The meaning of Mary Poppins

by The Flamingo

Most of you, dear readers, have heard of Mary Poppins, either from the novels or films. For those of you who haven’t…blasphemy! You should fix that right away. Recently I watched the last Disney movie with Mary Poppins as the central character and it inspired me to write this article. This is neither a movie nor a book review, it’s an “ode” dedicated to one of my favorite characters ever written.

I was 11, when I first got my hand on the first “Mary Poppins” book. I liked it so much that I devoured the next five books in the series over the winter break. The writer P.L. Travers succeeded in creating a really unique character, a proper British nanny, very reliable and a perfectionist in her ways, strict but lovable, with a very particular talent…she does magic. It was my favorite book series in my pre-teen years, at a time when Harry Potter wasn’t on the shelves. 

What P.L. Travers with her Mary Poppins brought to my life is something very simple…she brought joy and a sort of balance. That balance and hope that only a very capable person can bring, who can fix anything that’s broken. Through her style, life lessons and of course a little magic, Mary Poppins mends material things, but also hearts, souls and minds, she makes everything better and right again.

The first Disney movie with Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins was made in 1964. The story was very well transferred to the big screen and Julie Andrews really replaced the character’s face in my mind, it was that well played. What was new to this wonderful story was the fabulous Disney music, with songs like “Supercalifragilistic”, “Let’s go fly a kite”, “A spoonful of sugar” and “Feed the birds” that remained emblematic and passed the test of time.

The next Disney movie was not about Mary Poppins per se, but about her writer, P.L. Travers. In “Saving Mr. Banks” (2013), starring Emma Thompson as the author and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, I finally understood the real meaning of Mary Poppins. There is a very sorrowful childhood story behind creating this character and it made me love her even more if possible. Mary Poppins was created after a real person in the writer’s life, a rescuer in a time of much needed help. It’s not a story for children, although made by Disney. I recommend reading at least one of the books and watching the other Mary Poppins movies before viewing “Saving Mr. Banks”, otherwise you won’t understand it to its core.

Last Christmas, Disney released “Mary Poppins returns”, starring Emily Blunt. It’s not a remake, as many thought, but made after the second book in the series. I saw it a couple of months ago, I knew it was going to be good, but it didn’t even occur to me that I was going to be blown away. Every feeling I had reading the book at 11, I felt again watching this movie, the same joy and amazement.

I thought it impossible, because the mind of a child is raw, inexperienced, too sensitive and too susceptible to emotion. Well it appears that the mind of an adult is not that far away, or just maybe the movie is that good. The music is beautiful, especially a particular song that broke my heart to pieces “The place where lost things go”. In my opinion, Emily Blunt should have won an Oscar just for that performance, never mind everything else. So my Mary Poppins from my childhood, the one who fixes everything that’s broken, returned to me again at 34.

At the end of this homage, my conclusion is that “Mary Poppins” is a “supercalifragilistic” experience and I encourage you, dear readers, children, teenagers and grownups alike to read at least the first book in the series and to watch all of the three Disney movies, it will make your life a little bit sunnier. “Open different doors. You may find a you there, that you never knew was yours”. 

Photos from Flamingo‘s archive and original posters.