Mary Poppins is a fictional character and the protagonist of H. L. Goff's "Mary Poppins" and all of its adaptations.
A magical English nanny, she blows in on the East Wind and arrives at the Banks', home at Number Seventeen, Cherry Tree Lane, London where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons with a magical touch.
Julie Andrews, who played the character in the film adaptation, won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
British film magazine Empire ranked Mary Poppins (as played by Andrews) the 41st greatest movie character.
A quintessential English nanny, Mary Poppins is slightly stern but loving woman, who uses magic and self-control to take care of the Banks children.
She is usually identifiable by her sensible hat and parrot umbrella which she brings with her wherever she goes on outings.
She is loving and kind towards the children, but can be firm when needed.
She is "practically perfect in every way."
In the film version, she is a young woman, with an air of grace and elegance about her.
Mary Poppins in H. L. Goff's' book is strict and no-nonsense, asserting her unusual brand of discipline over the FIVE Banks children in her charge.
Mary Poppins is very VAIN and is ALWAYS admiring herself in the mirror and other reflections.
Mary Poppins CONSTANTLY scolds the children for their bad behaviour, especially when they point out the magical things she does, for she constantly denies she is anything but a prim and proper lady.
Mary Poppins only shows her gentler side around her friends, among them Bert, a Matchman, Mrs. Corry, and Nellie-Rubina.
Mary Poppins has many relatives, each with their own super-natural or otherwise eccentric nature, at least one of whom appears in each book.
Mary Poppins appears to be well known to every sort of magical entity (sorcerers, talking animals, etc.) that appear in the books, some of whom love her dearly and others of whom are quite terrified of her.
Some characters, most notably an impudent jackdaw seen in the first two books, call her "The Great Exception," meaning, among other things, that Mary Poppins is the only human being who has retained the magical secrets infants possess (such as the power to communicate with animals) until they grow up and forget about them.
Some of Mary Poppins's adventures occur in London, others in strange realms which later writers might identify as magical dimensions.
In literary terms, she might be described as a character who exists in every conceivable fantasy genre (gothic, mythic, urban, etc.) at once.
There are many strange people and phenomena in the world, but only Mary Poppins is familiar with them all.
Mary Poppins in the Disney film, as portrayed by Julie Andrews, is also stern but at the same time more gentle, cheerful, and nurturing of the two Banks children of whom she is in charge.
Mary also has a friendship with Bert, a jack-of-all-trades who is quite at home with Mary's brand of magic.
She also is LESS VAIN and selfish, and far more sympathetic towards the two children than the nanny in the original stories.
In both the West End and Broadway versions of the stage musical, the Mary Poppins character is more deliberately mysterious than in the movie version.
She is stricter with the children (who are also naughtier than their book and movie counterparts) but she only wants them to become the best they can be.
Mary Poppins in the stage version is also more aware of Bert's feelings towards her.
Actresses who have played Mary Poppins:
Julie Andrews, in the Disney film and in all English Merchandise.
Mary Wickes, in an episode of the television series Studio One in 1949.
Natalya Andrejchenko (acting) and Tatyana Voronina (singing), in the 1983 Soviet movie.
Juliet Stevenson, in the BBC Radio adaptation of the novel.
Laura Michelle Kelly, in the original London and Broadway productions of the stage musical.
Ashley Brown, in the original Broadway and original US tour productions of the stage musical.
Scarlett Strallen, in the London and Broadway productions of the stage musical.
Bianca Marroquín, in the Mexican production of the stage musical.
Lisa O'Hare, in the London and UK tour production of the stage musical.
Caroline Sheen, in the original UK tour and US tour productions of the stage musical.
Rani Mukherjee, in the Bollywood film Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic.
Linda Olsson, in the Swedish production of the stage musical.
Noortje Herlaar, in the Dutch production of the stage musical.
Verity Hunt-Ballard, in the original Australian production of the stage musical.
Anne Hathaway, played the role (in tribute to Julie Andrews) in a short parody sketch at season 34, episode 4 of Saturday Night Live in 2008.
Steffanie Leigh, in the US tour and Broadway productions of the stage musical.
Rachel Wallace, in the US tour production of the stage musical.
Madeline Trumble, in the US tour production of the stage musical.
Victoria Summer as Julie Andrews, in Saving Mr. Banks
Additions:
Neil Gaiman's short story "The Problem of Susan" mentions a posthumously (for P. L. Travers) published work Mary Poppins Brings in the Dawn, in which Mary Poppins was Jesus's nanny and was therefore herself not part of God's creation.
Mary Poppins appears in the third League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel, in the Black Dossier when it returns to Margaret Cavendish's Blazing World.
She later reappears in Century: 2009, where she defeats the Antichrist created by Oliver Haddo.
In this appearance, she and other characters hint that she may be a personification of God.
In the short story "El problema de la pequeña cliente," (The Problem of the Little Client) a Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Spanish writer Alberto López Aroca, included in the volume "Nadie lo sabrá nunca," (2005, ISBN 978-84-609-7429-1) the detective of Baker Street is hired by a little girl to find her missing nurse, Mary Poppins. In the story, set in Cherry Tree Lane, Bert also appears.
In a sequence of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games a small army of Mary Poppinses land on stage to fight and defeat the nightmares which were haunting children's dreams. The sequence is called "Second to the right and straight on till morning."
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Joanne Shattock (1993). "The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers". p.430. Oxford University Press, 1993
Jump up ^ "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". Empire. Retrieved 2 April 2013
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P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins
BooksMary Poppins (1934)
Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935)
Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943)
Mary Poppins in the Park (1952)
Mary Poppins From A to Z (1962)
Mary Poppins in the Kitchen (1975)
Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane (1982)
Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (1988)
CharactersMary Poppins
Mr. Banks
Mrs. Banks
The Banks children
Bert
Miss Lark
Admiral Boom
The servants
AdaptionsMary Poppins (film) (1964)
Mary Poppins, Goodbye (musical miniseries) (1983)
Mary Poppins (musical) (2004)
Songs"Sister Suffragette"
"The Life I Lead"
"The Perfect Nanny"
"A Spoonful of Sugar"
"Jolly Holiday"
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"
"Stay Awake"
"I Love to Laugh"
"Feed the Birds"
"Fidelity Fiduciary Bank"
"Chim Chim Cher-ee"
"Step in Time"
"A Man Has Dreams"
"Let's Go Fly a Kite"
RelatedSaving Mr. Banks (2013)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Poppins_(character)&oldid=587588836"
Categories:
Disney characters originating in film
Fictional nannies
Fictional characters introduced in 1934
Mary Poppins
Characters in British novels of the 20th century
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