Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Combo Pack

Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's

Fifty years ago Julie Andrews brought a magical, musical, and memorable nanny to the big screen. Mary Poppins won five Oscars – Best Actress, Best Film Editing, Best Effects, Best Original Song (Chim Chim Cher-ee), and Best Music Score. It was nominated for eight other Oscars, won a Golden Globe and was nominated for three additional Globes, and either won or was nominated for over a dozen more awards. The songs have become part of the soundtrack of our lives, and the characters have instilled themselves into our lexicon.

 

This 50^th Anniversary Edition includes a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy. Viewing this film in high definition is an amazing experience for those who are used to seeing it in analog.

 

The story focuses on a magical nanny named Mary Poppins, the Banks family she joins, and her friend Bert (Dick Van Dyke). Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson) is a tough banker, his wife (Glints Johns) is a suffragette, and his children, Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber), long for a real relationship with their parents. While most people think Mary Poppins comes to help the children, viewers will ultimately understand that she has come to help Mr. Banks.

Mary Poppins is filled with plenty of fun and fantasy, including Poppins herself, who flies through the air with the help of her umbrella, magical drawings in which they all enter, dancing penguins, dancing chimney sweeps, an animated band, and more. And the songs, especially “A Spoonful of Sugar”, “Jolly Holiday”, “I Love to Laugh,” “Feed the Birds”, “Step in Time”, “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”, and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” are more than memorable. They’re addicting.

Mary Poppins is a character created by P.L. Travers, and to understand more about her and how this movie came to be, the new feature film, Saving Mr. Banks, tells the entire story. A bonus feature on the Blu-ray looks at this new film with composer Richard Sherman and actor Jason Schwartzman, who portrays him in it. Schwartzman says going to Sherman’s house to learn about the man and how he worked “was like a master class.” The Sherman Brothers wrote many beloved songs for Disney. Richard Sherman discusses how Saving Mr. Banks is “so real” and how the words and music blend together beautifully. He acknowledged that he and his brother Robert wrote many songs for Mary Poppins, and Walt Disney himself selected the final songs that made it into the film.

Another bonus feature is a sing-along with Mary Poppins, titles “Mary-oke.” The classic bonus features are also included in this 50^th Anniversary Edition.

 

Watch Mary Poppins at home then head to the theater for Saving Mr. Banks. Together they make the season a jolly holiday.

 

Mary Poppins is rated G for all audiences.