Mary Poppins

Julie's film debut began the world's love affair with her--and what a marvelous vehicle for doing so. Julie appears here in fine voice and is radiantly beautiful.

The performance is more than deserving of the Oscar, especially considering that she had to act to blue screens and objects/characters from within her imagination. No easy task, certainly.

I also love the way Julie, as Mary, refuses to acknowledge the free-for-all that is going on around her. She simply pushes her hair primly back in place and presses on, despite the dancing chimney sweeps and giggling uncles that surround her. "I never explain anything," she blithely comments.

The score is one of my favorites in all the Disney canon. The Sherman brothers outdid themselves with "Stay Awake," one of the most under-appreciated lullabys ever written, and the hauntingly winsome "Feed the Birds."

The Disney animators have created a visual feast as bottomless and surprising as Mary Poppins' carpetbag. The Peter Ellenshaw matte shots are breathtaking. My favorite visual moments? Bert and Mary's live-action reflections in a pond are eddied by a family of cartoon geese. I also love when Bert, Mary, and the children ascend a staircase constructed only of chimney smoke. Brilliant!

There are a few drawbacks: The film's a little over-long, especially in the final third where Mary's but an afterthought in all the plot resolution. In addition, Van Dyke was an excellent choice for his singing and dancing (and popularity), but his cockney accent does grate after a while.

But all in all, this is a tour de force for all involved!

It's hard for me to explain the connection I feel with this film ... I was 7 when it came out, saw it twice in the theaters at the time, and of course have seen it over and over since then. I'm going to get the 40th anniversary DVD soon. You can argue about Dick Van Dyke playing an Englishman, about Julie Andrews being too sweet and young compared to the character in literature, about the fact that the whole thing was obviously shot on a soundstage. But just imagine being 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or anywhere near there, and not getting out of your small town in the rust belt of the U.S. except maybe a few times a year on holidays, and you can imagine what seeing this magical, albeit Disneyfied, look at another world must have been like. Every time I see it, I think back to the beautiful old movie theater in which I saw it (a block away from the Catholic school I then attended, no less), to getting my mother to buy a certain box of cereal so I could get the Mary Poppins prize inside, to gathering on weekends with cousins to listen to the soundtrack and try to dance like Bert. I've been to London many times since then, but funny enough, as much as the great city has to offer, I've never been able to find that magical place I saw 40 years ago.

This is a masterpiece of a film, I absolutely love this. Julie Andrews is more than splendid as the nanny, and I absolutely love her voice. Dick Van Dyke, despite the accent, should have gotten an award for his performance for sheer energy and enthusiasm, but I liked him marginally better in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. David Tomblinson is a blast as the father, as are the children. There is solid support also from the likes of Glynnis Johns, Hermione Baddely and Elsa Lanchester. (who I believe was Charles Laughton's wife) Plus Ed Wynn in a hilarious characterisation as Uncle Albert. The songs and choreography are what makes so timeless, as well as the outstanding animated sequences. One of my favourite scenes was the one on the ceiling, with the terrible jokes, but you couldn't help laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. In contrast Mr Banks walking to his financial doom ties with Feed the Birds as the most moving scene of the film. It also teaches some nice family values as well. I highly recommend this film. 10/10, without a shadow of a doubt. Bethany Cox

I was a big fan of this movie when I was 6, loved it, visually it is fantastic and the music is just too beautiful. It's great fun, and its packed with amazing performances especially from the multi-talented and beautiful Julie Andrews.

I saw it again recently, may be I have more capacity to understand the double sense of things now and found out that this film has so many subliminal great messages that are enriching for the mind and soul...As a little girl I never cried on this film, but it has got so many reasons to cry for(I'm crying now)because it truly is beautiful. The film can be good for children because it actually can stimulate the imagination, and the creativity of a kid, I for example tried to arrange my room by making sounds with my fingers at some point of my life! Still the film contains some messages that can be quite interesting and useful for any other person of any other age.

SPOILERS***** Besides it contains some great effects, especially when you consider the time it was done(1964). Great dancing sequences, and especially those gorgeous songs(each one of them great). The animation part is brilliant, takes a genius to make that and coordinate those dancing penguins with the Bert character.

And I think that all the words that I could possibly say about this film are over, except tat this film is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Mary Poppins, practically perfectly in every way! A MUST SEE FILM!!

Marvellous film and made long before computer special effects....have always wondered in the scene with David Tomlinson grumpy at breakfast...when the Admirals cannon sounds the white statue bust rocks precariously on its plinth but miraculously stays put!.....a happy accident...or the result of many takes!?....