Only five years after the release of the very impressive Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary 2-Disc DVD set (click for the original Toon Talk review) Disney has released the appropriately titled 45th Anniversary 2-Disc DVD set. The vast majority of the material is copied from the 5-year-old set and if you didn't get it that first time around, you'll definitely want to get this release. The previously released special features include:
Backstage Disney
- Audio Commentary—Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Karen Dotrice and Richard Sherman recall the making of Mary Poppins.
- Poppins Pop-Up Fun Facts—Select this option and fun-filled facts about the creation of this classic film pop up during viewing.
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Making of Mary Poppins—The definitive behind-the scenes look at how this unique and beloved film came into being.
- Movie Magic—A look at the special effect techniques used to bring the magical world of Mary Poppins to life.
- The Gala World Premiere—Footage from the Red Carpet.
- Dick Van Dyke Make-Up Test
- Trailers, Ads and More from the Original Release and Reissue of the Film
- Mary Poppins Still Art Galleries
Music & More
- Disney’s Song Selection—The whole family can sing along to “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and any of the film’s other memorable songs as the lyrics pop up on screen. Each song can be selected separately or while watching the film.
- Magical Musical Reunion—Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and songwriter Richard Sherman reminisce about making Mary Poppins and the music that makes it so special.
- A Musical Journey with Richard Sherman —A delightful magical journey through some of the film’s locations with co-composer Richard Sherman, who reveals surprising secrets about the music of Mary Poppins along the way.
- Bonus Short
The Cat That Looked at a King—Live action and animation bring a chapter of P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins Opens the Door to life! Julie Andrews takes viewers into a magical animated world created in the style of the whimsical chalk drawings in Mary Poppins. - Deleted Song
“Chimpanzoo”—A reconstruction of a song that did not appear in the movie using original storyboard and concept art, accompanied by a new rendition of the song performed by co-composer Richard Sherman.
My favorites of the above are the Audio Commentary which is just amazing. What an opportunity to hear all of these brilliant people talk about one of the greatest films of all time. I also really enjoyed A Musical Journey with Richard Sherman because anything with Richard Sherman is great. He comes across as one of the nicest most humble people in the world and having had the opportunity to interview him and meet him many times in person, I believe he really is.
So what's new for this release? A chronicling of the process of bringing Mary Poppins to the stage called Disney on Broadway. The main vehicle for this is the 47 minute documentary Mary Poppins from Page to Stage. I've not yet seen Mary Poppins on stage and, to be honest, I'm not very fond of the additional songs on the soundtrack, but after watching this I'm much more interested in seeing it. While there are many people interviewed for the somewhat "artsy" featurette, the bulk of the talking is done by Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) and Gavin Lee (Bert) being interviewed by Disney Theatrical's Thomas Schumacher plus producer Cameron Mackintosh, composers George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and the film's co-composer Richard Sherman.
The featurette is really well done and much more entertaining – and much less slick and sales-like – than I expected. It really feels like much more time and care was put into it than is usually the case for DVD extras, but as far as I know – and I could be wrong – this was created for the DVD. Among the many things learned here…
- 45 years ago Dick Van Dyke said "One day this is going to make a great stage musical". Of course everyone said no way.
- Gavin Lee (Bert) never saw the film before he got the role in the musical while Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) had seen it several times as a child and even worked out her own dance numbers.
- Travers insisted that when Mary Poppins became a stage show, it would have to have British writers. However, Producer Cameron Mackintosh convinced her that would also need the iconic songs in the film. That's why the Sherman Brothers songs are in the musical even though she was "dismissive of the songs in the film". However, the Shermans were not involved in the stage version at all. As Richard Sherman said "no Americans should touch her precious things again."
- Composers George Stiles and Athony Drewe wrote and recorded a demo for Partically Perfect, a Sherman-esque song, as basically an unrequested audition tape. It's now in the musical without any changes. When Richard Sherman heard it he happily said "that's one of the best songs we ever wrote."
- It took more than six weeks to learn the signing choreography for the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
- Richard Eyre, the musical's writer, trashed Beauty and the Beast on Broadway prior to working on Mary Poppins. Prior to playing Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown played Belle on Broadway.
- Two wonderful stories about when Richard Sherman and his wife saw the musical and when Julie Andrews gave a speech after one of the performances.
There are many more wonderful stories plus a great segment showing a phone call between Richard Sherman and George Stiles and Anythony Drewe. In fact, the nicest surprise in the whole documentary is the major inclusion of Richard Sherman despite his minor role in the musical. As I said earlier, more Richard Sherman is usually a good thing.
Also on this section of the DVD are:
- The Broadway Cast perform Step in Time: A nicely edited performance of Step in Time from the Broadway production. Unfortunately, this is my least favorite song in the movie, I would much preferred the show stopping Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. But it was enjoyable nonetheless.
- Bob Crowley’s Design Galleries: Concept art, costume designs, set designs and set models for the Broadway musical. It is what it is.
- Step in Time: A downloadable MP3 featuring the Broadway cast of Mary Poppins singing “Step in Time,” featuring Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins and Gavin Lee as Bert.
So should you get it? If you own the 40th anniversary set, I don't know that the new material makes the purchase worth it – that depends on your interest in the stage musical, I suppose. Unfortunately, there was no Blu-Ray version released which would have made the decision much easier. But taken on its own, there's no question this is a must-own for an Mary Poppins or Disney fan.
Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary 2-Disc DVD
The Movie: Rating: 10 out of 10 stars
DVD: Rating: 10 out of 10