Disney's Mary Poppins Response

I found the Disney film Mary Poppins to be entertaining, but I did not love it. This is mostly due to personal preference, and the fact that the style is very old, as well as that it’s a musical (which I’m not a big fan of).

            The movie did make some significant and surprising changes to the original novel, and I think the changes made were very positive and progressive. These changes were centered around the parents playing a much bigger role in the plot of the film, as well as Bert being a character that was involved throughout the movie.

            I think these changes were made so that there actually could be more plot. The original stories don’t have that much conflict, but giving the parents in a bigger role in the movie means that the conflict can be that they don’t care for their kids all that much and don’t spend a lot of time with them. The movie is a critique of parents who are completely hands off, as well as a critique of standard gender roles like the father always working and being completely in charge of the house. You can tell that it’s a critique of this, because in the end the problem is solved by the dad realizing he wants to/should spend more time with his children. The dad is presented negatively, in that he doesn’t want to have fun and is very strict, so you can tell that the movie is criticizing people like him.

            I am interested in why Bert played a bigger role. A pessimistic view could be because they didn’t want Mary Poppins as the sole lead, who would be by herself in all the scenes with her and the children. They wanted a male counterpart for some reason. I think this could’ve been part of the reason, but I don’t think it’s the sole one. Bert provides a more carefree personality, and ends up being the one to enlighten the father on why he should spend more time with his children. It would be unlike Mary Poppins for her to have this frank talk with the father, and so him being put in a more important role is integral to the plot.

            I found it funny that the wife was an advocate for women’s suffrage, but then was very submissive to her husband. She hides the sashes because she knows he doesn’t like them. At the beginning of the film, he went on about how he is like the leader of the home and must make sure everything is running smoothly. It’s ironic because it’s mostly the women who are doing those things. They are the servants and nannies, and he simply works at a bank. This could be commentary on the fact that women do the same if not equal work to men but get much less credit.

            The film does try to explain the father’s point of view as well. It says how he doesn’t have time to care for the kids because he has to work hard to make money, and how the kids and wife have someone to take care of them, but he is all alone in that aspect. I found this to be a very interesting take, and a perspective I hadn’t thought of. It’s interesting to think of the effect that providing for a family has on a man. It doesn’t justify a man acting as a dictator in his home, but it does provide some perspective.

            Overall, I found this to be the most progressive Disney film we’ve analyzed so far. It changes the story in a way to send a specific message, instead of just telling the same message and making it fit with the times.