Created by P. L. Travers Creator P. L. Travers | Portrayed by Numerous (see below) Nationality English | |
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Family Mr. Twigley (uncle; novel canon)Albert (uncle; film canon) Movies Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Poppins, Goodbye Played by Similar Michael Banks, Winifred Banks, George Banks, Jane Banks, Admiral Boom | ||
Mary Poppins is a fictional character and the eponymous protagonist of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books and all of its adaptations. A magical English nanny, she blows in on the East Wind and arrives at the Banks home at Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons with a magical touch.
Contents
- Description of character
- Book
- Movie
- Stage musical
- Development
- Notable actresses who have played Mary Poppins
- Additions
- References
Julie Andrews, who played the character in the 1964 film adaptation, won the Academy Award for Best Actress. British film magazine Empire included Poppins (as played by Andrews) in their 2011 list of 100 greatest movie characters.
Description of character
A quintessential English nanny, Mary Poppins is a slightly stern but caring woman, who uses magic and self-control to take care of the Banks children. She is usually identifiable by her sensible hat and parrot umbrella which she brings with her wherever she goes on outings. She is kind towards the children, but can be firm when needed. She is "practically perfect in every way." In the film version, she is a young woman, with an air of grace and elegance about her.
Author P.L. Travers was very firm about Mary Poppins' appearance in the novel's illustrations, working closely with illustrator Mary Shepard to create an image of the character. Eventually they based Mary Poppins' appearance on that of a Dutch doll: tall and bony, with short black hair, large blue eyes, a snub nose, and a prim, pursed mouth. Travers originally objected to the casting of Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, claiming Andrews was too attractive for the role; however, upon meeting Andrews in person for the first time, Travers allegedly examined the actress for a few moments before conceding, "Well, you've the nose for it."
Book
Mary Poppins in P. L. Travers' books is strict and no-nonsense, asserting her unusual brand of discipline over the four (later five) Banks children in her charge. Mary is very vain and is always admiring herself in the mirror and other reflections. She constantly scolds the children for their "bad" behaviour, especially when they point out the magical things she does, for she constantly denies she is anything but a prim and proper lady. Mary only shows her gentler side around her friends, among them the Matchman (Bert), Mrs. Corry, and Nellie-Rubina.
Mary has many relatives, each with their own supernatural or otherwise eccentric nature, at least one of whom appears in each book. She appears to be well known to every sort of magical entity (sorcerers, talking animals, etc.) that appear in the books, some of whom love her dearly and others who are quite terrified of her. Some characters, most notably an impudent jackdaw seen in the first two books, call her "The Great Exception," meaning, among other things, she is the only human being who has retained the magical secrets infants possess (such as the power to communicate with animals) until they grow up and forget about them. Some of her adventures occur in London, others in strange realms which later writers might identify as magical dimensions. In literary terms, she might be described as a character who exists in every conceivable fantasy genre (gothic, mythic, urban, etc.) at once: There are many strange people and phenomena in the world, but only Mary Poppins is familiar with them all.
Movie
Mary Poppins in the Disney film, as portrayed by Julie Andrews, is also stern but at the same time more gentle, cheerful, and nurturing of the two Banks children of whom she is in charge. Mary also has a friendship with Bert (Dick Van Dyke), a jack-of-all-trades who is quite at home with Mary's brand of magic. She also is less vain and selfish, and far more sympathetic towards the two children than the nanny in the original stories. Emily Blunt was announced as Mary Poppins in the sequel Mary Poppins Returns.
Stage musical
In both the West End and Broadway versions of the stage musical, the Mary Poppins character is more deliberately mysterious than in the movie version. She is stricter with the children (who are also naughtier than their book and movie counterparts) but she only wants them to become the best they can be. Mary in the stage version is also more aware of Bert's feelings towards her.
Development
Mary Poppins first appeared in the short story Mary Poppins and the Match Man in 1926, and in several early bits and pieces of the first novel. P.L. Travers later changed the story of the character's origins, stating that it appeared fully formed in her mind in 1934.
Notable actresses who have played Mary Poppins
Additions
Neil Gaiman's short story "The Problem of Susan" mentions a posthumously (for P. L. Travers) published work Mary Poppins Brings in the Dawn, in which Mary Poppins was Jesus's nanny and was therefore herself not part of God's creation.
Mary Poppins appears in Alan Moore's third League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel, in the Black Dossier when it returns to Margaret Cavendish's Blazing World. She later reappears in Century: 2009, where she defeats the Antichrist created by Oliver Haddo. In this appearance, she and other characters hint that she may be a personification of God.
In a sequence during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games which celebrated British children's literature, a group of Mary Poppinses descended on flying umbrellas to fight and defeat the nightmares which were haunting children's dreams. The sequence is called "Second to the right and straight on till morning."
Terry Pratchett's Susan Sto Helit character satirizes Mary Poppins in various ways, most explicitly in the novel Hogfather.
In The Simpsons episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", Marge hires a new housekeeper for the family, named Shary Bobbins (voiced by Maggie Roswell), who attempts to helps them become better people.
Natalie Schafer (as Lovey Howell) plays a "Mary Poppins"-like character named Mary Poppedin in a dream sequence of the Gilligan's Island episode "And Then There Were None".