Mary Poppins is one of the crowning achievements of Walt Disney and his team of magic makers. It now is coming home so families can enjoy it on blu-ray disc for the very first time with the Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition. Mary Poppins is the story of a British family who find out what it really means to be a family, with the help of their nanny, who flies in on an umbrella, and her good friend Bert. This is a Disney classic that really is a must see. The movie received 13 Academy Award nominations and continued on to win 5 Oscars for Best Actress, Best Song, Best Music Score, Best Film Editing, and Best Special Visual Effects.
Picture & Sound:
The picture and sound for Mary Poppins was an improvement over other releases. Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition definitely felt stronger with its audio presentation than its visual. It looked nice enough but it didn’t completely blow me away. The sound was quite nice, however. One moment that really jumped out at me was at the end of Step in Time. The rockets being shot at the chimney sweeps sounded like they were flying around the room. My impression was that they did quite a nice job with this but they could have done better (the grain in the background is what I’m talking about)… making me wonder if there is a Diamond Edition on the horizon for Mary Poppins.
Bonus Features:
The bonus features included with Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition did include a lot of repeats. There is also a bonus feature that really could also be included (and perhaps will be) with Saving Mr. Banks. This was called Becoming Mr. Sherman and really was a pleasure to watch. There was also a nice Audio Commentary (with Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Richard Sherman, Karen Dotrice, and Robert Sherman) and Mary-Oke. There was quite the collection of previously released bonus features that also are worth checking out. Overall, it is a nice collection of bonus features but I did find myself wishing there was perhaps a new bonus feature that focused solely on Mary Poppins, that was completely unique to this release, and gave more behind the scenes peeks at the movie.
Final Thoughts:
Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition is a wonderful addition to your movie collection. It looks and sounds better than ever before. Mary Poppins really is a practically perfect family movie. It is a movie that is built around bringing a family together and really, the world needs more of these. It is a beautiful blend of brilliant music, beautiful scenery, amazing characters, and enchanting moments. It is hard to think of a better family movie. This is definitely one that should be in any Disney fan’s collection and I can easily give it a hat tip.
