Mary Poppins (DVD)

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"Speaking of names, I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith."

"Really? What's the name of his other leg?"

It was appropriate that among the Disney studio's first DVD releases was the timeless, 1964 fantasy classic, "Mary Poppins." Based on the popular children's stories by P.L. Travers, the "Mary Poppins" musical follows the adventures of a fantastical nanny, her two young wards, their neglectful father, their suffragette mother, and a carefree chimney sweep named Bert. The movie transforms the children's books into charming fare that has entertained children of all ages for four decades. This new, two-disc, 40th Anniversary Special Edition makes a fitting tribute to an enchanting film.

The setting is London, 1910. It's a mystical, sentimental London of a past that could only exist inside a Hollywood movie, and in this case inside a Hollywood movie studio, because as was the case with "The Wizard of Oz," "Mary Poppins" was shot entirely on a sound stage--parks, streets, neighborhoods, and all.

Julie Andrews stars as Mary Poppins, the nanny of invincible convictions and magical accomplishments. She's everyone's favorite nursemaid and the envy of every wizard around. Ms. Andrews had, as we know, been overlooked for the film role of Eliza Doolittle in the 1964 movie production of "My Fair Lady," a part she had made famous on stage, so her triumph in "Mary Poppins" the same year was a fitting consolation, as was her triumph in "The Sound of Music" a year later. According to the accompanying documentary, the books' author, Ms. Travers, was on the set making sure the Poppins character was everything the author intended her to be. Poppins was to be firm, for example, but never rude.

Complementing Ms. Andrews is Dick Van Dyke as Bert, the chimney sweep, sidewalk artist, and old friend of Mary Poppins. The American actor emulated an English dialect for the movie that Monty Python's Michael Palin said delighted his children no end growing up because they had never heard such an odd accent before. Van Dyke is a pleasure, getting to sing and dance as well as be charming and humorous. What's more, he also gets to play the grumpy old bank president, Mr. Dawes, to telling effect.

Along with Andrews and Van Dyke are a supporting cast to die for. The children Mary Poppins is hired to oversee, Jane and Michael Banks, are played with refreshing good cheer and innocence by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber. Their father, the staid and upright George Banks, who is more involved in his work than he is in his children, is played by David Tomlinson. His wife, Winifred, who is more involved in her fight for women's rights, is played by Glynis Johns. Hermione Baddeley and Reta Shaw play the household help.

Then there are the real old-timers in the cast. Elsa Lanchester, "The Bride of Frankenstein," plays Katie, the first, flustered nanny we see leave the Banks home. Arthur Treacher, everyone's favorite butler in the thirties, including the indomitable Jeeves, plays Jones, a friendly constable. Reginald Owen, who had been a character actor in movies since 1911, plays Admiral Boom, whose cannon marks the time so accurately even Greenwich sets its clock by it. Stage and screen star Ed Wynn (father of Keenan Wynn) plays Uncle Albert in what I've always thought was one of the funniest and most-enchanting scenes ever filmed, the tea party on the ceiling.

And perhaps most touching of all, Jane Darwell plays the Bird Woman. Ms. Darwell is the lady who had been in practically every movie Hollywood ever made from 1913 until her death in 1967. She was already in her sixties when she played Ma Joad in John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath," and that was in 1940! Darwell was Walt Disney's personal choice for the role, and "Mary Poppins" would mark her final screen appearance, a fitting conclusion to a lifetime's work.

Among the many tunes to be enjoyed by songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman are "Sister Suffragette," "The Life I Lead," "The Perfect Nanny," "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Jolly Holiday," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Stay Awake," "I Love To Laugh," "Feed the Birds," "The Fidelity Fiduciary Bank," "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Step in Time," and "Let's Go Fly a Kite." Why have so few children's films, or so few adult musicals for that matter, produced tunes so good as these?

The movie was directed by one of Disney's favorite directors of the time, Robert Stevenson, who was responsible for many of the studio's live-action hits like "The Absent-Minded Professor," "Son of Flubber," "That Darn Cat," "The Love Bug," and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." I thought he kept a couple of sequences in "Poppins" going a bit longer than was necessary--the park scenes and the rooftop chimney-sweep dances--but for the most part he keeps the action moving at a healthy clip, nicely interspersing song, dance, dialogue, laughter, and sentiment.

Of course, it's always best to think of a character like Mary Poppins as a real-life, flesh-and-blood fantasy figure, but one can't help seeing her as a subject of metaphor as well. She represents all the pleasure and happiness that derive from sharing goodness and fostering responsible parenting. She becomes a symbol of virtue triumphing over petty greed, neglect, and self-absorption. So the movie works on a variety of levels, all of them a joy.

I must admit I've not been a big fan of children's movies since I was a kid, but there are still a few that never fail to entertain me. "The Wizard of Oz," "Willy Wonka," a few of the classic Disney animations, and "Mary Poppins" easily fall into this category. It's good company, indeed.

Video:
Almost everything about this new DVD incarnation of the movie is better than it was on the first "Mary Poppins" disc I reviewed some years ago. The transfer, measuring a ratio approximately 1.74:1 across my standard-screen HD television, is anamorphic, it's mastered to THX specifications, and it uses a higher bit rate than before. Therefore, the colors are deeper and more solid, and the detail is more revealing than ever. Definition is good, although not as sharp as I've seen on a few other DVDs, plus a touch hard, and there is some minor grain in darker areas of the screen; but these may be imperfections inherent to the original print.