Julie Andrews, arguably the screen’s most famous nanny, is the star of the 1964 Oscar-winning musical Mary Poppins. A new 2-disc Special Edition DVD is released this month by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment to commemorate the picture’s 45th anniversary.
Good animation, special effects, and melodic music earned Mary Poppins five Oscar Awards, including Best Actress and Best Song.
The new two-disc DVD features hours of great bonus material, including the all-new “Mary Poppins: From Page to Stage”, a 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. Bonus materials also include the “behind-the-scenes” movie documentary and reminiscences of the film’s stars and composer Richard Sherman.
With its exciting blend of live action and pioneering Disney animation, Mary Poppins became an instant hit. The film stars Julie Andrews, who won the 1965 Best Actress Oscar for her film debut, and Dick Van Dyke as Bert, the dancing chimney sweep.
Songwriting brothers Richard and Robert Sherman (Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) received Oscars for Best Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee”), and Best Score, which includes such unforgettable numbers as “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Sister Suffragette,” “The Life I Lead,” “The Perfect Nanny,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Jolly Holiday,” “Stay Awake,” “I Love To Laugh,” “Feed the Birds,” “The Fidelity Fiduciary Bank,” “Step in Time” and “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.”
Based on the popular children’s stories by P.L. Travers, Mary Poppins has appealed to generations viewers with its enchanting tale of a magical nanny who changes the lives of two rowdy but neglected kids with determination, discipline and “Just a Spoonful of Sugar.” Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) takes Jane and Michael Banks (Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber) on magical, musical outings including a play date with adorable animated penguins, a race through the country side on merry-go-round horses and a trip across the rooftops of London on a stairway made of smoke—and always gets them home in time for dinner! With her foolproof mixture of good manners and unpredictable fun, Mary not only introduces order to the chaotic Banks household, but brings the whole family together in the process.
Bonus Features
Backstage Disney: Disney on Broadway
Mary Poppins from Page to Stage —First a beloved children’s book, then a classic movie and now a smash hit Broadway musical! Fans can follow the story of Mary Poppins from page to stage as the creative team and cast prepare to take the long running show on tour.
Step in Time—The Broadway cast of Mary Poppins performs the never-before-filmed number “Step in Time” from the show.
Step in Time – A downloadable MP3 featuring the Broadway cast of Mary Poppins singing “Step in Time,” featuring Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins and Gavin Lee as Bert.
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
Music & More
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 eminisce 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.
Bonus Short
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.
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.
