“After a long concentration on live-action and cartoon films, we decided to try something that would employ about every trick we had learned in the making of films. We would combine cartoon and live-action in an enormous fantasy: Mary Poppins.”
—Walt Disney
Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company, © 1964 Disney." Arguably one of the most beloved films of all time, Mary Poppins premiered on August 27, 1964. And in the fifty years since its release, it hasn’t lost a step (in time). If you’re curious how it’s rated on the popular film-review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, it scores a modest 100%.
One of the later galleries at The Walt Disney Family Museum is home to some terrific Mary Poppins treasures. From Walt's personal copy of the book Mary Poppins (autographed by the book's publisher), to lobby cards, posters, animation sketches, visual development, and a large video screen showcasing the film’s Hollywood premiere, there’s a practically perfect plethora of Mary Poppins paraphernalia primed to please even the most pessimistic patron.
From the beginning, it seemed everyone knew the film was going to be a smash, much to Walt’s amazement. “As the original Mary Poppins budget of five million dollars continued to grow, I never saw a sad face around the entire studio,” Walt remembered. “And this made me nervous. I knew the picture would have to gross ten million dollars for us to break even. But still there was no negative head-shaking. No prophets of doom. Even Roy was happy. He didn't even ask me to show the unfinished picture to a banker. The horrible thought struck me—suppose the staff had finally conceded that I knew what I was doing!”
In honor of Mary Poppins’ fiftieth, we would like to invite you to take a jolly holiday to The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio of San Francisco, and check out the wonderful Mary Poppins showcase. And to learn a little more about what went into the making of the film, please check out the article we published earlier this year, A Spoonful of Poppins.
See you at the Museum, guvenuh!
Keith Gluck is a volunteer and frequent guest blogger at The Walt Disney Family Museum. Keith is the writer/editor for thedisneyproject.com, a Disney fan site.