50 Fun Facts About Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins (1964) was the feature-film debut of which actress?

She had just been passed over for the My Fair Lady film, a role she originated on Broadway, and was three months pregnant when Disney approached her.

Who wrote the songs for Mary Poppins?

Richard and Robert Sherman also suggested moving the story from the 1930s to the Edwardian era.

Who directed the 1964 film?

Walt produced; the film was shot entirely at the Burbank studio against painted London backdrops.

The 1964 film was based mainly on which of the Mary Poppins books?

P. L. Travers first refused Disney the rights in 1938 and held out for more than 20 years.

In what year did Walt Disney finally secure the film rights?

Travers won script-approval rights in the deal and was billed as the film's consultant.

What did Travers hate most about the finished film, ruling out any further adaptations?

She also felt neither Andrews nor Van Dyke was right for the leads, according to Van Dyke.

How many Academy Award nominations did Mary Poppins receive?

A record for any Disney film, including Best Picture; it won five.

Which song won the Oscar for Best Original Song?

The other wins were Best Actress, Film Editing, Original Score and Visual Effects.

In what year is the film set?

Edwardian London, with Mrs. Banks fresh from a suffragette rally in the opening scene.

What are the names of the Banks children?

Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber played them; Dotrice cameos in Mary Poppins Returns.

What is Mr. Banks's first name?

David Tomlinson also voiced Mary's talking parrot umbrella and Admiral Boom's first mate.

Mrs. Banks was originally to be called Cynthia. What name did she get instead, at Travers's request?

Travers thought it sounded more English; Glynis Johns plays her.

How many different jobs does Bert have during the film?

One-man band, chalk artist, chimney sweep and kite seller.

Which second role does Dick Van Dyke play, under an anagram credit?

The credits list 'Navckid Keyd', which unscrambles on screen to Dick Van Dyke.

Where did Dick Van Dyke's Cockney accent rank in Empire magazine's 2003 poll of worst film accents?

He later told BAFTA he wanted to apologise for 'the most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema'.

Why does Uncle Albert float up to the ceiling?

Ed Wynn plays him; sadness brings him back down again.

What does the eccentric neighbour Admiral Boom fire from his roof twice a day?

At 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with his first mate Mr. Binnacle.

Where does the Bird Woman sell her breadcrumbs?

Jane Darwell's voice was too soft, so Robert Sherman dubbed her only line: 'Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.'

How much money does Michael refuse to hand over at the bank, sparking a run?

Old Mr. Dawes snatches the coins; other customers overhear and demand their own money back.

What is the full name of the institution where Mr. Banks works?

The song 'Fidelity Fiduciary Bank' takes its name from the last three words.

What innovative technique put live actors among the animated penguins?

Actors were filmed against a white screen lit yellow by sodium lamps; it won the film its Visual Effects Oscar.

Who sang the three Cockney geese in 'Jolly Holiday'?

The famous ghost singer later dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, the role Andrews had lost.

Where did Mary Poppins premiere on August 27, 1964?

It became the highest-grossing film of 1964 in the U.S. and, at the time, Disney's biggest ever.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide over its theatrical lifetime?

Its original run earned $44 million in rentals alone.

Which actress beat Andrews to the film role of Eliza Doolittle, only to lose to her at the Golden Globes?

Andrews then took the Best Actress Oscar; Hepburn was not even nominated.

Which of these was NOT considered for the role of Bert?

Disney found Van Dyke on The Dick Van Dyke Show and thought him too young until a screen test.

According to Disney, who made him promise to film the Mary Poppins books?

The story is the emotional core of Saving Mr. Banks.

Which stage producer got Travers's grudging permission for a musical in the 1990s?

Her conditions: only English-born writers, and nobody from the film production directly involved.

Who wrote the book of the stage musical?

The Downton Abbey creator was chosen for his grasp of Edwardian class niceties; Stiles and Drewe added new songs like 'Practically Perfect'.

Where did the stage musical have its world premiere in September 2004?

It moved to the Prince Edward Theatre that December, the only Disney musical to premiere in the UK.

How many performances did the original Broadway production run before closing in 2013?

It earned seven Tony nominations and won for scenic design.

Who plays Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks?

Emma Thompson plays Travers; the title refers to Mr. Banks, the father in the story.

Where did P. L. Travers grow up, as shown in Saving Mr. Banks's flashbacks?

Her alcoholic father Travers Goff died of tuberculosis when she was eight; her stern aunt inspired Mary.

Which character in the story does Travers most fiercely defend in Saving Mr. Banks?

She insists the father is neither cold nor cruel; the film's title is about redeeming him.

Who plays Mary Poppins in the 2018 sequel Mary Poppins Returns?

Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Jack, a lamplighter who was once Bert's apprentice.

When is Mary Poppins Returns set?

Michael Banks, now a widower with three children, is about to lose the family home.

What is Jack's job in Mary Poppins Returns?

The lamplighters teach the children rhyming slang in 'Trip a Little Light Fantastic'.

Which role in Mary Poppins Returns was written for the original star, who turned it down?

She felt she would steal focus from Emily Blunt; Angela Lansbury took the part.

Which character does Dick Van Dyke play in Mary Poppins Returns?

The retired bank chairman, a role Arthur Malet had played in 1964; Van Dyke, in his nineties, dances on a desk.

Who plays Mary's eccentric cousin Topsy in the sequel?

Her song is 'Turning Turtle'; the children visit her hoping to mend a Royal Doulton bowl.

Who directed Mary Poppins Returns?

The Chicago director had just made Into the Woods for Disney with the same producers.

How much did Mary Poppins Returns gross worldwide?

It picked up four Oscar nominations, including for the song 'The Place Where Lost Things Go'.

Which pop star was once suggested to play Bert's brother in an earlier attempt at a sequel?

A sequel had been in development hell since 1964.

Who plays the grown-up Michael Banks in Mary Poppins Returns?

He is a part-time teller at the family's old bank and a struggling artist; Emily Mortimer is Jane.

Which villain in Mary Poppins Returns is played by Colin Firth?

He also voices his own animated wolf counterpart in the Royal Doulton bowl sequence.

How long did filming of the 1964 movie take?

Post-production and animation then took another eleven months.

Which choreographing couple staged the rooftop 'Step in Time' number?

Walt attended the rooftop rehearsals every single day.

Where does 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' rank on AFI's list of the 100 greatest movie songs?

The film itself is #6 on AFI's list of the greatest musicals.

Which stage actor from My Fair Lady was Disney's first choice for Admiral Boom?

He was tied up filming My Fair Lady, so Reginald Owen got the cannon.

In what year was Mary Poppins added to the U.S. National Film Registry?

The same year Saving Mr. Banks dramatised its making.