You're gonna be bothered by how cool I am.

Mary Poppins

If you were to ask me what my favorite Disney movie is, my immediate answer would be Pinocchio. But there are two others that are almost as high on my list - Song of the South and Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins, however, holds a very special place in my heart and imagination, apart from the other two.


The best Christmas present I can ever remember getting as a little girl was a box full of records (read-along story book records and soundtracks). One of the records was a Mary Poppins soundtrack (the one with Marni Nixon in lieu of Julie Andrews). I wore the record out and sung the songs over and over and over again. I was very partial to "Stay Awake" and especially "Feed the Birds."

The movie is just perfect. The best family film ever made, as far as I'm concerned. As a youngster, I was entranced by the visuals and the songs. It made me think of London as a magical place. And my little shipper brain couldn't help wondering where Mary and Bert met, and whether they saw each other again after she left the Banks' house.

But as I've gotten older, I've become more and more attached to it, because underneath all the whiz and bang there's a real lesson to be learned. What Mary Poppins did for the Banks children was way more than teach them how to make unpleasant tasks fun and make them behave properly. She taught them - all of them, not just the children - to see people. People that often get overlooked. The chalkboard artists and bird ladies and chimney sweeps. Children would likely find these people fascinating anyway, but when they see adults acknowledge them as human beings worthy of notice, I think that sets a great example. And she does the same thing for George - she helps him to see his children, not as little soldiers who should be trained up as functional members of the Real World, but as real children. His children, and a reflection of the child within himself. I bawl my eyes out at "Let's Go Fly a Kite", which I guess is weird, but I can't help being moved by the sudden outpour of affection for his children.

And dudes, you can't not sing along with every tune in the freakin' movie. Jolly Holiday, Spoonful of Sugar, Supercal, Step In Time, Chim Chim Cheree, Stay Awake, Sister Suffragette, The Life I Lead, I Love to Laugh. And my two faves - "The Perfect Nanny" and "Feed the Birds". "Feed the Birds" is second only to "When You Wish Upon a Star" in my list of all-time greatest Disney songs EVAR. I went to England a few years ago and made a special pilgrimage to St. Paul's cathedral because of that song.

I hope I'm preaching to the choir here, but there's just so much to love about this movie. *melts into puddle of nostalgia*