Mary Poppins

So first of all, this isn't an animated Disney movie (as you probably realized).  However, we decided to review it because, like Song of the South, it has some animation in it, and it also has a fairly large presence in Disney World.

Overall, Mary Poppins was crazier than I remembered!  I am not quite sure why, but I guess I forgot that she was really so... magical.  I wish I could clean my room the way those kids did.  As for her character, she is actually somewhat vain and a little bit of a kill-joy sometimes, not exactly the lovable nanny that you expect.  But she's still good at heart and it's clear that she really loves the kids.

The movie is basically just a series of mini-adventures.  Some of these are fun and interesting, but a few times they just seemed a little boring or out of place.  The film was pretty long and it did drag in certain spots.  However, there are some fun highlights, like when they go into the chalk painting and dance with penguins, and of course the chimney sweep scene.

The ending was a little bit ridiculous, but then I suppose the movie overall was pretty ridiculous.  Like everyone would really immediately withdraw their money just because of something a little boy said at the bank... I mean come on, this is 1910!  These people didn't have twitter in order to be able to spread news that quickly!  I did like the scenes with the old man, and am glad the father finally gave them what they deserved.

Jason says: "Some of the songs are a little boring, but for the most part it's a good movie.  Like the bird woman - why is she even in it?"

The Music
There's a ton of songs in this movie, and a seemingly endless amount of good ones.  Classic after classic is in this movie.  There are so many: "Spoonful of Sugar," "Chim-Chim-Cheree," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," and of course, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."  Another song, "Feed the Birds," is also lovely in its own way, though a bit slow and boring at times.  And then there are a few tunes that are kind of duds such as "I Love to Laugh" and "Sister Sufferagette", but it's excusable given how many other great songs are here.

The Villain
There is no real "evil" villain here, but a few characters that play somewhat villainous roles.  The dad is kind of the antagonist in some cases, because he's the one that's laying down the law and making life hard for the children.  But the old man at the bank is probably even more of a villain, because we don't have any sort of relationship to him and don't see any redeeming qualities.  So the idea of a villain isn't really very prevalent in this movie.

The WDW Connection
Some of the characters in Mary Poppins, such as Mary and Burt, can be found around the parks.  I've come across Mary Poppins in the UK in Epcot.  Also, the Grand Floridian resort has a restaurant called 1900 Park Fare, where I think she makes appearances at some of the character meals (at least, she did the last time I was there).  I wouldn't be surprised if she popped up more often now due to the fact that they have a Broadway musical out now based on the movie.  Mary's most common, but Burt and the peguins make appearances as well.

Becky's rating:  8.5 out of 10
Jason's rating:  8 out of 10