Editing Mary Poppins (film) (section)

== Production ==
=== Development ===
[[File:P.L. Travers - 50 Smith Street Chelsea London SW3 4EP.jpg|thumb|upright|Walt Disney's efforts to obtain the rights to ''Mary Poppins'' included travelling to Travers' home in London (''pictured'').]]
The film's main basis was the first novel in [[Mary Poppins (novel)|the ''Mary Poppins'' series]]. According to the 40th Anniversary DVD release of the film in 2004, Disney's daughters fell in love with the ''Mary Poppins'' books and made Disney promise to make a film based on them. He first attempted to purchase the film rights from [[P. L. Travers]] as early as 1938, but Travers repeatedly refused; she did not believe a film version would do justice to her books.

Disney was also then known primarily as a producer of animated films, and had yet to produce a major live-action work. For more than 20 years, he made periodic efforts to convince Travers to release the rights, including visiting her home in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], London.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Julia Llewellyn |title=Saving Mr Banks: the true story of Walt Disney's battle to make Mary Poppins |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/saving-mr-banks-true-story-walt-disneys-battle-make-mary-poppins/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=December 23, 2016 |orig-date=December 2013 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218051529/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/saving-mr-banks-true-story-walt-disneys-battle-make-mary-poppins/ |archive-date=February 18, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> He finally succeeded in 1961, although Travers demanded and obtained script-approval rights. The [[Sherman Brothers]] composed the music score and were involved in the film's development, suggesting the setting be changed from the 1930s to the [[Edwardian era]]. Pre-production and music creation took about two years.

=== Pre-production ===
Travers was an adviser to the production, and was billed as the film's consultant. However, she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins' character, felt ambivalent about the music, and hated the use of animation so much that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later ''Mary Poppins'' novels.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Newman|first=Melinda|title='Poppins' Author a Pill No Spoonful of Sugar Could Sweeten|url=https://variety.com/2013/music/features/poppins-author-a-pill-no-spoonful-of-sugar-could-sweeten-1200802019/|access-date=November 7, 2013|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=November 7, 2013|archive-date=November 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111182813/http://variety.com/2013/music/features/poppins-author-a-pill-no-spoonful-of-sugar-could-sweeten-1200802019/|url-status=live}}</ref> She objected to a number of elements that made it into the film. Rather than original songs, she wanted the soundtrack to feature known standards of the Edwardian period in which the story is set. However, due to contract stipulations citing that he had [[final cut privilege]] on the finished print, Disney overruled her. In a 2013 interview, Dick van Dyke said that Travers felt that neither he nor Julie Andrews were right for the lead roles.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9779018/Dick-Van-Dyke-Id-go-to-work-with-terrible-hangovers.-Which-if-youre-dancing-is-hard.html | title=Dick van Dyke: "I'd go to work with terrible hangovers. Which if you're dancing is hard" | date=January 7, 2013 }}</ref>

Much of the Travers–Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the [[State Library of New South Wales]], Australia. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in ''Mary Poppins She Wrote'', a biography of Travers by Valerie Lawson. The biography is the basis for two documentaries on Travers: ''The Real Mary Poppins'' and Lisa Matthews' ''The Shadow of Mary Poppins''.<ref name=Nance>{{cite news|last=Nance|first=Kevin|title=Valerie Lawson talks 'Mary Poppins, She Wrote' and P.L Travers|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/12/20/valerie-lawson-talks-mary-poppins-she-wrote-and-pl-travers/|access-date=April 21, 2014|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=December 20, 2013|archive-date=February 28, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228131106/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-20/features/chi-saving-mr-banks-valerie-lawson-20131220_1_saving-mr-p-l-travers-p-l-travers}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/503/shadow-of-mary-poppins.html |title=The Shadow of Mary Poppins |date=2003 |access-date=November 29, 2015 |publisher=Ronin Films |website=Shop for a Film |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121053608/http://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/503/shadow-of-mary-poppins.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=newyorker>{{cite magazine|last=Flanagan|first=Caitlin|author-link=Caitlin Flanagan|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/19/becoming-mary-poppins?currentPage=all|title=Becoming Mary Poppins|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=December 19, 2005|access-date=November 9, 2014|archive-date=November 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109070254/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/19/becoming-mary-poppins?currentPage=all|url-status=live}}</ref> Their relationship during the development of the film was also dramatized in the 2013 Disney film ''[[Saving Mr. Banks]]''.

=== Casting ===
In March 1961, Disney announced that it might cast [[Hayley Mills]] and [[Mary Martin]] in the film.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weiler|first=A. H.|title=View from a Local Vantage Point: On the Harvey, Disney Production Schedule|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/03/05/archives/view-from-a-local-vantage-point-on-the-harvey-disney-production.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 5, 1961|page=X7|access-date=December 2, 2020|archive-date=May 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521081048/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/03/05/archives/view-from-a-local-vantage-point-on-the-harvey-disney-production.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Julie Harris]], [[Angela Lansbury]], [[Bette Davis]], [[Judy Garland]], [[Barbara Eden]], [[Elizabeth Taylor]], [[Jayne Mansfield]], [[Natalie Wood]] and [[Elizabeth Montgomery]] were considered for the role of Mary Poppins.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Conradt|first=Stacy|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/58615/18-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-facts-about-mary-poppins|title=18 Supercalifragilistic Facts About Mary Poppins|date=October 30, 2015|website=[[Mental Floss]]}}</ref> Walt Disney originally wanted [[Elvis Presley]] for the role of Bert, but [[Col. Tom Parker]] said no when he learned that Presley wouldn't receive top billing. Also considered for Bert were [[Bert Convy]], [[Sean Connery]], [[Bob Denver]], [[Adam West]], [[Andy Williams]], [[Cary Grant]], [[Jamie Farr]] and [[Andy Griffith]]. Before [[Ed Wynn]] was cast, [[Ray Bolger]], [[Jack Haley]], [[Bert Lahr]], [[George Burns]], [[Bob Hope]], [[Jack Albertson]], [[Jim Backus]], [[Alan Hale Jr.]], [[Kirk Douglas]] and [[Lorne Greene]] were considered for the role of Uncle Albert. 

[[Julie Andrews]], who was making her feature film acting debut after a successful stage career, was given the prime role of Mary Poppins soon after she was passed over by [[Jack L. Warner]] and replaced with [[Audrey Hepburn]] for the role of [[Eliza Doolittle]] in his [[My Fair Lady (film)|screen adaptation]] of ''[[My Fair Lady]]'', even though Andrews originated the role on Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/julie-andrews/|title=Julie Andrews {{!}} The Stars {{!}} Broadway: The American Musical|publisher=PBS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009121917/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/julie-andrews/|archive-date=October 9, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hischak |first=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000hisc/page/516/mode/2up |title=The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television |location=New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2008 |page=517 |isbn=978-0-19-533533-0 |url-access=registration}}</ref> When Disney approached Andrews about playing Poppins, she was three months pregnant. Disney assured her that they were willing to postpone filming until she had given birth so that she could take the part.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QhXfKMdhWI|title=Julie Andrews Recalls Making 'Mary Poppins'|work=[[Anderson Live]]|date=October 16, 2012|via=[[YouTube]]|access-date=February 14, 2015|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220091511/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QhXfKMdhWI%2C|url-status=live}}</ref> Disney considered actor [[Stanley Holloway]] for the role of Admiral Boom, but it went to Reginald Owen, due to Holloway's commitment to ''My Fair Lady''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Valerie|title=Mary Poppins She Wrote: The Extraordinary Life of Australian Writer P.L. Travers|isbn=978-0733626371|year=2010|page=214|location=Sydney|publisher=[[Hachette Australia]]}}</ref>

Andrews also provided the voice in two other sections of the film: During "[[A Spoonful of Sugar]]", she provided the whistling harmony for the robin, and she was also one of the [[Pearly Kings and Queens|Pearly]] singers during "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". [[David Tomlinson]], besides playing Mr. Banks, provided the voices of Mary's talking umbrella, Admiral Boom's first mate, and numerous other voice-over parts. During the "Jolly Holiday" sequence, the three singing Cockney geese were all voiced by [[Marni Nixon]], who regularly sang for actresses with substandard singing voices. (Nixon later provided the singing voice for Hepburn in ''My Fair Lady,'' and played one of Andrews' fellow nuns in ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]''.) Andrews later beat Hepburn for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical|Best Actress Award]] at the [[Golden Globes]] for their respective roles. Andrews also won the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for Best Actress for her role (Hepburn was not nominated for it). Richard Sherman, one of the songwriters, also voiced a penguin, and one of the Pearlies.<ref>DVD extra</ref> Robert Sherman provided the speaking voice of Jane Darwell because Darwell's voice was too soft to be heard in the soundtrack. He is heard saying the only line: "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag."<ref>Source: Commentary on Mary Poppins on DVD</ref>

Disney cast [[Dick Van Dyke]] in the main supporting role of Bert after seeing his work on ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]''. After winning the role, Van Dyke lobbied to also play the senior Mr. Dawes. Disney felt he was too young for the part, but Van Dyke won him over after a screen test.<ref>{{cite web|last=Elisberg|first=Robert J.|title=Super-Cali-Fragilistic-Expial-Atrocious|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/super-cali-fragilistic-ex_b_440054.html|website=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=March 30, 2010|access-date=March 26, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402202923/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/super-cali-fragilistic-ex_b_440054.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Van Dyke had trouble with Bert's Cockney accent. English character actor [[J. Pat O'Malley]] provided some coaching;<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/julie-andrews-home-work-memoir-mary-poppins|title=Julie Andrews Remembers Becoming Mary Poppins|date=October 7, 2019|magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref> but although Van Dyke is fondly remembered for the film, his [[English-language accents in film#Cockney|attempt at a Cockney accent]] is considered one of the poorer accents in film history.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7509572.stm|title=How not to do an American accent|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=July 21, 2008|access-date=February 14, 2015|archive-date=September 21, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921073046/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7509572.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> (It was #2 in a 2003 poll by ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine of the worst film accents.<ref>{{cite news | title=Connery 'has worst film accent' | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3032052.stm | publisher=BBC News | date=June 30, 2003 | access-date=July 6, 2008 | archive-date=August 24, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824041828/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3032052.stm | url-status=live}}</ref>) Van Dyke claimed that O'Malley "didn't do an accent any better than I did".<ref name="NPR Wait Wait">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130739954|title=Dick Van Dyke Plays Not My Job|work=[[Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!]]|date=October 23, 2010|access-date=April 3, 2018|archive-date=April 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417022932/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130739954|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, Van Dyke received an award for television excellence from the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (BAFTA), at which time he said, "I appreciate this opportunity to apologise to the members of BAFTA for inflicting on them the most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema." A chief executive of BAFTA responded, "We look forward to his acceptance speech in whatever accent he chooses on the night. We have no doubt it will be '[[supercalifragilisticexpialidocious]]'."<ref name="apology">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/21/dick-van-dyke-sorry-for-cockney-accent-mary-poppins-disney|title=Dick Van Dyke sorry for 'atrocious cockney accent' in Mary Poppins|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|last=Khomami|first=Nadia|date=July 21, 2017|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102201727/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/21/dick-van-dyke-sorry-for-cockney-accent-mary-poppins-disney|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Filming ===
[[Principal photography|Filming]] took place between May and September 1963 in Burbank, California;<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23290 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1963-08-11 |title=PERCOLATING 'POPPINS'; Disney Transcribes Classic Childhood Tale for Julie Andrews's Film Debut |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/08/11/89951283.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |access-date=2025-02-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>  post-production and animation took another eleven months.{{sfn|Williams|Denney|2004|p=281}}

[[File:Mary Poppins9.jpg|thumb|right|Actor Dick Van Dyke was inserted into an animated scene of dancing penguins using the [[sodium vapor process]].]]
The scene in which Mary Poppins and Bert interact with a group of animated penguins is noted for its use of the [[sodium vapor process]]. Rather than using the more common [[Chroma key|bluescreen]] process to insert the actors into the animated footage, the actors were filmed against a white screen lit with sodium vapor lights, which have a yellow hue. A special camera was fitted with a prism that filtered this light to a separate reel of film, creating a highly accurate matte that could be used to isolate the actors from the background. This created a crisp, clean image and even allowed the partially transparent veil of Mary Poppins's costume to let through light from the background. The film received the [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects]] in 1965 for this effect.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Nathaniel |title=How the original 'Mary Poppins' transformed the way movies are made today |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/mary-poppins-disney-changed-movies-classic-visual-effects-green-screen-2018-12 |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=13 January 2021 |date=26 December 2018}}</ref>

[[Peter Menefee]], one of the 12 dancing chimney sweeps supporting Bert, provided some insight into the film's choreography:

{{Blockquote |text=The choreography wasn't really done until we got there and they mounted it on us. On the first day of filming, the first thing we shot is the very last thing you see – where we're all dancing down the street at the end. That was hard because, although we had worked for almost a month and a half with the brooms and everything, we'd been working on a plywood floor. And all of a sudden, we get out and we're on a cobblestone street and there's supposed to be four of us tumbling right next to each other, and you put the broom down. Even if it had a rubber point, you'd be all over the place. That was really hard.<ref>{{cite web |last=S. |first=Jeana |url=https://www.surfandsunshine.com/pete-menefee-mary-poppins/ |title=An interview with Pete Menefee, Mary Poppins chimney sweep |website=Surf and Sunshine |date=December 5, 2013}}</ref>|source= }}

The film's choreographers were [[Dee Dee Wood]] and her husband [[Marc Breaux]].<ref>{{Cite web |title= Dee Dee Wood |url= https://www.azmusichalloffame.org/inductees/dee-dee-wood-2/ |access-date=2023-03-04 |publisher=Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame}}</ref> Walt Disney attended the rehearsals for the rooftop scenes every day.<ref>{{cite AV media |last=Frank |first=Rusty |author-link=Rusty Frank |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK4RsR_5Sjg |title=Pete Menefee – A Dancer's Life |date=January 24, 2021 |via=YouTube}}</ref>