Scene by Scene-Play For Mary Poppins

Mysterious Beginnings

Opening credits

Before the first words of the movie Mary Poppins are uttered, we already know a lot about what is happening. Although it might escape conscious notice, there is a wealth of information in the opening credits. Behind the credits, the scene is the twilight skies above London, centering on Big Ben—perhaps a subtle allusion to the importance of time. Then the camera drifts to the left toward the setting sun, dusk (Herme's time) as the overture, a medley of some of the movie’s songs, plays as the credits begin to roll. The haunting refrain of “Feed the Birds” is the first melody that we hear as the names of the four major stars of the movie are shown: Julie Andrews, David Tomlinson, Dick Van Dyke, and Glynis Johns. “Feed the Birds” is, according to songwriter Richard Sherman, the “heartbeat of the movie” (Stevenson, 2004, DVD), what the movie revolves around. When the tune to “A Spoonful of Sugar” begins to play, we see the name “Mary Poppins” on the screen, and fittingly this is Mary Poppins’ theme song. The tune and chorus to “Chim Chim Cher-ee” plays as the credits for the Sherman brothers, who wrote the words and music appear; we are now above the middle of the Thames river, a very appropriate placement for this song that represents and liminality—it is Bert’s theme song as well. Next, as the tune for “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” plays, we see, appropriately enough, the special effects credits appear, and then we zoom in on Mary herself, much of whose magic is made possible by the special effects wizards at Disney.

Mary’s position, above the middle of the river, mirrors her role between the two Bankses (George and Winifred), too, as we will see. Midway between order and chaos, Mary is structured and unruly at the same time. The song changes back to “A Spoonful of Sugar” and we see Mary timelessly sitting on a cloud, with her umbrella and carpetbag at the ready, checking her makeup.

Clouds symbolize many things, chiefly relating to either their "confused and ill-defined nature, or to qualities of apotheosis and epiphany” (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1996, p. 206). For us they are Neptunian. Chevalier and Gheerbrant, discussing the symbolism of clouds, note that the Sanskrit word for cloud is ghana, the compact and undifferentiated element, which is akin to the primal Embryo. Similarly, in Islam, the cloud is the primordial, unmanifest unknowable state of Allah, and clouds are also walls that separate different cosmic levels. God took the form of a thick cloud when talking to Moses in Exodus. Traditionally, the Chinese see clouds as being symbolic “of sacrifices which the sage must make when he renounces his perishable being to gain eternity” (p. 207), while in Greek symbolism, clouds, especially rain clouds, are associated with fertility. In addition to personified daughters of Ocean, clouds are also “symbols of metamorphosis observed not in any one of its states but in its fulfillment” (p. 207). All of these meanings are appropriate for Mary Poppins, and metaphorically we already have an idea about who she is and what she represents.

Mist is also associated with clouds, and Bert sings about the mist in the context of Mary’s imminent and immanent arrival. Mists represent the liminal phase, “the indeterminate . . . when shapes have yet to be defined or—when old shape are vanishing and have not yet been replaced by definite new shapes" (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1996, p. 661). Chevalier and Gheerbrant note that mists are also symbolic of the primordial state prior to material creation. For the Japanese, horizontal and vertical mists denote a transition in timescale or a passing into a world of fantasy or wonder. Mists are also associated with the Otherworld itself or the music of the Otherworld, which is also appropriate here in the overture. “Mists are also regarded as preludes to important revelations, prologues to manifestations,” (p. 661), which is precisely what we will see with Bert.

The camera then pans down to the park at dusk, and Bert is performing the “Jolly Holiday” tune as a one-man band at the entrance to the park. Next, Bert switches to improvised verses, and during one of his verses, he goes into an “eerie introspection” (Kurtti, 1996, p. 86), to the liminal tune of “Chim Chim Cher-ee”: “Wind’s in the east / mist comin’ in / like somethin’ is brewing / about to begin. / Can’t put me finger on what lies in store / but I feel what’s to happen / all happened before.” Bert has a twinkle in his eye and a look of wonderment. The dog Andrew’s bark brings him back out of his reverie, and Bert finishes up his performance with a quick jaunty version of “Step in Time,” clownishly crashing the cymbal into his face as his finale—which elicits laughter and clapping from the audience. “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” is Bert’s theme and is associated with liminality.

The eerie introspection “I feel what’s to happen, all happened before” possibly alludes to the eternal return, and the primordial magical time of illo tempore. In this way, Bert is setting apart the rest of the story from normal ordinary life. Play is often set off this way: the “play frame,” announcing, “this is play” (Bateson, 1990). This preliminary scene is similar to the separation phase in rites of passage, which focuses on clearly demarcating a space and time from the profane, or the construction of a cultural realm that was defined as out of time (V. Turner, 1982a, p. 24). Bert is a bricoleur, as his one-man-band shows, being a hodgepodge of instruments all put together. In his performance, Bert also “bricoled” together some of the movie’s music, which the overture did, too, subtly linking bricolage and liminality. The character of Bert himself was bricoled together by Walt Disney from a number of different characters in several different Mary Poppins books (Stevenson, 2004, DVD). After soliciting donations with his cap, Bert looks over to the camera and acknowledges us, the audience, and after putting words into our mouth, “Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane you say?” agrees to take us there.

Cherry Tree Lane

Following Bert for a short way, we come upon Cherry Tree Lane, and meet the eccentric Admiral Boom, who is famous for punctuality. His house is ship shape—literally it looks like a ship, and he keeps the place “ship shape” as well. Bert mentions that Admiral Boom is so punctual that “Greenwich, they say, takes its time from Admiral Boom.” The admiral warns that “storm signals are out for number 17—bit of heavy weather brewing” and as we draw nearer, we can hear screaming from within the Banks’s house. Inside, the cook and Ellen are fighting over the imminent departure of the latest in a long line of nannies, Katie Nanna. This almost ex-nanny is a very stern, masculine woman who is leaving because of the unruliness of the children: “those little beasts have run away from me for the last time” she comments. Before Katie Nanna can leave, Mrs. Banks arrives, oblivious to the situation.

During the next couple of songs, we meet the Bankses, each of whom arrive home separately. After being introduced to Mrs. and Mr. Banks, through their songs, we will examine the dysfunctional family dynamics, and since they mainly revolve around George Banks, we will discuss them at the end of his song, “The Life I Lead.” We will spend quite some time here, since these songs set up the family dynamics for the rest of the movie.

Meeting The Bankses

“Sister Suffragette”

Winifred Banks is a modern woman, a suffragette and rebel, she has just been at a rally and begins to tell the household staff about it. As Katie Nanna tries to explain that she is leaving, Winifred, caught up in her own world, launches into the song “Sister Suffragette.” Winifred shocks the domestics by raising her skirt, exposing her ankles when singing about “political equality and equal rights with men,” and the cook shrieks. The cook and Ellen join Mrs. Banks and march around with her during the song, and Katie Nanna reluctantly participates, too. Although a revolutionary, Winifred is also relational, drawing the others into her song and linking arms with them.

Finally, Katie Nanna gets Mrs. Banks’s attention, but Mrs. Banks is still somewhat unaware, and instead of realizing that Katie Nanna is quitting, she admonishes Katie Nanna for being careless in letting the children run off, yet again. Then Mrs. Banks naively asks Katie Nanna when she expects the children home. Suddenly realizing that her husband will be arriving soon, Mrs. Banks gives her "Votes for Women" sashes to Ellen to hide because “the cause infuriates Mr. Banks.” Ellen, alerting the others to the impending time gun blast signals “posts, everyone” as the cannon blast shakes the entire house. This is a routine occurrence, thus a predictable and routine disruption.

George Banks is seen arriving home just prior to the time gun going off. As he passes the admiral’s house, he and the admiral have a discussion. George Banks tells the admiral about the rock solid world of finance, and inquires of the admiral “how are things from where you stand?” The admiral warns George “A bit chargey I’d say, wind’s coming up and the glass is falling, don’t like the look of it. Shouldn’t wonder if you weren’t steering into a nasty piece of weather.” George, however, might as well have not asked the question, because he is not paying attention and answers “Good, Good,” and continues on unthinkingly. Both George Banks and his wife Winifred are in their own worlds as they arrive home. They are not present—George is all involved in the bank—he is named Banks and he works for a bank. In Jungian circles this would be referred to as identifying with the persona, which comes from phersu, a Greek word meaning "mask." The persona is a term Jung used for “the individual’s system of adaption or manner he assumes in dealing with the world” (Jung, 1950/1990, p. 122, para. 221). Due to one’s occupation, certain kinds of behavior can come to be expected, and this becomes a danger if the ego gets possessed by the persona, because a person may become very one-sided. This is indeed the case with George, as we will shortly see—he is over-identified with his job, and treats his home-life similar to his work-life. Jung notes that “the persona is that which in reality one is not but which oneself as well as others think one is. In any case, the temptation to be what one seems to be is great, because the persona is usually rewarded in cash.” (p. 123, para. 221)

Mrs. Banks is likewise absorbed in the suffragette movement, although she is not as identified with the suffragette cause. Neither Mr. or Mrs. Banks notice what is going on around them, and they are not very concerned, especially with regard the children. We can see their lack of concern in their interactions with Katie Nanna, and the fact that neither George nor Winifred registers right away that Katie Nanna is quitting, nor that the children are gone. George Banks actually bumps into Katie Nanna as she is leaving, and cordially helps her with her suitcase, not realizing that she is on her way out for good.

“The Life I Lead”

George Banks comes in the door singing about his wonderful, consistent, "oh so orderly" life, which runs on “precisely on schedule.” George feels like a king: “I am the lord of my castle, the sovereign, the liege." 1910 is as he sings, “the age of men,” and with a feeling of "noblesse oblige," George treats his entire household as his vassals. George perfunctorily kisses his wife on the cheek—out of habit, not out of affection. The most important thing to George is his stable, routine world—no wonder his wife is a suffragette! George finishes the song without even noticing that the children are missing. During the song, he has acted out patting them on the heads, because they are supposed to be there, and he does not register consciously for a while that they are not present, just as he does not realize that Katie Nanna has quit for quite some time, although he helped her leave.

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