Alex Rose, Mary Poppins Movie

I had never seen Disney’s Mary Poppins. One major thing that stood out to me early on in the movie is the characterization of Mrs. Banks. When she first enters the house, Mrs. Banks is promoting her women voting activism group. Her actions later directly contradict this support for women’s rights. While Mrs. Banks seems worried that her children have gone missing in the beginning, she is more concerned with her husband’s reaction. Furthermore, she is too helpless to do anything about finding her children. After the first nanny quits, Mr. Banks takes charge in finding a new one claiming that Mrs. Banks is too helpless to do it herself. Mrs. Banks seems to fit the stereotype of a housewife who seems to be active in society, but in reality, is helpless and is only involved for social status.

At the beginning of the story Mr. Banks seems to not be an absent and strict father. He is very focused on his children being properly behaved, but has no desire to teach them himself. He does not attempt to spend time with them rather find someone to take care of that job for him. The only time spent with his children is when he disciplines them when he no longer has a nannie to do that job for him.

Maybe it is the song that fills the movie but every aspect of it seems more cheerful and magical than any aspect of the written story. Mary Poppins is never short with the children. Instead, she takes them on fantastic journeys and uses her magic to make chores like cleaning fun. Mary Poppins brings the children with her on magical adventures and is not strict with them, rather she is firm. The children also seem to adore her, as they do in the story, but she is much less sharp with them. As opposed to playing the strict mother role that she fills in P.L. Travers’ story, Mary Poppins plays the disneyfied version of that. She plays the kind and loving mother. Disney emphasizes her kindness to the children to the audience in order to make Mary a more loveable protagonist. In a similar way Disney is very selective about how he shows Mary Poppin’s Vanity. In the beginning of the movie Mary Poppins is applying make-up and checking herself in a mirror repeatedly. She also brings her own mirror to the 17 Cherry Tree Lane. After these two minor details it is apparent that Mary Poppins focuses on her beauty, but never is seen fixing herself up.

One thing I really thought the movie did a better job of than the stories is continuity. Granted a movie is designed to be seen at one continuous time and the story was written in a way that it can be segmented, but the continuous flow of the movie makes for a more enjoyable experience for the audience. I really liked how the individual stories were memorable as individual stories, but the time in between was more than filler and worked as a transition.