Mary Poppins Lives On

The 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins is not only a great movie for people of all ages, but a cinematic treasure with amazing effects for its time. The film won five academy awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews, Best Music and Best Special Effects. No Disney film has won that many awards before or since. It was the top grossing Disney film of the year as well as the top grossing Disney film for the next twenty years. As you can see, it was worth being the most expensive film Disney had produced at the time.

CNN has just produced this great article, an interview with Mary Poppins cast member and funny man Dick Van Dyke about working on the film and the longevity of the movie. It is revealed in the article that Van Dyke's TV show a personal favorite of new first lady, Michelle Obama as well as new information about what it was like working on the Mary Poppins set.

The film is a very condensed version of the book series written about Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers and it was made even shorter by the deletion of dozens of songs. Following in the literary traditions of her famous character, Julie Andrews wrote a book of her own, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.

Its hard to believe its been forty-five years since the original release of Mary Poppins. The film which helped pioneer the fusion of real-life and animated scenes in a spectacular fashion has gone on to influence generations of films after it.

Disney, Annette Funicello, and Babes in Toyland

Disney’s 1961 musical adaptation of the classic Babes in Toyland is a Technicolor wonderland filled with the classic cast of Mother Goose characters. However, Disney changed up the film a lot to make it its own. The plot and the songs for this version are pretty much unrecognizable from the classic operetta by Victor Hudson or the more popular 1934 Laurel and Hardy version. Directed by Jack Donohue, you can find the entire film here, though it is divide up into several 9 to 10 minute increments.

The difference in plot from the other versions become apparent early. The film begins with Mother Goose (Mary McCarty) inviting everyone to Mother Goose Village, where dwell characters like the Toymaker (Ed Wynn), Grumio (Tommy Kirk) and Simple Simon the Pie Man (Jerry Glenn). This time, it is Tom the Piper's son (Tommy Sands) and Mary Quite Contrary (Disney poster-girl Annette Funicello) who are to be married in a ceremony that has all of Toyland abuzz. However, the evil Barnaby (Ray Bolger) won't let this happen. He orders to have Tom kidnapped and killed and drives away Mary's sheep, which are tended to by Little Bo Peep (Ann Jillian). Without Tom and the sheep for income, Barnaby thinks he has Mary where he wants her. But his henchmen go behind his back, selling Tom to some gypsies who allow him to escape. Reunited, Mary and Tom must band together with the other characters of Toyland to defeat Barnaby once and for all.

The Disney version of Babes in Toyland is only the second film version, the other being the Laurel and Hardy version. This was the first Babes in Toyland in color, Technicolor to be precise, and was the most elaborately created. The costumes are unique and the stage play like setting with colorful set design is very cheery and Disney. It was the first live-action musical Disney produced and another wasn't made until the release of Mary Poppins in 1964. Disney was perhaps a little reluctant to produce a live-action musical after Babes in Toyland, which bombed at the box office despite heavy studio promotion. Despite this, Annette Funicello says that Babes in Toyland was her favorite film that she made.

A good article with extra links on this film can be found here, thanks to Nationmaster.com. Another basic analysis of the film can be found here, thanks to epinions.com. Also, the New York Times review of the film can be found here.