as it was released in 1964. It won Julie
Andrews the Oscar for Best Actress, and also won Oscars for Best Score, Best Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee") and
Best Special Effects. And that Special Effects award wasn't just for making nannies fly—this movie broke new
ground when it came to blending animation and live-action. (Take that, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
And it's got a killer soundtrack that will haunt you for the rest of your life. These songs— "It's a Jolly Holiday," "A
Spoonful of Sugar" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"—are insanely catchy earworms, standards in the genre
of the movie musical and in the genre of "singing in the shower."
But the heart of Mary Poppins, and the reason why pretty much everyone of every age will opt to watch this movie
whenever it comes on TV or pops up in your Netflix queue, is the character of Mary Poppins herself. She's a bundle
of contradictions: a disciplinarian who preaches the Gospel of Fun, a weirdo who manages to be the sanest person in
the film, and a a general delight who teaches the uptight to relax and the too-relaxed to get it together.
Basically, she's the spoonful of sugar and the medicine it helps to go down.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
Two words: penguin waiters.
Okay, that's not quite why Mary Poppins is important. The reason that Mary Poppins is important is, in fact, because
of Mary Poppins. And the reason that this bizarre goddess/enchantress/witch/superhero-with-a-carpetbag is
important is that she doles out a serious life lesson.
We know; you think we're sounding cheesy and childish. So we have a little compare-and-contrast for you: a speech
delivered by the Very Important Author David Foster Wallace.
Here's what Wallace has to say about how to best navigate the minefields of life:
[…] I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually
shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some
control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention
to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in
adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old cliché about quote the mind being an excellent servant but a
terrible master. (Source)
What David Foster Wallace—again, Big Deal Thinker—is saying here is that you have the power to choose how
you think about the (often nasty) situations that life doles out. You can choose to "construct meaning from
experience;" you can choose to get through the difficulties of life by being a gloomy Gus and generally hateful, or
you can use a little imagination, a little willpower, and a little optimistic restraint and see the best in things.
Now compare that quote and what it's saying to this gem:
MARY: In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and—snap—the job's a game!
Mary Poppins, a character constructed from one part movie magic and two part's P.L. Travers imagination, says the
exact same thing. It's all about mind over matter with both Poppins and Wallace—you decide whether you're going
to view life's tasks as a slog or as something waymore enjoyable.
There's a reason we're comparing a character out of children's fiction and one of the shining examples of American
intellectual thought in the last fifty years…and it's not to undermine D.F.W. It's to show you what a total boss—a
Zen master fused with a drill sergeant fused—Mary Poppins is.
So go ahead: get a framed print of a Mary Poppins quote and hang it above your desk. Because, as long as it comes
from Mary Poppins' mouth (and not, say, Admiral Boom's) there's a chance it contains some heavy-hitting
philosophy.
Okay—we take that back. Don't go hanging a framed print of the quote "Mmm: rum punch!" above your desk. But
that one about finding the element of fun? That's a definite winner
Daddy Issues
Next, she takes them through a series of adventures, first entering a cartoon world by jumping into Bert the cockney
chimney sweep's chalk drawing on the sidewalk. (Bert and Mary seem to be old acquaintances, ambivalently
attracted to each other…something's simmering on the burner, but it's hard to say what). After this frolic—involving
the classic song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"—they visit her Uncle Albert, who floats in the air when he
laughs, and Mary sings them a song about an old lady who feeds pigeons.
Mary cheers everyone in the house up—except for Mr. Banks, who's obviously jealous of her popularity. He wants
to fire her, but Mary prevents him by suggesting the children go to the bank and learn about Bank's lessons of
discipline and thrift. However, this doesn't go so well: Michael gets into a tussle with the head of the bank, who tries
to force Michael to invest his tuppence in a savings account. People at the bank misunderstand what's going on and
all try to withdraw their money, in a panic.
After Michael, Jane, and Mary go on a song and dance excursion with Bert and his chimney sweep pals, Mr. Banks
goes to the bank and gets fired because of Michael's behavior. Funnily enough, he finds he's totally excited to leave
the bank and goes home feeling "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
The next day, George arrives home a changed man, ready to have fun with his kids. He takes them out to fly a kite,
and Mrs. Banks comes too. At the park, they run into the son of the deceased head of the bank, who gives George
his job back—with a promotion to partner. At the same time, the wind changes, which means Mary Poppins needs to
leave—her work there is done. Naturally, the kids are sad, but they're pumped up to have their dad happy and in a
decent frame of mind.
Mary sails away on her umbrella, leaving a joyful Banks' family behind.
● London comes into view, with Big Ben towering over it, as the opening credits roll. In the musical
overture, shortened versions of songs we'll hear later—like "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Chim Chim Cher-
ee"—play.
● We see Mary Poppins sitting on a cloud, applying makeup with a little pocket mirror. She's putting on her
game face.
● Then, we pull back to the overhead view of London and the camera dives down to a street, where Bert, the
cockney chimney sweep, is playing as a one-man band.
● He goes over to bystanders, and makes up rhymes about them using their names and details about their
lives. They seem amused…and not at all creeped out.
● Suddenly, the wind changes, and Bert sings that it feels like something is about to begin. (*Cough cough*
he's talking about the movie *cough*).
● Bert finishes playing and most of the cheapskates who were listening to him don't give him a tip. (Some of
them do).
● Bert then talks to us, the audience, like we're actually there, and leads us towards the house of the Banks
family.
● But, first, he shows us Admiral Boom's nearby house, where the admiral fires a cannon to announce the
time.
● Admiral Boom tells Bert that heavy weather's brewing.
MARY POPPINS SCENE 2 SUMMARY
A "Man's World"?
● Bert scoots on over to the Banks house, where we can hear screaming and chaos breaking out inside.
● It turns out the nanny is resigning and leaving. The Banks children, Jane and Michael, have run away…and
the nanny's sick of their antics.
● The maid tries to block her from leaving, and, at the same time, the children's mother, Winifred, arrives
back from a suffragette meeting (a meeting about women's right to vote), excitedly talking about what
happened.
● Next, she sings a song about the struggle for women's suffrage—while the irritated nanny tries to interrupt,
to say she's leaving.
● But Winifred isn't breaking up this musical number so easily. Finally, the nanny punctures the mood and
tells her that the kids have run away for the fourth time this week—and she's leaving.
● Winifred pleads, but the nanny's set.
● At that moment, Admiral Boom's cannon fires, and the maids and Winifred all prevent vases and objects
from falling.
● Outside, the father, Mr. George Banks is walking home. He and Admiral Boom chew the fat about how
awesome the British pound is doing. Mr. Banks helps the nanny put her luggage on the carriage she's
leaving in, without realizing she's resigning.
● Next, George enters the house, and sings a song about how pleasant his life is and how great it is to be a
British man in 1910.
● He sings, "It's the age of men." He thinks it's a man's world—like James Brown.
● Finally, Winifred gets his attention, and explains that the children ran away and the nanny resigned.
● George calls the police, while a constable knocks on the door. It turns out the constable has already found
Jane and Michael.
● The kids explain they didn't really intend to run away—their kite got loose and they chased it across the
park.
● When the constable tries to banter about kites, George semi-dismissively interrupts him and offers him
food in the kitchen. But the constable just leaves.
Nanny 911
● Later, George and Winifred are arguing about how to hire a new nanny. George and Winifred agree that
Winifred's done a lousy job of selecting nannies—four of them have all peaced out recently.
● George decides to write an ad for The Times, dictating to Winifred an advertisement for a strict, command-
and-control nanny.
● The kids walk into the room and apologize, and show him their own advertisement for the nanny. They
want a nanny who's all kind and sweet—not a whip cracking, storm-trooper nanny.
● The dad thinks this is the dumbest thing he's ever heard. He tears up their ad and chucks it in the fireplace,
while calling The Times to place his own ad.
● But the wind blows the pieces up the chimney…
● The next day, Admiral Boom's assistant says that the wind is changing. Then, he and Boom notice from
their rooftop that a ton of nannies have all lined up at the Banks house, answering George's ad.
● Michael and Jane are miffed—this looks like a second-rate crowd of ultra-strict nannies. But a strong wind
comes and literally blows the nannies away—they fly up into the air and disappear down the street. Jane
and Michael's little dog barks at them.
● From a distance, they spy Mary Poppins flying in the air with her umbrella. She lands in front of the Banks
house.
● Michael and Jane are psyched—she looks like just the kind of nanny they wanted.
● The maid lets Mary in, and is surprised that the other nannies have all vanished.
● Mary marches right in and speaks to Mr. Banks. She shows him that she has the same ad he tore up
yesterday, though it's now been magically put back together.
● Mary announces that she meets all the children's qualifications, and—when George is too stunned to say
anything—Mary basically hires herself.
● She rides up the banister of the staircase, to the children's surprise, and gets ready to get down to business.
● Winifred comes to George and asks him what he thinks of the new nanny. George seems stunned and
baffled, but then he says, yeah.
● He does think she'll do a good job.
● Upstairs, the kids get to know Mary, who starts doing crazy things, like pulling a giant hat-stand out of her
carpetbag and hanging her hat on it. The kids can't understand how she can get anything out of the
carpetbag, considering it appears empty.
● But she keeps pulling out lamp stands and stuff.
● Then, Mary whips out her tape measure, which she finds after reaching deep down into the bag.
● After she measures Michael, the tape measure reads that he's "extremely stubborn and suspicious," while it
says that Jane is "rather inclined to giggle, doesn't put things away."
● Mary's own measurement reads, "Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way."
● Mary asks them if they want to play a game—"cleaning up the nursery."
● She explains that you can make boring jobs into a game, by finding the element of fun.
● She launches right into the song "A Spoonful of Sugar," explaining how "a spoonful of sugar helps the
medicine go down."
● Looking out the window, Mary gets a robin to land on her hand, and continues singing while the robin
accompanies her (though the robin doesn't sing actual words).
● Mary Poppins snaps her fingers at different parts of the nursery, and they clean themselves up on
command. Jane does the same thing, and it works. But Michael can't snap his fingers.
● Then, Mary sings while her own reflection in the mirror accompanies her—upstaging her, at one point.
● Michael finally gets the finger snapping, but ends up falling into a toy wagon, which drives into a closet
that locks him inside. All the items in the room are moving on their own.
● Mary commands the room to settle down, and it does.
● Then, she and the children ride the stair banister, surprising the maid, and head out to the park.
●
● Bert's drawing chalk illustrations on the sidewalk near the park, singing "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and
soliciting tips.
● Mary's silhouette falls on the ground and Bert recognizes it—he knows Mary and they greet each other like
old pals.
● Bert tells the kids that Mary is going to take them on some sort of unexpected adventure, and starts
comically miming the scenes in his chalk-drawings.
● They want to do magic to travel inside Bert's drawing of an English countryside. Bert's attempt fails, so
Mary does it for them and they travel inside the illustration.
● In the illustrated world, they're all dressed differently. Mary's got a fancy dress on and Bert's wearing a
striped suit with white pants and a straw hat.
● Bert sings "Jolly Holiday" in praise of Mary Poppins. It's a little flirtatious. Bert thinks Mary's pretty great,
as he leads her down the lane.
● They walk into a farmyard with cartoon animals around. The animals pick up the tune and start singing (in
human language).
● It's pretty much the Disney-est thing ever.
● Bert and Mary leave the farm and dance as birds fly around them. Mary's umbrella flies of its own volition
and a cartoon squirrel chases after it. Cartoon bunnies, squirrels, and deer race by, and two turtles escort
Mary and Bert across a river.
● Mary sings verses praising Bert as a true gentleman who doesn't try to "press his advantage." Bert seems to
have mixed feelings about this.
● Mary and Bert sit down at an outside table, and penguin waiters suddenly swarm around, bringing them
menus and complimenting them.
● Bert praises Mary above all other women, and then dances with the penguins, somehow altering his pants
to make him do more of a penguin-style dance.
● They have a Stomp the Yard-style dance off, with Bert making a dance move and the penguins answering.
● Next, Bert and Mary meet back up with Michael and Jane—who had been running around this whole time
doing whatever. They ride a merry-go-round, and the horses jump off the carousel and carry them through
the woods.
● Bert and Michael start racing with each other, before Mary makes them slow down.
● Animated foxhunters and hounds go racing by. They ride with Mary and company for a while, but Bert
decides to help save the fox (who is apparently Irish—he speaks with an accent—getting chased by British
foxhunters. It's a political allegory).
● Bert picks up the fox, and they ride onto an animated racecourse.
● The jockeys chivalrously let Mary pass them, and she wins the race. Cartoon men present her with a big
bouquet.
● One of them asks her how it feels to win and Mary says it feels, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
● Then, she launches into the song, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" while Michael and Jane stuff their
faces with ice cream.
● When they finish the song, a thunderstorm breaks out and it starts raining. The rain erases the chalk
drawing on the street, and suddenly Mary, Bert, and the kids are back in the real world.
● They part ways with Bert and head home.
● At home, Mary makes the kids take medicine because they got their feet wet. The kids discover that it
actually tastes great—like "lime cordial" and "strawberry." Mary takes her own and says it tastes like "rum
punch."
● Even though it's bedtime, the kids are still hyped up and not ready to sleep. The kids talk about their
cartoon adventures, but Mary denies it ever happened.
● She then sings a lullaby, which rapidly knocks the kids out.
● The next morning, Admiral Boom decides to put a double-charge of powder in his cannon.
● In the Banks house, Winifred plots to throw things at the Prime Minister with other suffragettes.
● Weirdly, everyone in the house is happy. The only one who seems miserable is George—he's annoyed at
how happy everyone else is.
● Even the maids are singing, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
● Winifred tells George that he's out of sorts, but he angrily denies it. He says that Mary Poppins has been
undermining the level of discipline in the house.
● Admiral Boom's cannon goes off, and everyone rushes to prevent things from shattering.
Floaters
● Mary leads the children outside, as they head on errands. A little dog runs up and barks at Mary—Mary
seems to understand his language. The dog leads them down the sidewalk.
● They arrive at the house of Mary's Uncle Albert. Bert's already there.
● They walk into a room where Albert is floating up by the ceiling. Apparently he has some sort of condition
(disorder?), where he laughs and starts floating in the air. He keeps cracking up.
● Albert starts singing the song, "I Love to Laugh." Everyone else starts cracking up too. Mary and Bert sing
verses too.
● Bert laughs so much that he starts floating in the air as well. Michael and Jane start to float too, but Mary
drags them back down.
● Soon, Michael and Jane are up in the air, laughing, anyway.
● Only Mary remains earthbound.
● Bert and Albert tell each other terrible jokes and continue guffawing and floating.
● A table set for tea floats in the air, and Mary relents and floats up with them.
● They have tea in the middle of the air, as Bert and Albert's intentionally bad jokes continue.
● Michael asks if there's a way to get down. Albert explains there is—you need to think of something sad.
● Albert starts talking about a cat that got run over, and the children start moving back to the floor. But
Albert turns it into a joke, so they stay floating.
● Mary gets tired of all this, so she makes them all float back to earth through her magic powers. She leaves
with the children.
● Albert cries because he's sad to see them go, while Bert sticks around and commiserates.
Bird Buffet
● Next, we see George Banks arriving home. The kids run up and start telling him jokes. But George doesn't
want to hear it. He's all stressed out and fed up.
● When he sees Mary, he asks her to come with him. Meanwhile, Winifred is rushing out to another
suffragette rally, but George makes her sit down.
● George starts telling Mary how to raise the children, and sings a song about how they need to operate with
discipline and be more like him—an efficient bank manager. He wants them to go on outings with purpose.
● Mary agrees and says that the children will go to the bank with George tomorrow. George agrees, but
seems apprehensive.
● Upstairs, the children are worried that Mary got fired. But Mary explains that's not the case: she got Mr.
Banks to agree to let the children go to the bank.
● Then, Mary sings a song about an old lady who feeds birds at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and shakes a
little snow globe with a replica of St. Paul's in it.
● We actually see the old lady, feeding the birds on the cathedral steps, as Mary sings.
● Turns out—this was another lullaby. Michael and Jane have conked out.
●
● The next day, near St. Paul's, the children head to the bank with Mr. Banks. They see the bird-feeding lady,
and Michael wants to buy bird feed from the lady for tuppence (two pence).
● George tells him not to, and they head into the bank.
● The head of the bank, Mr. Dawes Jr. and his father, Dawes Sr., greet them. George says the children want
to open an account.
● Dawes Sr. asks for Michael's tuppence to put it in the account, and sings about how the tuppence will turn
into more money once its placed in a savings account. George and the other bank guys join in the singing.
● But the kids are weirded out by all this. Michael's not buying the message about saving. He still wants to
feed the birds.
● When Dawes Sr. tries to take Michael's tuppence, he still holds onto it, demanding his money. It causes the
customers in the bank to panic and make a run on the bank, demanding all their money from their accounts.
● Michael and Jane run outside and down alleyways until they run into Bert, who's covered in soot from
chimney sweeping.
● They explain what happened with the tuppence and the bank disaster. They're worried their dad doesn't
love them.
● Bert comforts them and says that their dad's just in a tough spot, stuck in a cold, heartless bank all day,
forced to fend for himself.
● Bert leads the kids home, singing a bit of "Chim Chim Cher-ee." Inside, Winifred is getting ready to run off
to another suffragette meeting.
● Bert tells Winifred the kids need someone to look after them. Winifred realizes its Mary Poppins' day off,
so she pushes the kids off on Bert. He needs to look after them for the day.
● Bert takes them chimney sweeping with him—in their own house, at the fireplace. But Michael and Jane
get sucked up the chimney and shoot out onto the roof, covered in soot. Mary Poppins walks in, in time to
see this happen, and she and Bert both shoot up the chimney after them.
● They walk around on the roofs, and look out over London. A stairway made of chimney smoke forms in the
air, and Mary leads them up it.
● They stand on top of a tower and savor the view. Then, they head back down on a plume of smoke, which
retracts into a chimney.
● Then, a bunch of Bert's chimneysweep friends pop out of various chimneys. They start dancing around on
the rooftops and chimneys, performing "Step in Time."
● Mary gets in on the dancing too.
● Admiral Boom mistakes the chimney sweeps for hostile enemies and decides to fire multiple fireworks at
them.
● The fireworks explode and the chimney sweeps scatter.
● Bert hits one of the fireworks back at Boom, who manages to duck.
● All the chimney sweeps rush down the chimney into the Banks house, where they chase the maid around
and continue to dance and perform "Step in Time."
Sacked
● Mr. Banks arrives home and is horrified. Bert whistles, and all the chimney sweeps troop out the door.
● George is angry, and demands that Mary Poppins explain what just happened. She cheerfully says she
never explains anything and walks upstairs with the kids.
● George gets a phone call from the bank, and its Dawes Jr. and Sr. They tell him they want to see him this
very night. It sounds like they want to fire him.
● He complains, and sadly sings, telling Bert about how he's been defeated and ruined. He blames Mary
Poppins for this catastrophe.
● Bert humors him, and sings ironically about how George has more important things to do than spend time
with his kids. George starts to look pretty guilty.
● The kids come downstairs and apologize to their father. Michael gives him the tuppence that caused the
squabble at the bank.
● It looks likes George is realizing the error of his ways. He feels bad.
● George heads down to the bank to meet his fate.
● Predictably, he gets fired. The bank board blames him for the run on the bank that happened earlier in the
day. Dawes Jr. even punches a hole in the top of Banks' hat.
● When Dawes Sr. asks him if he has anything to say, Banks, looking at the tuppence, says,
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
● Banks realizes he feels great, and tells them one of Uncle Albert's jokes, which he heard from the kids. He's
eager to go out in the world and have fun.
● After he leaves, Dawes Sr. gets the joke Banks told and starts laughing. It makes him float up into the air.
● The next day, the wind changes—which means Mary Poppins has to leave.
● She packs up her giant hat stand and other belongings in her carpetbag.
● The children are sad to see her go, but Mary acts like she doesn't have strong emotions.
● Downstairs, Winifred and the maids are worried about George, who hasn't come home yet. A constable is
on the phone discussing George's disappearance, worrying he might've jumped in a river out of despair.
● Fortunately, George walks in the door, singing "A Spoonful of Sugar."
● He calls for the kids, who tearfully say goodbye to Mary and run downstairs.
● They discover that their father has fixed their broken kite. They're delighted, and they all sing the song,
"Let's Go Fly a Kite."
● Winifred uses her "Votes for Women" sash as a tail for the kite and she heads out the door with George and
the kids, as they go to fly their kite.
● Now, they're a family having fun together.
● Bert is selling kites at the park, and starts singing the song too.
● Michael holds the kite as they launch it off.
● The Banks family sees Dawes Jr. and the other bankers flying kites in the park too. Dawes Jr. tells them his
dad died laughing but had decided to appoint George a new partner in the bank beforehand.
● George gratefully accepts the position.
● Back at the house, the handle of Mary's umbrella—which is shaped like a parrot's head—talks to her. The
umbrella says that the children love their father more than her, and Mary says that's the way it's meant to
be.
● She seems a little wistful, but she takes off into the air with her umbrella. Bert waves goodbye to her from
below and Mary waves back.
● We see her flying away, high above London.
1. Do you think Mr. Banks has always been so uptight, or has his job made him that way?
2. Does Mrs. Banks need to change the way she relates to her family?
3. Do the Banks parents match up with your own idea of good parents? In what ways to they meet and miss
the mark?
4. How does Mary teach the Banks parents to be better parents? What's her method?
Chew on This
Take a peek at these thesis statements. Agree or disagree?
The Banks family is a wee bit dysfunctional because the kids don't have enough freedom: their father and a series of
bad nannies are always trying to control them.
The Banks family is a wee bit dysfunctional because no one's paying enough attention to the kids. The adults are all
distracted with their own problems, and aren't taking the proper amount of care in selecting a nanny, or spending
time with the children themselves.