The books tell of how the magical nanny Mary Poppins cares for the Banks children, meeting unusual characters and having extraordinary adventures. The first three had the framing of Mary arriving as the Banks family had become unruly, and during her stay, she would get them under order again. Finally, she would leave in the final chapter. The remaining books were midquels for the original trilogy, with stories occurring during those visits.
The series of loose stories featured the Banks family: Mr. and Mrs. Banks, the children Jane and Michael, the young twins John and Barbara, and with the second book, baby Annabel. Also featured were their staff: Ellen the maid, Mrs. Brill the cook, and Robertson Ay the handyman. Around the neighborhood were Admiral Boom, Bert the Matchman who also draws lifelike chalk drawings and plays a hurdy-gurdy, the Bird Woman, Miss Lark and her dogs Andrew and Willoughby, and the Park Keeper.
The first adaptation of the books was a television play in which Mary Wickes played the role of Mary Poppins, on CBS' Studio One program. A recording of it exists in the collection of the Los Angeles Paley Center, but what is available for the public to see without a trip is only a few photos and the cast and crew listing and a short plot description saying that Mary Poppins arrives to take care of Jane and Michael, the naughty children of Mr. Banks. It also says that Bert was part of the cast. A friend of yours truly was able to see a screening and spoke highly of it and Mary Wickes' performance.
The film creates a plot around the character of Mr. Banks. He doesn't take time for his children or to hear them out, he doesn't approve of the suffragette movement (the books took place in about the 1930s, the film explicitly takes place in 1910) which his wife is a part of. Mary Poppins' presence isn't just a calming force now, it's a healing one.
The cast of characters was reduced, although some characters from the books received small cameos ("Miss Lark likes to walk in the park with Andrew," sings Bert, and then turns to an old woman, "Old Mrs. Corry, a story for you... your daughters were shorter than you... but they grew!"). Mary was of course there, played by Julie Andrews (and most viewers were either introduced to Julie Andrews through this film or The Sound of Music), in addition to being prim and proper, she is also a little vain. (Humorously in a later scene in which all of the characters are covered in ashes and soot, she takes out a compact and powders her nose with even more.)
Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) are the only Banks children present, the film wisely narrowing its focus and reducing the number of child actors needed on set. David Tomlinson played Mr. Banks while Glynis Johns portrayed his wife Winifred. Of the Banks household, only Ellen (Hermione Baddeley) and Mrs. Brill (Reta Shaw) are present, while Reginald Owen plays neighbor Admiral Boom, who fires his rooftop cannon every hour.
Next to Julie Andrews, the other big star was Dick Van Dyke as Bert, whose character was also combined with the character of the Sweep, as Bert explains he's a jack of all trades, first being seen as a one-man band, then later doing chalk drawings, caring for Mary's uncle Albert (Ed Wynn), being a chimney sweep, then finally selling kites. His cockney accent would become one of the film's most criticized points. He would also portray Mr. Dawes, a senior partner of the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.
What really made the film soar was the delightful depiction of some of the adventures from Travers' stories, paired with songs written by Richard and Robert Sherman. for audience, this rendered the film a veritable box of delights as Mary Poppins helps Jane and Michael tidy up their nursery by snapping their fingers and having everything go back to where it should be. Then they would join Bert for a "jolly holiday" in which they'd enter a traditionally animated English countryside complete with talking animals. Later they would join Uncle Albert for tea, except he's having a laughing fit that makes him levitate to the ceiling. Finally, in a technically amazing sequence, they go to the rooftops of their neighborhood and join the chimney sweeps in the songs "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and "Step In Time."
The film could definitely be criticized for being a series of loosely connected episodes, but given that the movie manages to draw viewers in and delight them, it's hard to hold it against it. Only those not given to flights of fancy or musicals would manage to not like the film, aside from Travers herself who had trouble accepting someone else's vision of her work.Disney would approach the idea of a sequel but was shut down by Travers. There was another film made, but this was in the USSR, titled (when translated) Mary Poppins, Goodbye, produced in 1983. It dispenses with making it a period piece and places it in the 1980s. It again reduces the children to just Jane and Michael.
2004 also saw a one hour radio drama based on the books produced by BBC Radio. As part of the 40th anniversary of the film, Disney produced a short based on a chapter from one of the books titled "The Cat That Looked At A King," starring Julie Andrews and it has featured on home media releases of the movie ever since.
It was heavily criticized for depicting Travers crying tears of joy at the film's premiere when she actually found it to be so unlike her books it brought her to tears, only later saying that there were things she liked about it, but pulling together years and sometimes decades of story into a neat package is about standard for biopics. Still, it was a well-produced film about two very different creative minds coming together and clashing.
Instead of recasting Mr. Banks and his wife, the sequel moves forward to the 1930s during "the great slump." Mr. Banks appears to be dead while there is no mention of Winifred. Instead, Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is now a widower father with three children: John (Nathanael Saleh), Annabel (Pixie Davies) and Georgie (Joel Dawson). Jane (Emily Mortimer) lives in a flat across town, but has been coming by to help with the children, while Ellen (Julie Walters) remains as the family maid.
One could criticize Mary Poppins Returns for trying to retread the same lines as the original 1964 Disney film, and it's easy to see that position: we have magical moments with Mary that sees her win the children over by turning bath time into an underwater fantasy, another animated world sequence in which Mary and Jack sing together, a run in with a relative of Mary's and an adventure with Jack and his fellow lamplighters. However, it's actually faithful to the source material in that it's a similar concept just different as many of Travers' whimsical stories could get repetitive. And in fact, many of the adventures are inspired by stories from the Travers books.
Dick Van Dyke appears as the son of his character in the first film in a small but plot-connected cameo. He gets to sing and show he still can dance. Karen Dotrice appears briefly as a woman asking for directions. Angela Lansbury, as indicated above, plays the Balloon Woman. She was not in the 1964 film, but did star in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which Walt had begun developing as an alternative to Mary Poppins and was eventually resumed after his death, and was also a musical film featuring a woman with magical abilities caring for children going on incredible adventures, complete with songs by the Sherman brothers. While not in Mary Poppins continuity, it's certainly a member of the same family of films.
The songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman aren't quite as memorable as the original Sherman score, but they are certainly no slouches, still being a lot of fun and very heartfelt, particularly Michael's "A Conversation" in which he sings about what he'd like to say to his late wife and Mary Poppins' "Where The Lost Things Go." It's perhaps unfair to directly compare them as these are new songs and melodies as compared to the Sherman songs that have delighted audiences for over fifty years, so they have a longtime presence and nostalgia on their side.
So, while it might be hard to appreciate Mary Poppins Returns as much as the film it's a sequel to, I think it's a well-done film and a welcome addition to the live action Disney canon.
