Disney’s Mary Poppins Movie

Mary Poppins is my all-time favorite movie – ALL TIME FAVORITE. However, I don’t know if it is because it was the first movie that I remember watching that was live-action, but I think I was intrigued by the fact that there were real people with animation. Moreover, I have watched it repeatedly, and I never tire of it. This essay: Comparing Disneys Mary Poppins Movie with the book is an overview of both the book and the movie. First I give an overview of both, and then I will discuss the similarities and the differences between the two.

Mary Poppins: The Book by P.L. Travers

Mary Poppins is a series of eight books written by author P.L. Travers. In fact, the most popular and well-known book is the first simply titled Mary Poppins. When looking at all the books, it is important to realize that they were published from the years 1934 to 1988 in the United Kingdom. However, they were set in a time period before that.

The first book is about an English nanny named Mary Poppins who comes to work at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, England, for the Banks family.

• Mary Poppins (the first book) was published in 1934
• She is an English nanny who is blown in by the East Wind in the year 1910
• She comes to 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London
• Mary Poppins is “magical.”
• The children in the book are Jane, Michael, Annabel and baby twins,  John and Barbara.

Disney’s Mary Poppins Movie

• Walt Disney adapted the first four books into a musical film.
• The musical film was released in 1964.
• Julie Andrews plays Mary Poppins
• Dick Van Dyke plays Bert
• The children in the movie are Jane and Michael
• The Sherman Brothers wrote the songs in the film.
• Mary Poppins was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won 5 including Julie Andrews for Best Actress

 

Comparing Disneys Mary Poppins with the Book: The Differences 

• The Banks family has more members in the book than the movie.
• The book originally had a chapter entitled “Bad Tuesday” in which Mary and the children visit places around the world using a compass. As the culture changed, some of the original storyline contained “offensive” stereotypes and was rewritten in 1967 to remove some of those stereotypes. But as society changed, it was again deemed to be too offensive, and in 1981, the people were replaced with animals.
• Obviously, the music in the movie does not appear in the book. The songs include Chim Chim Cher-ee, Feed the Birds, I Love to Laugh, Let’s Go Fly a Kite, A Spoonful of Sugar, Super-Cali-fragilistic-Expialidocus, and more.
• There are stories within the first book that do not appear in the movie such as visiting the zoo at night, buying gingerbread stars, and the twins talking to the birds.
• Mary Poppins is much nicer in the movie. She is cold in the book.
• Bert is a match man and a chalk artist in the book. However, in the movie, Bert is a chimney sweep and chalk artist. There is the assumption that Mary and Bert are more than friends in the movie, and their relationship is less apparent in the books.
• Bert does not attend the tea party with Mary and the children in the book. Furthermore, the children do not meet Bert.
• In the book, Mary has an adventure with Bert in the chalk drawing on her day off. However, in the movie the children accompany her.

Comparing Disneys Mary Poppins with the book: The Similarities 

• Mary Poppins is an English nanny
• She blows into town by the East Wind.
• Mary flies into town and out again by opening her umbrella.
• She comes to work at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London.
• Her employer is Mr. Banks. She takes care of the Banks’ children when the previous nanny, Katie Nanna, leaves.
• Mary Poppins is “magical” sliding up the staircase when she first arrives. Her magic is never explained.
• Bert is present in both the book and the movie.
• The children and Mary have a tea party on the ceiling with Uncle Albert.
• They meet a Bird Woman.

 

To see my FREE Homeschool Curriculum based on the Mary Poppins Spoonful of Sugar Philosophy – CLICK HERE!

Read about my adventure Disneybounding as Mary Poppins here

Read Tina’s Reasons Why she can’t wait to see Mary Poppins Returns HERE!