Walt Disney’s most magical movie of all returns in a spectacular DVD set.
By Blake
Originally posted February 21, 2009.
I’m not going to beat around the bush here: Mary Poppins is the absolute best Disney movie ever made.
Walt Disney was very involved in the development of the film throughout its production, possibly more than any other movie, and his hard work definitely paid off in the final results of Mary Poppins. The irresistible characters, fantastic music, amazing story, and magically happy mood reflect this, as does its outlasting acclaim and success.
The only person to date to ever receive an Academy-Award for Best Actress in a Disney role, Julie Andrews plays the titular nanny who literally blows into London when Jane and Michael Banks request someone new to watch over them. With the help of the cheery Bert (Dick Van Dyke), Mary Poppins takes the children on an outing inside sidewalk chalk drawings, to a tea party on the ceiling, on a trip through the London rooftops, and several other magical adventures. Not only does Mary Poppins successfully fulfill her job as the Banks’ nanny, but she also willingly triumphs to mend the entire family’s relationship with one another.
Disney Legends Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman supplied the outstanding songs for the film, including the Academy-Award winning “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” as well as the wonderful “Spoonful of Sugar,” “Step in Time,” and many more. The hilarity that ensues in “I Love to Laugh” has to be the funniest scene Disney’s ever produced. And “Feed the Birds” definitely has to be the saddest.
The new 45th Anniversary Edition of the film is now available in stores, and offers two discs’ worth of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious bonuses that are just as surprising as the contents of Mary Poppins’ carpet bag: they keep coming and coming in a seemingly endless continuation of fun.
The DVD includes all of the bonus features that were included in the 40th Anniversary Edition of the film that was released in 2004. These range from stellar to so-so. The audio commentary is great – it features Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Richard Sherman, and Karen Dotrice. We learn that Dotrice, who plays Jane Banks in the film, didn’t know that Dick Van Dyke played the old bank owner until she saw the end credits at the film’s premiere. For those that would rather watch the movie without a commentary but would still like to learn some trivia, a pop-up fun fact version is also offered. The lengthily wonderful making-of documentary reveals some of the many secrets that went into casting the actors and actresses and creating the special effects. There’s also a discussion featuring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, and Richard Sherman reminiscing about the music of the movie. Disney’s Song Selection is also included and, even though I usually don’t bother to use it on other DVDs to watch all the songs consecutively, for this film I found it a welcome addition to the set. Other highlights of the DVD include the theatrical trailers for the movie, one of which includes Walt Disney proudly introducing the film to the public for the very first time.
Though the DVD has many stellar bonus features, there are others that were a bit mediocre for me. The art gallery features an expansive display of wonderful art pieces, though like most DVD galleries lacks an efficient navigational structure. The 2004 short film The Cat That Looked at a King features Julie Andrews returning in another P.L. Travers story. The park set of Mary Poppins was re-created for this short, and the adventure includes Andrews (possibly re-playing Mary Poppins herself, though that is indefinite) taking two children inside another sidewalk chalk drawing, this time to visit a troubled cartoon king who finds his relationship with his wife not as strong as it used to be. I don’t know whether to view this short as cheesy or magical – at times it’s just awkward, but it also has its share of Pixie Dust. Another not-so-great bonus feature included on this DVD set is “Movie Magic,” a quick featurette displaying some of the special effects (which were already covered in the full-blown making-of), but this time shows them with an annoyingly hip narrator. Groovy.
Fortunately, those are the only low points of the entire two-disc set of this marvelous film. All of the aforementioned features were included in the 2004 DVD version of Mary Poppins, so you’re probably wondering that with all of those features having already been released, there couldn’t possibly be anything left to include on the new DVD. In that case, you’d be wrong. The new 45th Anniversary Edition includes a very surprising look at the Broadway version of Mary Poppins. I had initially thought we might be getting a 15-minutes-maximum peek at the making of the show, so I was very pleasantly pleased when the featurette turned out to be over 45 minutes! It includes interviews with Thomas Schumacher (president of Walt Disney Theater Group), Ashley Brown (who plays Mary Poppins on Broadway, and soon in the U.S. tour), Gavin Lee (who plays Bert on Broadway, and soon in the U.S. tour), Richard Sherman (music writer for the film), George Stiles (composer for the Broadway show), Anthony Drewe (lyricist for the Broadway show), Bob Crowley (set designer for the Broadway show), and several other contributors who show us what it took to create all areas of the Broadway musical.
Also included is a full performance of “Step in Time” from the Mary Poppins on Broadway cast, as well as a free MP3 download of the song. An additional art gallery of Bob Crowley for the set design of the Broadway show is also included.
As far as menus go, the ones featured on this DVD are pretty easy to navigate, with the exception of the aforementioned art galleries. Everything else, though, is pleasing, with a small easy-to-identify icon indicating your selection on the screen. Disc one’s menus are themed to the skies of London, while disc two is themed to the Broadway show, with its various set designs.
There is no hardcopy DVD guide included in the case, which is unfortunate but easily overlooked. Additionally, there is no disc art on both discs, but instead just plain grey, much like the DreamWorks animated releases’ DVDs. However, the outstanding DVD bonuses more than make up for these minor negatives.
There’s not much not to like on the wonderful Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary Edition two-disc DVD. It’s surprising that the movie is being released again on DVD without a simultaneous Blu-ray release, but since my family hasn’t purchased a Blu-ray player I’m not complaining. The amazing bonus features compliment the film excellently, providing hours of behind-the-scenes sneak peeks. If Disney’s only intention in re-releasing the film was to get viewers interested in the Mary Poppins musical on Broadway, it certainly worked in my case and definitely had me wanting to see the show. The new bonuses focusing on the Broadway show are great, and even might justify purchasing the movie again if you already own a previously-released copy. However, the obvious highlight of the entire DVD set is the magnificent film itself. One of Walt Disney’s greatest masterpieces, it shines with enough Pixie Dust, tears, songs, and laughs to illuminate filmmaking long after the movie was initially released.
How do I rank Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary Edition DVD? (Bolded is my choice.)
- Aaaah!
- Blech
- Not good
- Good
- Very good
- Brilliant
By Blake; posted February 21, 2009. All images (C) Disney.
0 comments:
Post a Comment