Mary Poppins

I recently read the book Mary Poppins and didn't think much of it, particularly in contrast to the Disney movie. In the book the plot goes like this - Mary flies in, Mary and the children have a series of adventures and then Mary leaves. There doesn't seem to be a point to the book. The movie, on the other hand, has Mary coming to help a dysfunctional family - the children are disconnected from their parents. She leaves once she is no longer needed because the parents have had their priorities readjusted.

I borrowed the 40th Anniversary DVD and the 40th Anniversary Soundtrack from my brother to check out the special features and see what they had to say about the book. It was quite gratifiying to find that Richard Sherman (who, along with his brother Robert, were the songwriters) had the exact same take on the book that I had. Going through the material reminded me how great this movie is and, in particular, how incredible the song "Feed the Birds" is. At the end of his life, it was Walt Disney's favorite song. He would often ask the Sherman brothers to play it for him and then say, "That's what it's all about."