Mary Poppins (1964)
1964
G
139 Minutes
The movie combines a diverting story, songs, color and sequences of live action blended with the movements of animated figures. Mary Poppins is a kind of Super-nanny who flies in with her umbrella...
User Review
-
WHAT I LIKED: P.L. Travers' 'Mary Poppins,' is a brilliant story about rediscovering childhood imagination and laughter to rescue a struggling soul, and what this 1964 film does is bring all of that joy to life perfectly to translate the book's central message very well indeed. Yes it would have been very easy of course to stay a little restrained on the imagination front when adapting this novel, but here director Robert Stevenson and co decided to turn the dials up to eleven with beautiful sets and colourful visuals, crazy animated sequences, and delightful songs from the Sherman brothers - all to make for a magical experience that captures the beauty of childhood imagination perfectly. What that then means of course is that when the father realises what's really important and finally sees the value of having a good laugh, it does actually hit pretty hard, but none of that would equally have been possible without a great set of theatrical and yet grounded performances from David Tomlinson and of course Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. All in all then this is a classic for a reason - it not only translates a wonderful message with a story that's engaging and meaningful, but it's also one of the most intensely enchanting films of all time, and that's why it's stood the test of time like it has.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Some of the joyous musical numbers do feel a little relentless, and that's largely because most of them have little significance to the character narrative. That doesn't necessarily detract from the intense magic of them, but in my eyes it does hinder the film from becoming the masterpiece that many think it is.
VERDICT: A wonderful story about rediscovering the importance of childhood imagination and laughter, 'Mary Poppins,' is translated very well to the big screen here thanks to the magical sets, songs and animation. Sometimes that feels a little relentless, but it does make for a thoroughly memorable classic overall.0 member like this review.
