Mary Poppins – the book, movie and play

Posted on August 26, 2013 by barbara

Today marks the theatrical release of the classic Disney movie, “Mary Poppins”, on August 26, 1964. Living in California at the time, I remember my Mom taking us to the premiere at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It was a star-studded event and seemed so glamorous and it was very exciting to see Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke the stars of the movie but the best part was seeing Walt Disney!! What a wonderful memory!!

Helen Lyndon Goff (born: August 9,1899 died: April 23,1996) was an Austrailian novelist, actress and writer that emigrated to England in 1924 where she wrote under the pen name P.L. Travers. In 1933 she began writing a first book in a series of children’s books about a magical English nanny called the Mary Poppins. The first book was published in 1934 followed by several more books throughout the years with the last book being published in 1989. Briefly, the story was about the Banks family who lived at Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane in London and their extraordinary nanny that blows into their lives on the winds of the east arriving with her carpetbag and umbrella with the parrot head handle. Quickly the children learn that Mary Poppins might appear to be stern, vain and very proper but she really has a magical quality that becomes apparent as the story unfolds. But, Mary Poppins is only there temporarily and when she is satisfied that her work has been done teaching the Banks family some important lessons she leaves just as suddenly as she first appeared on their doorstep but now leaves on the winds west.

Walt Disney attempted to purchase the film rights as early as 1938; his daughters had enjoyed the Mary Poppins books he had made a promise the story into a movie. Travers had long been resistant to any film adaptations of her Mary Poppins books and she had felt that a film version would not be able to do justice to the character and she definitely did not want an animated cartoon version. Finally in 1961 Disney had persuaded Travers to consent to granting the film rights with full script approval. Once Disney obtained the film rights to Mary Poppins the planning, composing the music and movie productions took over two years. Julie Andrew was cast as Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke as Bert the charming chimneysweep. The movie was based on the adventures of Mary Poppins and the Bank family that were taken from the first three books. The memorable songs in the movie were written by the famous Sherman Brothers, who can forget “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

Travers had a very rocky relationship with Disney and felt that she was treated in a discourteous manner at the film’ premiere and ultimately was dissatisfied with the 1964 movie specifically the animated portion of the movie and she refused to allow any of her other stories filmed. Travers eventually agreed to sell the stage rights to the London theater producer Cameron Mackintosh. The agreement given (per her will) was that only English-born writers, specifically no Americans and in particular no one involved in the previous film production, were to directly be involved in the creative process of the stage musical. The world premiere of the Disney Theatrical stage adaption took place at the Bristol Hippodrome in England in 2004 and later the production was moved to London’s West End were it ran for three years before closing in 2008. In 2006 the musical was performed on Broadway in the United States and the show ran until 2013. (Our family was very fortunate to see the musical performed by one of the national companies in 2009 at the Cadillac Theater in Chicago, IL – it was wonderful performance and thoroughly entertaining!)

Johnes family at Mary Poppins the musical

There is a great book called “Mary Poppins, She Wrote” by Valerie Lawson published in 2008 which is a biography about Travers. The book was originally published in 199 under the title, “Out of the Sky She Came”. The new Disney movie, “Saving Mr. Banks” starring Tom Hanks as Disney and Emma Thompson as Travers that is being released in December 2013 is based on this book. The movie shifts focus between Travers childhood years in Australia, then during the negotiation process with Disney and follows through with the making of the movie in the 1960s. The title of the book/movie refers to Travers father who was the inspiration for Mr. Banks.

“Mary Poppins” Disney Trivia

Originally Disney considered Mary Martin or Angela Lansbury for the part of Mary Poppins given the stern portrayal of the character in the books.
When Disney had seen Julie Andrews on the Ed Sullivan show in 1961 singing the songs from “Camelot” which she was currently starring in the Broadway musical productions and he knew that he might have his Mary Poppins. A month later Disney flew to New York to see Andrews backstage after one of her shows to speak with her about the movie. Andrews was reluctant, holding out for a part in the Warner Brothers movie adaption of “My Fair Lady”, and Disney invited her out to California to visit the Walt Disney Studios and consider the part. Still hesitate to play Mary Poppins she only agreed to play the role after Warner Brothers announced they had cast Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady”.
Travers was very adamant that in the film version of her stories there should be no suggestion of any romance between Mary Poppins and Bert.
Over 100 glass and matte paintings were used in the film’s production to recreate the London skyline.
Prior to the premiere of “Mary Poppins”, the last time Disney attended a movie premiere was in 1937 for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.
Walt Disney regarded “Mary Poppins” as one of the finest achievements of his movie career.
At the 1964 Golden Globes Awards, Julie Andrews won the Best Actress award for “Mary Poppins” and in her acceptance speech she very sweetly “thanked” Jack Warner for his faith in her, this was a subtle yet classy jab at him for not casting her in the movie “My Fair Lady”. Andrews also won the Oscar for Best Actress at the 1964 Academy Awards.
Some of the filming of the 2001 Disney movie “Princess Diaries”, in which Julie Andrew played Queen Clarisse Renald, was shot on the same Disney sound stage in Burbank that “Mary Poppins” was filmed. There is a plaque on the soundstage to commemorate the 1964 musical.
At Disneyland in Anaheim, CA there is the King Arthur Carrousel in Fantasyland. The lead horse is named Jingles with beautiful carvings that include straps of jingle bells hanging from her saddle, she was Walt’s favorite. The horse is very similar to the one that Mary Poppins rides in the fantasy section of the movie. For Disneyland’s 50th anniversary in 2005 Jingles was repainted entirely in gold and trimmed in 18k gold leaf.

Then later Jingles received a refurbishment the saddle decoration details were painted on the saddle blanket with ironic parrot head umbrella from Mary Poppins. On the knee pad of Jingles there is a crest that is divided into four sections with a monogram “JA” (for Julie Andrews), a robin perched at the top high button shoes, the silhouette of Mary Poppins flying and the number 50 for the 50 Magical Years of this original Disneyland attraction. Jingles was officially dedicated to Julie Andrews in 2008 as “Honorary Ambassador to Disneyland and the title is painted beneath the Hidden Mickey on the horses’ saddle.

Personal Note: Disney characters can be found daily throughout Disneyland and they will stop to greet guests and sign autographs. While we were visiting Disneyland in 2005 we saw the characters of Mary Poppins and Bert. Cassie approached them for their autograph and Mary Poppins had her sit on her lap and she started singing “Feed the Birds” from the movie – it was such a sweet and wonderful moment and this is the photo taken on that day!

Travel – Hawaii (the 50th State)

Posted on August 21, 2013 by barbara

In celebration of this date in history when Hawaii officially became the 50th State, I would like to share the history of the islands and offer some travel suggestions for each of the main islands that have become known as the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaii became a state on August 21, 1959 and is the 50th state of the United Sates. The state is unusual because unlike the “mainland” United States, the state of Hawaii is actually a group of six main volcanic islands that are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The islands are Hawaii (also known as the Big Island), Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai and Lanai. Several smaller islands are also included within the state of Hawaii and are not as well known as the major islands in the chain and generally are not included as tourist destinations.

Anthropologists have found archaeological evidence that dates the earliest human inhabitants on the islands of Hawaii were originally Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands and they arrived on the islands as early as 300-500 AD, there is an ongoing debate regarding a more specific date of the first arrival. The Polynesians arrived on the shores of Hawaii in double hulled canoes which travel over 3,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean from their original home. Living in this new land, they lived in harmony with nature and were able to provide seafood to eat while still being careful to conserve the fish in the reefs or streams and to never abuse the land which provided their crops. These new Hawaiians eventually learned to govern themselves under a set of rules called the Kapu system, and the first chief, Pa’ao, introduced the building of heiaus (Hawaiian temples) and the practice of human sacrifices.

In 1778, Captain James Cook, a British explorer, sailed into Waimea Bay on Kauai becoming the first European to visit the Hawaiian Islands. Cook returned to the islands again in 1779, this time sailing into Kealakekua Bay on the “Big Island” of Hawaii. After eight weeks of exploration of the islands, Cook prepared to leave but the foremast of his ship broke and he returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs. At this point, tensions suddenly grew between the Hawaiians and Cook’s crew and eventually a group of Hawaiian took one of Cook’s smaller boats. In retaliation Cook’s crew attempted to take Kalaniopuu, the Hawaiian chief, as a hostage in hopes to reclaim their boat in exchange. To prevent their King from being abducted, the Hawaiians attacked Cook and his men as they tried to launch their boat in an attempt to flee and in the confrontation Cook was killed.

At this point in the history of Hawaii, each island still had several chiefs and there was no single ruler that controlled all the islands. Then, a young chief named Kamehameha set out to conquer the other chiefs. By 1791, he defeated the chief on the Big Island and by 1795 he had conquered and gained control of the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Oahu. In 1810 the chief that ruled Kauai finally pledged his loyalty to Kamehameha who finally came to rule as the first King of Hawaii. Kamehameha ruled Hawaii with complete control and tried to prepare and protect the Hawaiian people for the Europeans that were starting to come to the islands in increasing numbers. Unfortunately the King could not protect them from disease and the Hawaiian population decreased by 80% from influenza, typhoid fever and measles during this period.

In 1820 the first Christian missionaries arrived and changed the islands forever. With the end of the Kapu system and their conversion to Christianity, the ancient Hawaiian temples were destroyed and replace with Christian churches. The missionaries also brought reading and writing to Hawaii, which was important because prior to this time there was no written language of the Hawaiian people. In 1840 the Hawaiian Parliament and the Supreme Court were formed and a constitution was written. By 1843, land was available for purchase and for the first time foreigners could own land on Hawaiian Islands.

By this time in the history of Hawaii, there had been a succession of Kings who lived in their own houses during their reigns until finally in 1882 Iolani Palace was built on Oahu and it became the official residence of the Hawaiian monarchy. King Kalakaua was the first monarch to live in the palace. During the past decades, Hawaii had experienced a great agricultural boom which brought many immigrants from Japan, China and the Philippines to work in the sugarcane and pineapple fields which were under the control of American entrepreneurs; also the U.S. military became a presence in the region during this same period. Unfortunately, this foreign influence greatly dominated the islands and the King sadly became aware that the Hawaiian native culture was starting to be lost and he set a course to preserve the Hawaiian traditions and customs. When he died in 1891 his sister became Queen Lilliuokalani. During her brief reign she attempted to institute a new Hawaiian constitution that would strengthen the Hawaiian monarchy and reduce the oppression of native Hawaiian people, the conflict between royalty and the native Hawaiian and the American businessman only continued to grow. Finally, in order to protect their businesses, the American entrepreneurs seized control of the islands with the aid of the U.S. military. In 1893 Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown, imprisoned and forced to sign a document relinquishing her power. She underwent a public trail and was found guilty, fined and sentenced to 5 years of hard labor. This sentence was later changed to house arrest in the Iolani Palace where she was forced to live in only one of the rooms, she served an additional year under house arrest but the remaining condition was that she was forbidden from ever leaving the island of Oahu.

At this period in the history of Hawaii, the Republic of Hawaii was formed and eventually in 1898 the U.S. government claimed the Hawaiian Islands as a U.S. territory. Then sixty years later in 1958 the voters of Hawaii approved statehood and on August 21, 1959 Hawaii officially became the 50th state of the United States.

Travel recommendations for Hawaii

Hawaii’s diverse natural scenery of sandy beaches and clear ocean waters, tropical plants and beautiful flowers, active volcanoes and warm climate that is perfect for outdoor sports such as surfing and scuba diving or snorkeling, all these things make Hawaii a wonderful vacation destination. We have been fortunate to have visited Oahu and the “Big Island” of Hawaii in October 2008, my husband had visited several of the islands before but this was the first trip for both my daughter and I to Hawaii.

Listed are the different islands and suggested sites to visit – (asterisk * designates a site that we visited and personally recommend)

Hawaii (the Big Island)

This island is the largest of the six islands with a total area of 4,028 miles. That is the current estimated land mass because with three active volcanoes on the island it is continuing to grow in size. The highest point on the island is the dormant volcano Mauna Kea at 13,796 feet. The largest cities on the island are Hilo and Kona.