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ON THIS DAY 50 years ago, the term Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious entered our lexicon.
It was 27 August 1964 when Disney unleashed Mary Poppins on the world with resounding success.
But as the recent film Saving Mr Banks recounts, the movie almost didn’t happen. Walt Disney took on a 15-year task to persuade author P.L. Travers to hand over the rights to her children’s books.
And, even when she did, an unusual script approval clause meant that things were difficult for those making the picture.
She ”objected to everything to do with music and everything about the father as a protagonist who changes” recalls music man Richard Sherman, who likened her actions during her time in LA as “pouring ice water” on their creative ideas.
Eventually, a script was signed off, songs completed and a cast formulated.
Speaking ahead of the anniversary, Julie Andrews said, “I cannot believe it has been 50 years since then… I lost about 20 years somewhere.”
And on the movie that remains a firm favourite of adults and children, alike, the Mary Poppins actor added: “You always set a bar for yourself that is high. People are so lovely and you want to give them pleasure… You hope that any movie you do, people will love to see it.
“Do you know how lucky I am? I am the lucky lady who was asked to do those movies.”
One of her co-stars, Karen Dotrice, who played Jane Banks told the Guardian last year about one of her most enduring memories from the set.
I still remember the first time I saw her smoking on set in full garb. I was shocked –Mary Poppins having a fag!
Dotrice, who is now 58 years old, also spoke to EW recently about her singing role in the movie.
My parents took me to this Shakespearean voice coach. Well, this lady was probably about 110 and used to dealing with [Laurence] Olivier and all those sorts of people. So she taught me to sing the solo I had, The Perfect Nanny, in a sort of operatic style. It was so embarrassing! I got on the set and thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to nail this. I’m really good,’ and I stood up and was singing [in this deep opera voice].
Julie just goes, “Oh my! That’s lovely, Karen. Super! Tell you what: This is what we’re going to do. I’ve got the day off tomorrow, Can I come round to your [house] and we’ll just work a little bit on the songs?’ She came over the next day and she was so sweet and taught me how to sing all those songs properly, like a little girl. …Thank God she saved the day!
The result:
She wasn’t the only one in need of direction. Dick Van Dyke also required a bit of help on set with his infamous Cockney accent. It is well documented that Irish vocal coach, Pat O’Malley, wasn’t that much better than his student. Despite his hard work, the critics still slated him for the cock-up.
Speaking to NBC, Andrews recalls:
“He always said, ‘Oh my god, I’m not that great at cockney’. But he covered it so wonderfully because he had a wonderful body that was so limber and he had such joie de vivre.
“If you want to nitpick something, no, his cockney was not that good,” adds Sherman. “So what? He was so wonderful in every other way.”
“Doesn’t seem to have harmed the film that much, 50 years later,” concludes Andrews.
As well as playing Bert, Van Dyke also took on the role of old bank president, Mr Dawes. “A couple of moments of schtick always cracks” Julie Andrews up is when the old man tries to get down the steps. Take a look here…
(With bonus backwards supercalifragilisticexpialidocious):
As an aside, did you know Van Dyke’s credit for the role at the end of the film is shown as an anagram of his name?
Surprisingly, one of the problems for young Banks children was making sure they could laugh and smile on cue, while enduring the flying scenes. Matthew Garber, who was cast as Michael, made the most of his difficulties. Monetarily.
“The kids at some point, after so many takes, would have a very difficult time getting the laughs out and keeping the energy up. But Julie, Ed and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves,” remembers Van Dyke.
Garber, however, was afraid of heights so somebody on set offered him a dime every time he went up on the wires.
“He got extra money for that,” confirms Dotrice. “Every time he did another take, he got another dime. It was quite a going concern. I was bigger on lemonade stands on the weekend, myself.”
“It was hard, hard work but it was a lot of fun,” continues Van Dyke. “There was a lot of standing and waiting… Matthew would get fidgety and bite me on the legs. He just didn’t know what to do with himself.
There was one time that they needed him to laugh. He wouldn’t laugh. They told me to go behind the camera and make him laugh. But he was determined that he was not going to laugh. I made every face and fell down, I did everything I could think of and he would not laugh. He just decided not to.
“He knew his power, that kid,” says Andrews.
Garber’s life took a tragic turn after his childhood career. In 1976, he visited India where he contracted hepatitis. His father worked to get him home to England but the infection had spread to his pancreas and he died, aged just 21.
Aftermath
The difficulties in securing the rights for the film and getting approval from Travers was all worth it come the night of the Academy Awards in 1965.
Picking up five Oscars out of 13 nominations, Walt Disney’s work paid off. Julie Andrews won her Best Actress category for the first and only time.
But if that came with a ‘What If?’ Andrews had really wanted the part of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and was expected to get it when it went to Audrey Hepburn.
But that slight turned into an enormous win, as she tells herself (and My Fair Lady’s Jack Warner) at the Golden Globe awards:
There were no hard feelings though between the two leading actresses though. They remained firm friends until Hepburn’s death.
On the 50th anniversary of the glamorous premiere, let’s remember the film with the one thing that Travers and Disney agreed on. Feed the Birds was the best song of the whole shebang.
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Why was an underground transport system not considered? The first London underground line opened in 1863. Modern mechanisation should make such a task a lot easier.
Of course it was. But the cost came at some €15bln or something stupid like that. I believe it meant to be completed by 2014, but then when bubble burst, cancelled altogether. Or postponed… for eternity.
a company I think they were Chinese offered to build it for free and the only catch was they got to run it for the first 10 years, and our government said no.
#lookedagifthorseinthemouth
@Richard: When and what government? Also what was the operating cost per year they were going to charge for each of the 10 years?
Prove that Richard!
I’m a little fuzzy on the details it was about 7/8 years ago
Was the company Japanese?
As far as I can recall, it was a Korean firm. But the condition they stipulated was permanent control over the entire operation, and not just 10 years. I think it was Hyundai, but I stand to be corrected.
Oh, and it wasn’t 7 or 8 years ago. It was back in the 1980s. You’re talking about when the idea was resurrected and people remembered the original plan.
There are only 1m people in Dublin. That’s tiny compared to London, so transport systems between the two should not be compared. Dublin also has a sprawling population, with most people living in the outskirts, and little population density in the city centre. I think
All pure waffle. How can you plan a “city for citizens” when the city centre is dominated by drugged up zombies, pushers and teenage gangs robbing tourists, citizens and revelers alike. Get your priorities right first Ciaran and only then can you consider making plans like you have outlined above. Spend in local businesses? Go down to the courts and watch those arrested for thieving walking free on probation or with a euro fine after being caught robbing from the same businesses you mention Address the over supply of off licenses open street dealing open drug taking drunken brawls teenage gangs behavior on the Luas red line before the right of the bicycle. Address the rest of the populations right to walk around cycle or indeed drive through the city without fear of being robbed spat at hustled for change for the next bag of smack beaten up and chased out of our city centre (normal citizens who don’t behave as outlined above) have rights too and these are being ignored. Your on a council now so address the over domination of drug clinics in the same city centre you wish to remove traffic from. Start by removing clinics. Start your new political career by saving the city centre for all and not just for the bicycle.
Oh give it a rest. They are different issues. This is about transport. I walk around and cycle through the city without fear. Such a boring comment.
Wouldn’t it be boring if you ended up in A&E, huh?
Your comments could put me in A & E. I can feel a coma coming on reading them.
@Dog: Have you taken a stroll on the North quays. Widening the footpaths etc will just create more seating room for addicts. These “people” need to be eradicated from the city centre. They want to make the area attractive to tourists? I will not bring any friends I have visiting the city anywhere North of Dame Street or South of Dorset Street. It’s wholly embarrassing to be honest. They’re spreading South now too. If that keeps up, we’ll lose the city centre altogether.
Shame you wish to fall asleep and let “our” city fall apart. You may wake up soon and then wonder why you cannot go into town anymore by bike or limited public transport. Maybe you should join our country cousins whom you have slated off here and live happily ever after. P.S. if you continue to cycle around town, as you claim, your bike will be robbed. If you continue to walk around town you will be mugged, sooner or later. Wishing you the very best and take care as it’s a very dangerous city we live in at the moment. PPSS had a look at your twitter, cans and cannabis seem to be a feature.
I am originally from the country. All my cousins live down there. I’ve had 4 bikes stolen, the last one from my back garden in the suburbs. I have never been mugged. No one I know has ever been mugged. The city is no more dangerous than any other, I’ve been to places far more dangerous than Dublin. This article is about transport, but some people just need to vent their feelings wherever possible. Cycling the quays, from Houston to Grand Canal Dock, is just lovely.
And before you say it, I lived in the city centre last year. I never had any trouble.
Why bother arguing on the Journal? Look out any city centre window and…………..Zombies…………………………your transport,…………………..4 bikes stolen! I rest my case.
Bye Bye.
So you noticed that the last one wasn’t stolen in the city centre but from my garden? In the suburbs. Maybe your problem is you’re afraid to come out from that window. The junkballs won’t go near you, you don’t have to worry. You must be terribly stressed.
@Alan. The fact that we have a city centre which offers a very poor quality of life is part of the reason why we have such anti-social behavior and junkies in the city centre.
Copenhagen is the world’s most liveable city. It also has a massive cycling culture. You need to look at the big picture – zero tolerance policing ain’t going to solve the problem
I do agree zero tolerance is not the answer but it would help would help though. We need the political will. A willing political and judicial class. I agree, look at the big picture.
Seen the headlines this morning about FF’s Niall Collins?
The Viking’s actor who got 5 years suspended for possession of €124.000 of drugs?
And then we all wonder why our city centre is crawling in drug addicts?.
As I said above, clean up the city for everyone before we start worrying about cycle lanes.
Yes. Start thinking about cities as places for people. And stop thinking of people solely as sources of revenue
@Andrew: “And stop thinking of people solely as sources of revenue”. I would agree with you Andrew however where is the money going to come from to provide all the services for all these people E.G. parks, playgrounds, museums etc.? Perhaps re-introducing Rates as well as the current refuse and impending water charges etc. would be on the cards
Can people not come up with good ideas, such as making the city a place for people rather than vehicles, without the inane commentary? Where does the money come for anything? Does it mean we shouldn’t improve out lot?
With most of us living in cities should be changed to ‘for those of us living in Dublin’. The article has no significance for the rest of us
Luckily 1 in 4 people in the country live in Dublin, so it will be of interest to them.
it does. you are the guys driving into the cities
It’s an absolute disgrace …. Countryside is being decimated by these centralised programmes …. Not sure what these idiot politicians are at …. High rise buildings ,concentrate everybody in the cities, leave the countryside for tillage and animals destroy the future of what’s left for the families there … Sounds a bit like the communist countries :):)
Yeap, services in places where people actually live… madness…
We all know how successful decentralisation was. Now all packages arriving in Dublin are shipped to Portlaoise for sorting before coming back to Dublin…
Some people want to live in cities. I love the city. A quarter of the population live in this small space. Technically we pay for much of the infrastructure in the country, without complaining.
i’m sure that was meant as sarcasm
IMHO Dublin isn’t really a city – It’s more like a big town that got out of control, and where no one has a clue who runs it. And like every other town in Ireland it only exists to let cars drive through it.
We desperately need to be reviving our towns like European towns and keep cars out of them and make them places you would actually want to live in.
The city centre of Dublin is a great place to be. Anyone I know from abroad thats come to visit absolutely loves it. It’s so vibrant, so full of life. Some people just can’t see past the junkies. Berlin is full of crusty punks begging on the streets with scabby dogs. Still an amazing city. Rio is full of hawkers and beggars. Still a rocking city.
Most European towns and cites had a bit of demolition done to them courtsey of Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe urban renewal schemes.So they have been re planned and built for modern commuting and infrastructure.A lot easier to plan a underground when everything above ground is rubble.Us in “neutral” Ireland didnt have that advantage and now we are trying to jam 20th century technology into 19th century cities in the 21st century.
Bar the picturesque “old town” part of major cities in Europe, IE Amsterdam,Bamberg,Nurenberg,etc which are tourist traps and most natives avoid to do their shopping or busisness,due to arkwardness in traffic or ridicilous rates.Most european towns are designed for efficent transport from their suburbs to shopping centres or work via a car,bus,tram.
Dublin however is a disaster because of its inner city centre where busisness is still concentrated,having a river splitting the city,a huge urban sprawl to the South and South west and no proper commute planning except road transport,an inefficent public transport net which collides with the biggest roundabout in the country.
In short the best thing that can happen to Dublin is actually de centralise it as much as possible.Trying to herd everyone into the city centre is whats causing the problems.But in Ireland like everything we want our cake and eat it as well. We want a modern urban transport system,but dont want trucks delivering at 2 AM.We want a underground,but dont want the disruption of having a white elephant project digging up Dublin.We dont want cars in the cities,but cant produce an efficent public transport system and to solve it now our solution is put people on ridicilous unsafe two wheeled wire and metal contraptions to propel themselves in our incliment weather to work,where they will sit nice and gamey with body oder for 8 hours in the office…Nice!!
Yea, makes sense, until the bit about bikes. They’re not unsafe in general, the exercise is good for you, measures can be taken to avoid being smelly in work, it rains more in Amsterdam than Dublin.
Yea- Dublin is more like a collection of suburbs in that way- they are the best thing about the city. The center itself has just turned into a shopping center/transport hub and nothing else. With all the Luas/buses/taxis sprawling through it it can only get worse really.
College Green should be more than just a roundabout.
How is it full of life exactly? It’s just lots of people walking around shopping. Put a roof on it and it’d just be like Liffey Valley. Once the shops close the place is dead.
I agree with Marko. Dublin is just a big, unplanned town. It doesn’t have the feel of a capital to me. The area around Grafton Street, South William Street and such is nice enough. But large areas are dirty and undeveloped. Not enough is done with the Georgian heritage buildings. Transport is a joke. The roads and traffic planning are a nightmare. There’s no civic centre, like Trafalgar Square or Plaza Mayor. Apart from shopping (in British High Street shops) or eating/drinking there’s not much to do. Compared to London there’s always things to do and see for free and great parks. More work needed to make Dublin a truly “liveable” city.
What puzzles me is this: If cars were finally a thing of the past in Dublin. The cyclists, the walkers, the Luas & DART users would indeed be VERY happy. However, as I understand it, the city council relies very heavily on the revenue from parking charges and clamping fees. If people gave up their cars because they now live in a car-free paradise, how would the council make up this lost revenue as well as the reduced revenue from less fuel sales and less motor tax/VRT tax for the government? Has anyone got an answer for me??
yeah. They would be substituted by other sources of revenue from having a more vibrant city centre which is an attractive place to live, less dereliction etc
looks like they have plans only for the city center aka the tourists. I thought they wanted to help people living in Dublin
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