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2009/06/01

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Movie Trivia: Mary Poppins

Posted: 31 May 2009 05:59 PM PDT

I’m kind of a Disney freak, so it’s hard for me to pick one favorite Disney movie. But Mary Poppins is definitely in my top five - it’s such a classic. And there’s no shortage of trivia about it, so I had to pick some of my favorites. If you want more, I suggest buying the 45th anniversary DVD - it’s packed full of behind-the-scenes information, deleted bits, commentary and pop up facts. But in the meantime, this should tide you over!

After being rejected by P.L. Travers for more than 20 years, Walt finally paid a visit to P.L. in person to convince her to let him make her books into a movie. It was the personal visit that convinced her - she described Walt as the friendly old uncle type who hypnotized you with his gold pocket watch. Not exactly a compliment, but she gave him the rights nonetheless.

Mary Martin, Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury were considered for the role of Mary Poppins. Casting directors saw Julie Andrews singing Camelot’s “What do the Simple Folk Do” on the Ed Sullivan Show and immediately knew that they had to have her for Mary Poppins. They told Walt, who flew out to New York to see Julie sing her part on Broadway, and that was that. Andrews still had to pass muster with P.L. Travers, though, but it didn’t end up being a problem - Travers adored her.

Travers wrote to Walt Disney to suggest Karen Dotrice for the role of Jane Banks, but Walt had already cast exactly that actress in the part. At least they agreed on one thing!

Julie Andrews almost didn’t take the role - she was actually holding out for the Eliza Doolittle part in My Fair Lady that eventually went to Audrey Hepburn. Andrews had played the part on Broadway and loved it. Audrey may have played Eliza, but Julie Andrews was so brilliant in Poppins that she beat Audrey for both the Best Actress Golden Globe and Academy Award.

The actors who played Jane and Michael had already starred in a movie together - The Three Lives of Thomasina - and went on to do another one together post-Poppins: The Gnome-Mobile.

Matthew Garber was afraid of heights, so the crew paid him an extra dime every time he had to go up on the wires for the scenes where the kids are floating in the air. But they weren’t always on wires - Disney didn’t want people to look at the scene and go, “Oh, they clearly used wires for that,” so sometimes wires were used, sometimes teeter totters were used, and sometimes they flipped the set on its side or upside down and filmed that way.

Next time you watch the movie, check out the queue of nannies lined up to interview for the nanny position - a bunch of them are actually men.

When the kids look surprised at all of the stuff Mary Poppins pulls out of her carpet bag, that was genuine shock. They couldn’t see what was being fed to the bag from under the table, so when she pulled hat stands and huge potted plants out of that regular-sized bag, the kids were completely stunned.

Dick Van Dyke freely admits that his cockney accent was awful and in fact kind of gets a kick out of it.

Lots of the actors played multiple roles: Dick Van Dyke played Bert, of course, and also played Old Mr. Dawes the banker. Other than the title role, Julie Andrews also provided her own whistling accompaniment when Mary Poppins sings with the robin during “Spoonful of Sugar” and was also one of the Pearly ladies in “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” David Tomlinson, AKA Mr. Banks, was also the voice of Mary’s umbrella when it talked and one of the jockeys in the animated horse race scene. In addition, he dubbed the voice for Admiral Boom’s first mate.

A bunch of songs were deleted from the movie. A few include “The Chimpanzoo,” which you can now hear on the 2004 special anniversary edition DVD; “Practically Perfect,” which ended up being the music for “Sister Suffragette”; “Admiral Boom” which was to be Admiral Boom’s theme song; and “Measure Up,” which Mary Poppins was going to sing while measuring the kids with her magical tape measure. One song was actually repurposed for Bedknobs and Broomsticks and was called “The Beautiful Briny” in it.

Elsa Lanchester, who played the childrens’ former nanny Katie Nanna, was previously best-known for her role as the Bride of Frankenstein.

Mary Poppins’ sets often ended up being used for other Disney productions. One episode of The Wonderful World of Color featured a haunted house, which was actually the Banks house covered with cobwebs and dust.

The Bird Woman is played by Jane Darwell, whom Walt Disney cast after remembering her amazing performance as Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. He made sure she was given the full-out star treatment and was brought to the set in a limo and treated with great respect. It was to be her last film performance.

The “Chim-Chim Cheree” and”Step in Time” sequences are my favorites, I think. The background of the London rooftops is actually matte paintings done on glass. The “smoke” staircase was actually made out of sponge because it was assumed that if you were walking on smoke, it would have a bouncy feeling to it. The “Step in Time” dance had to be filmed twice because the film the first version was on got scratched. And I guess I’m not alone in loving the “Step in Time” scene - Walt enjoyed it so much he would come to watch the daily dance rehearsals and told the choreographers to go nuts and have fun with the steps.

Every member of the crew - not the cast, mind you, the crew - asked for a copy of the soundtrack.

Total Eclipse of the Heart: the Literal Video Version

Posted: 31 May 2009 11:48 AM PDT

I looked back through the archives and I don’t think this is a repost, but even if it is, it’s probably worth it. It’s Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” but with lyrics that describe what’s going on in the video. And, wow, I had never seen this actual video. I had no idea “Total Eclipse of the Heart” had such a pedophile theme going on.

Other literal videos include Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, A-Ha’s “Take On Me”, and Starship’s “We Built This City,” but I think Total Eclipse is definitely the best.

The World of Chemistry

Posted: 31 May 2009 07:32 AM PDT


(YouTube Link)

This promotional video from the European Research Commission uses a dance party to explain how basic chemical compounds are formed.

Via The Presurfer

Suco de Laranja: A Fun Little Stop Motion Animation

Posted: 31 May 2009 05:59 AM PDT

Brazilian artist Breno Pineschi of Hardcuore had a little fun with this Suco de Laranja (orange juice) video clip. All you need to make a funky electronic music are fresh oranges, some melba toast and a dash of humor.

Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo]

Seb Lester’s Typographical Art

Posted: 31 May 2009 05:03 AM PDT

Taking a look at Seb Lester’s work reminds me how much I enjoy typographical art. This one above, The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword, is available as a limited edition print at I Love Typography.

Link - via Drawn!

Monument to the Unknown Washerwoman

Posted: 31 May 2009 05:02 AM PDT

If the unknown soldier has a tomb, then what about the unknown washerwoman? Here’s a whimsical art installation titled Monument to the Unknown Washerwoman (2005) by Bulgarian artist Pravdoliub Ivanov: Link - via VVORK

Skull Art by Jim

Posted: 31 May 2009 05:02 AM PDT

Jim is a skull artist. And yes, that means he turns skulls (real or not? I don’t know) into works of art. Right now, he’s really, really into ropes: Link - via I Want Your Skull

Motifo: Magnetic Pixel Turns Your Fridge Into Art

Posted: 31 May 2009 05:00 AM PDT

Peter Locke created a set of colored magnets called Motifo that act as giant pixels to turn your fridge into a works of art:

Each mosaic design has been specially crafted to use the same combination of pieces, so every mosaic can be made with the 1296 pieces included in each motifo pack. If you want to create a new design, just rearrange the pieces.

If I’m not afraid that they’d swallow the small pieces outright, this would be a blast for my kids! Link - via Funfurde
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