Tag Archives: Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins Collectibles – Book and Record

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This post for Saturday’s With Nick originally appeared on the Disney Musings Blog on December 20, 2013.  I continue to be in awe of Nick’s Disneyana collection and these particular items make me Goofy-Hat-Green with envy since Mary Poppins is so near and dear to my heart.  Enjoy!

Mary Poppins Collectibles – Book and Record

By: NickToday, Disney releases the film, Saving Mr. Banks, and to say I am excited to see this is an understatement.  Both Barbie and I have grown up with Mary Poppins.The film centers on the life of P. L. Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, shifting between her childhood, and the negotiations with Walt Disney in the making of the motion picture, Mary Poppins, in 1961

If you haven’t seen the trailer, it looks absolutely amazing. I just re-watched it, and have goosebumps, and, okay, a tear in my eye.

As much as we both love Mary Poppins, we actually only have 2 items from Mary Poppins, if you don’t include a VHS, DVD, and the just released Blu-ray copy of the film!

One is this record album Barbie has had since childhood.

It includes a very brief synopsis of the movie, and even a brief telling of how Disney came to discover Mary Poppins and produce this masterpiece.

And what more can I say about the music by the Sherman Brothers other than it is absolutely brilliant?

This 1964 Mary Poppins movie book from Golden Press was bought just a few months ago at our local flea market.

Originally priced at $.69, I paid $2.

Not in the best of shape, but, having just seen the trailer for the first time the day before, I felt it was fate that I came upon it, and had to buy it!

It tells a bit about the production, and the 2 primary stars, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, on the inside cover, before going on to tell the story of the motion picture, with photos from the film.

Disney at Home – Mary Poppins Art

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Mary Poppins ArtBack in the fall, when Christmas was looming large, I started trying to help Joseph pick out a gift for Raymond.  Joseph is…well, he’s….picky.  And opinionated.  Huhn…wonder where he gets that from?  Best to get started early, ’cause at the last minute the two of us would be locked in an epic battle of wills over finding the perfect gift.  We take holidays very seriously here at Living a Disney Life.

I started looking around at some of my favorite online shopping sites and throwing out ideas via text message or during the occasional phone call.  Have you tried recently to communicate by phone with an 18 year old male away at school?  If not, let me tell you there’s a lot of silence and monosyllabic answers.

So, anyway, I described a wide variety of gift options and put them to the test:  “Well? what Mary Poppins Artabout that one?” – every question was met with a grunt (or no reply at all by text).  I took that as a no and kept looking.  Purely by coincidence I stumbled upon some interesting art.  Disney art – well, technically, art based on Disney, but one picture in particular caught my eye – a Mary Poppins movie-themed print that was appealing in its simplicity.  Hmmm – could I have found THE gift?  After so much rejection I was about to tell Mr. Picky-pants to go it alone and shop solo for his Dad’s present.

Mary Poppins on the WallScreen shot included in the next text – I waited for yet another rejection…what?  Could it be?  He loved it!  So, knowing better than to hesitate during such a moment, I placed the order.  Joseph was home for semester break when the package arrived and we carefully opened the box and slid out the contents – even better in person than it was in the picture.  The colors are muted, but match our décor perfectly.  We both just stood there staring at it for a moment – then I noticed Joseph was smiling and realized he was imagining how happy his dad would be with this gift.  And Raymond loves the picture every bit as much as we’d hoped he would.  The Mary Poppins picture now hangs prominently in our foyer.

What do you buy the hard-to-shop-for Disney fan? What’s one of your favorite Disney gifts?

Growing up With Mary Poppins

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musicMARYPOPPINS1I have a special attachment to Mary Poppins.  And it’s not just because the movie and I are the same age.  Oh, I’ve seen the movie a time or two – but not as many as you’d think, considering.  I will tell you that I know the words to most of the movie’s songs.

I have strong childhood ties to those catchy, cleverly composed Mary Poppins tunes – wonderful memories that are among my happiest of all – because when I was little, my mother loved to play the piano and I loved to sing along.  At some point when I was very small, my mom bought the songbook of sheet music from Mary Poppins.  I can remember her telling me a song’s  words then letting me sing them while she played each line – so this must have started before I could read.  I have vivid memories of sitting on the piano bench next to my mom (on her left) while she played.  Following along, belting out those Poppins tunes for all I was worth in my little-girly voice – “With tuppence for paper and strings, you can have your own set of wings.  With your feet on the ground you’re a bird in flight with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite…”

I’ve promised myself a treat today if I cross off everything on my to-do list – I’m going to try to see Saving Mr. Banks this afternoon – I’m a little worried about my sappy sentimentality kicking in and making me cry, but I really want to see it, so I’m willing to take my chances and bring plenty of tissue.

So off I go – gotta get busy making a quick grocery run, baking some cookies, wrapping gifts, putting this messy house in order – you get the idea.  Wish me luck!  If I do make it to the movie I’ll let you know what I thought about it.

List of Songs from the “Songs from Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins” easy piano song book:

  • Chim Chim Cher-ee
  • Feed the Birds
  • Jolly Holiday
  • Let’s Go Fly a Kite
  • (A) Spoonful of Sugar
  • Stay Awake
  • Step in Time
  • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious