Mary Poppins is a 1964 American - directed by and produced by , with songs written and composed by the. The screenplay is by and , based on 's book series. The film, which combines , stars in her feature film debut as , who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. The film was shot entirely at the in using painted London background scenes. Mary Poppins is widely considered to be Walt Disney's crowning live-action achievement, his only film to gain a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars in his lifetime. A sequel titled , directed by , is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 19, 2018. In , 1910, Bert entertains a crowd as a when he senses a change in the wind. George Banks returns home to learn from his wife, Winifred, that Katie Nanna has left their service after Jane and Michael ran away again. They are returned shortly after by Constable Jones, who reveals the children were chasing a lost kite. The children ask their father to help build a better kite, but he dismisses them. Taking it upon himself to hire a new nanny, Mr. Banks advertises for a stern, no-nonsense nanny. Instead, Jane and Michael present their own advertisement for a kinder, sweeter nanny. Banks rips up the letter, and throws the scraps in the fireplace, but the remains of the advertisement magically float up, and out into the air. The next day, a number of elderly, sour-faced nannies wait outside the Banks' home, but a strong gust of wind blows them away, and Jane and Michael witness a young nanny descending from the sky using her umbrella. Presenting herself to Mr. Banks, calmly produces the children's restored advertisement, and agrees with its requests, but promises the astonished banker she will be firm with his children. Banks puzzles over the advertisement's return, Mary Poppins hires herself, and convinces him it was originally his idea. She meets the children, then helps them tidy their nursery through song, before heading out for a walk in the park. Outside, they meet Bert, working as a ; Mary Poppins uses her magic to transport the group into one of the drawings. While the children ride on a , Mary Poppins and Bert go on a leisurely stroll. Mary Poppins later enchants the carousel horses, and participates in a horse race, which she wins. However, the outing is ruined when a thunderstorm demolishes Bert's drawings, returning the group to London. On another outing, the four meet Uncle Albert, who has floated up in the air due to his uncontrollable laughter; they join him for a tea party on the ceiling, telling jokes. Banks becomes annoyed by the household's cheery atmosphere, and threatens to fire Mary Poppins. Instead, Mary Poppins inverts his attempt by convincing him to take the children to the bank for a day. Banks takes Jane and Michael to the bank, where they meet Mr. Dawes Sr, and his son. Dawes aggressively attempts to have Michael invest his in the bank, snatching it from him. Michael demands it back, causing other customers to misinterpret, and all demand their own money back, causing a. Jane and Michael flee the bank, getting lost in the until they run into Bert, now working as a , who escorts them home. The three and Mary Poppins venture onto the rooftops, where they have a song-and-dance number with other chimney sweeps, which spills out into the Banks' home. Banks returns, and receives a phone call from his employers. He speaks with Bert, who tells him he should spend more time with his children before they grow up. Jane and Michael give their father Michael's tuppence in the hope to make amends. Banks walks through London to the bank, where he is given a humiliating , and is dismissed. The next day, the wind changes, meaning Mary Poppins must leave. Banks is found at home, having fixed his children's kite, and takes the family out to fly it. In the park, the Bankses meet Mr. Dawes Jr, who reveals his father from the joke, and re-employs Mr. Banks as a junior partner. With her work done, Mary Poppins flies away, with Bert bidding her farewell, telling her not to stay away too long. She is firm in her use of authority but gentle and kind as well, a major departure from the original books, in which the character was strict and pompous. Their playful interactions imply that they have known each other for a long time and that this kind of story has repeated itself many times. Bert has at least four jobs throughout the film: a one-man band, a pavement chalk artist, a chimney sweep, and a kite seller. He works at the Dawes Tomes Mousley Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank in London. He is a driven and disciplined man. She is depicted as a member of 's suffragette movement. Banks was originally named Cynthia, but this was changed to the more English-sounding Winifred per Travers. He has his , Mr. Binnacle, fire a cannon from his roof every 8 a. Although he likes having company over, he becomes very sad and cries when his guests have to leave he falls back to the ground, since it is the inversion of laughing. Brill, the cook of the Banks residence. Binnacle, Admiral Boom's first mate. Corry, an old shopkeeper of a gingerbread shop and mother of two daughters. According to the 40th Anniversary DVD release of the film in 2004, Disney's daughters fell in love with the Mary Poppins books and made him promise to make a film based on them. Disney first attempted to purchase the film rights to Mary Poppins from as early as 1938 but was rebuffed because Travers did not believe a film version of her books would do justice to her creation. In addition, Disney was known at the time primarily as a producer of cartoons and had yet to produce any major live-action work. For more than 20 years, Disney periodically made efforts to convince Travers to allow him to make a Poppins film. He finally succeeded in 1961, although Travers demanded and got script approval rights. The composed the and were also involved in the film's development, suggesting the setting be changed from the 1930s to the. Pre-production and song composition took about two years. Pre-production Travers was an adviser to the production. However, she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins' character, felt ambivalent about the music, and so hated the use of animation that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels. She objected to a number of elements that actually made it into the film. Rather than original songs, she wanted the soundtrack to feature known standards of the Edwardian period in which the story is set. Disney overruled her, citing contract stipulations that he had final say on the finished print. Much of the Travers-Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the of ,. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in Mary Poppins She Wrote, a biography of Travers, by Valerie Lawson. The biography is the basis for two documentaries on Travers, The Real Mary Poppins, and Lisa Matthews' The Shadow of Mary Poppins. Their relationship during the development of the film was also dramatized in the 2013 film,. Casting , who was making her feature film acting debut after a successful stage career, got the prime role of Mary Poppins soon after she was passed over by and replaced with for the role of in his of , even though Andrews had originated the role on. When Disney first approached Andrews about taking on the role, Andrews was three months pregnant and therefore was not sure she should take it. Disney assured her that the crew would be fine with waiting to begin filming until after she had given birth so that she could play the part. Banks, provided the voice of Mary's talking umbrella and numerous other voice-over parts including that of Admiral Boom's first mate. Nixon would later provide the singing voice for Hepburn in My Fair Lady and play one of Andrews' fellow nuns in. Andrews later beat Hepburn for the at the for their respective roles. Andrews would also win the for Best Actress for her role. Hepburn did not receive a nomination. Richard Sherman, one of the songwriters, also voiced a penguin as well as one of the Pearlies. Robert Sherman dubbed the speaking voice for Jane Darwell because Darwell's voice was too weak to be heard in the soundtrack. After winning the role of Bert, Van Dyke lobbied to also play the senior Mr. Dawes, but Disney originally felt he was too young for the part. Van Dyke eventually won Disney over after a screen test. Although he is fondly remembered for this film, Van Dyke's attempt at a Cockney accent is regarded as one of the worst film accents in history, cited as an example by actors since as something that they wish to avoid. In a 2003 poll by magazine of the worst film accents of all time, he came second. Filming took place between May and September 1963, with post-production and animation taking another 11 months. The film changed the book's storyline in a number of places. For example, Mary, when approaching the house, controlled the wind rather than the other way around. As another example, the father, rather than the mother, interviewed Mary for the nanny position. A number of other changes were necessary to condense the story into feature length. In the film, there are only two Banks children, Jane and Michael. Mary Poppins' character as portrayed by Andrews in the film is somewhat less vain and more sympathetic towards the children compared to the rather cold and intimidating nanny of the original book. Bert, as played by Van Dyke, was a composite of several characters from Travers' stories. Written by and , the songs were inspired by Edwardian British music. The score won two and two. In 2004, as part of the 40th Anniversary also called Special Edition , a 28-track disc as part of a two-disc set was released. Soundtrack Main article: All tracks are written by and. Deleted songs A number of other songs were written for the film by the and either rejected or cut for time. Richard Sherman, on the 2004 DVD release, indicated that more than 30 songs were written at various stages of the film's development. The fast-paced number was not unveiled to the public until Richard Sherman, aided by recently uncovered , performed it on the 2004 DVD edition. The re-creation suggests it was to have been another sequence combining animation and live action. A different song with the same name was written for the stage musical. The melody was the basis for a couple of other songs that were ultimately cut from the film. In the film, Dick Van Dyke simply recites the lyric instead of singing it. It was recycled for the television series as 's personal theme song. The melody of the song remains in the film, and the bombastic theme is heard whenever Boom appears onscreen. In the final film, the scene plays out with sound effects and no music. This musical arrangement can be heard on the film's original soundtrack. Although cut from the film, footage of Andrews performing this exists and was included on the 2004 DVD. The DVD also indicates that an alternate version of the yodel performed by Dick Van Dyke may also exist. Mary Poppins premiered on August 27, 1964, at in Los Angeles. Travers was not extended an invitation to the event, but managed to obtain one from a Disney executive. It was at the that Richard Sherman recalled her walking up to Disney and loudly announcing that the animated sequence had to go. Home media Mary Poppins was first released in late 1980 on VHS, , and. On October 28, 1994, August 26, 1997, and March 31, 1998, it was re-released three times as part of the. In 1998, this film became Disney's first DVD. On July 4, 2000, it was released on VHS and DVD as part of the Gold Classic Collection. On December 14, 2004, it had a 2-Disc DVD release in a Digitally Restored 40th Anniversary Edition as well as its final issue in the VHS Format. Critical reception The film received universal acclaim from film critics. Film reports a , based on 46 reviews with an of 8. Mary Poppins 1964 was his plum. The film was the twentienth most popular sound film of the twentieth century in the UK with admissions of 14 million. The film was very profitable for Disney. Walt Disney used his huge profits from the film to purchase land in central Florida and finance the construction of. Sherman Nominated Robert Stevenson, Walt Disney and Bill Walsh Julie Andrews Won Richard M. Sherman Nominated Richard M. Sherman, Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, , , Won Richard M. So fervent was Travers' dislike of the Disney adaptation and of the way she felt she had been treated during the production, that when producer approached her about the in the 1990s, she acquiesced on the condition that he used only English-born writers and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with creating the stage musical. The film would take place 20 years after the first, featuring a standalone narrative based on the remaining seven books in the series. 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