There was one summer a few years back when it seemed that Mary Poppins was constantly being placed in the DVD player by one of the children. That summer we all fell in love with Julie Andrews as Mary and Dick Van Dyke as Bert. We were always singing songs like “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” and “Something about Mary.” Plus, I swear those wonderful animated penguins must be the grandfathers of the ones in Madagascar.

As an adult you have to wonder about the crazy Banks family. Mom is so busy being a suffragette that she’s ignoring the children, who are running all over London. Dad is no better since he’s entirely too wrapped up in his career and constantly firing the help. Then there’s the nutty neighbors shooting cannons and the nanny lets the children hang out with chimney sweeps and gives them a “tonic” to get them to sleep at night. And what’s going on with Mary and Bert anyway, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more indeed! Sounds like a Victorian version of Cops, and I’m not so sure Super Nanny would approve. Then again she’s no Julie Andrews.

Mary Poppins, based on the popular children’s stories by P.L. Travers, is in my opinion, is one of the best Disney films of all time. Just set the DVD player to “Repeat” please and the speakers up loud, it’s that good!

The Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary Special Edition

We own the 40th Anniversary Edition , but the new release features hours of bonus material, including the all-new “Mary Poppins: From Page to Stage”, a fascinating feature that takes audiences backstage for an exclusive look at the making of the Tony Award winning musical, and “Step in Time,” a never-before-filmed musical number performed by the original Broadway cast—also downloadable as an MP3 audio file. It’s worth getting even if you own an older edition.

Other bonuses include:

• Video Intro By Scenic & Costume Designer, Bob Crowley
• Bob Crowley’s Design Galleries—Concept art, costume designs, set designs and set models for the Broadway musical   
• Audio Commentary—Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Karen Dotrice and Richard Sherman recall the making of Mary Poppins.
• Poppins Pop-Up Fun Facts—Select this option and fun-filled facts about the creation of this classic film pop up during viewing.
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Making of Mary Poppins—The definitive behind-the- scenes look at how this unique and beloved film came into being.  
• Movie Magic—A look at the special effect techniques used to bring the magical world of Mary Poppins to life.  
• The Gala World Premiere—Footage from the Red Carpet.
• Dick Van Dyke Make-Up Test  
• Trailers, Ads and More from the Original Release and Reissue of the Film
• Mary Poppins Still Art Galleries  
• Disney’s Song Selection—The whole family can sing along to “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and any of the film’s other memorable songs as the lyrics pop up on screen. Each song can be selected separately or while watching the film.
• Magical Musical Reunion—Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and songwriter Richard Sherman reminisce about making Mary Poppins and the music that makes it so special.  
• A Musical Journey with Richard Sherman —A delightful magical journey through some of the film’s locations with co-composer Richard Sherman, who reveals surprising secrets about the music of Mary Poppins along the way. 

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a bonus short of The Cat That Looked at a King—Live action and animation bring a chapter of  P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins Opens the Door to life! Julie Andrews takes viewers into a magical animated world created in the style of the whimsical chalk drawings in Mary Poppins.  Also included is a deleted song, “Chimpanzoo,” a reconstruction of a song that did not appear in the movie using original storyboard and concept art, accompanied by a new rendition of the song performed by co- composer Richard Sherman.

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