Mary Poppins
Published March 21, 2010
Film info
- Title Mary Poppins
- Director Robert Stevenson
- Year 1964
- Run time 2hrs 19m
- Genres Fantasy, Comedy, Family
- Tagline It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Join the practically perfect Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) for a Jolly Holiday as she magically turned every chore into a game and every day into a whimsical adventure. Along the way, you'll be enchanted by unforgettable characters such as the multitalented chimney sweep Bert (Dick Van Dyke). You won't need a Spoonful Of Sugar to love every moment of this timeless Disney classic!
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:12 | Is that background a painting? Cos it’s quite odd. |
| 3:01 | I would never have enough co-ordination to be a one (wo)man band. |
| 4:44 | I expect him to say “me ol’ bamboo” any moment now. |
| 5:48 | Is he beating that drum with a tennis racquet? I only just noticed. |
| 8:23 | I’ve just realised what she’s up to. Ah, the beauty of watching kids films as an adult. Suffragettes! |
| 11:44 | Gosh, back in the days when banking was profitable and the word banker wasn’t bad. |
| 13:31 | I can’t imagine being married to someone quite so orderly. Who plans down to the very minute, really? |
| 15:09 | The boy looks just like his father. |
| 23:32 | Ms Poppins really doesn’t make a good first impression. |
| 28:26 | I’m always slightly disappointed when I see the green screening. Mr C’s fault. |
| 36:55 | Sil-yoo-wet. Honestly. |
| 46:47 | Dancing penguins! |
| 53:11 | It’s funny that the marks in the ground don’t always match up to the pole of the horse. |
| 59:20 | Empty threats to children don’t work. Would she really call a policeman if they didn’t sleep? |
| 1:07:20 | I wonder about this laughing bit. Surely laughing is a good thing? Why do they make it seem a serious mistake to laugh? |
| 1:13:00 | I think I would like to start using “jolly well” in sentences. |
| 1:26:44 | Now that I know that is Mr Van Dyke, it’s so freaking obvious from his gangly legs. |
| 1:32:20 | This bit reminds me of Oliver, something about running through the back streets of London. |
| 1:41:59 | Come on, if you could, you’d want to run about on the rooftops like that, wouldn’t you? |
| 1:57:39 | Bless the children wearing pink for a girl and blue for a boy. |
| 2:10:31 | Now he’s been made a partner, isn’t he just going to go back to being a workaholic, and all Mary’s efforts will have been wasted? |
Thoughts
Mary Poppins is a staple of the Christmas holiday. I always look for it as soon as the TV schedules are released because the festive season isn’t right without it. I hadn’t realised quite how long the film is, considering it’s a kid’s one, but you can’t help but love it.
Having been instilled in one as a child, I can’t help but love the film, even if watching it back highlights some rather serious flaws in the whole thing. I know people get mad at the dodgy cockney accent but I find it kinda loveable.
Revisited - Dec 2018
On a second viewing, the length of this film was more of a problem for me. They’re fun adventures, sure, but wow they do go on a bit. I was craving the kite action from about the time they were on the Uncle’s ceiling.
But I was more impressed than I remember with the animation, and enjoyed deconstructing a lot of the special effects - not green screen as I had previously imagined.
I’ve changed as a person since watching this - not so much blessing the blue for a boy and pink for a girl thing, and also quite enjoyed the dad’s minute by minute scheduling. It’s weird how you can view a film completely differently just a few years later.
Rating: 5 / 5