Rylee Bowen, P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins

I really didn't know what to expect when I started reading Mary Poppins. I grew up watching the Disney version, but the only things I can remember seeing are the penguins and of course the sugar song. I found this version to be a lot darker though. Maybe its because I'm older now and I have more of a grasp on the true meanings in stories. I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't as easy to read as I thought. The tone didn't seem to change too much and was pretty monotoned, but it was an interesting story.

Mary Poppins significantly differed from the character I remember. In my mind, she emphasized fun and just took the kids on adventures. Her character was much more dynamic in the story. Mary Poppins was incredibly vain and full of herself. One moment that really stood out to me was how she would yell at the children to keep up, but would constantly pause to check her own reflection and make the kids wait for her. But its really not surprising that the kids loved her seeing as she had magical powers.

Another thing this story pokes fun at is the typical family structure of the time. The parents are clearly absent and from the second they are born, they are handed of to another person to be cared for and raised. Its hard to tell if the book exagerates the norm for this or if people truly weren't there for their kids. Mary Poppins also arrives only when it is necessary. When Michael struggles finacially in Mary Poppins Returns, she floats down out of the sky holding an umbrella. The book focuses a lot on the wind too. Mary Poppins emphasizes that she will stay only until the wind switches directions. I want to know why P.L. Travers choose the wind and more specifically, why she choose to have her come when the winds blew east and leave as they switch to west.

I find it fascinating how P.L. Travers originally wrote this story for adults. It seems targeted to children with the magical powers, but I guess it could also be motivation to raise your own kids because they can be fun?? Travers was apparently regretful about switching her targeted audience. I also read that see explictly stated not to make another Mary Poppins movie on her will when she died in 1996. I guess Disney did not care...?

It would be really interesting to visit the Disney version again and compare the two. I think the most noticable differences would be just to make the time differences less noticeable. The 2018 version will clearly have to be altered to fit a more "American" view and not offend anyone. I want to see how they do that. Also, I think the music plays a very important role in the interpretation of the movie and I'm curious to see if Emily Blunt tried to mimic Julie Andrew's voice.