All I can say is, that Mary Poppins sure has a nerve being hurt that the kids run off with their dad without saying goodbye to her, after she just spent half an hour packing while shrugging off their pleas for her to stay: "Yeah, I know you don't want me to go. So sad for you. Ciao."

Okay, that isn't all I can say. I hadn't watched this one since childhood, but after Saving Mr. Banks hit me with a sucker punch in the emotions, I had to revisit it. It's a different experience as an adult: I can see the blatant flaws in the special effects, and the 40-minute fantasy sequence (among others) kinda drags, and Dick Van…

”Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”

Robert Stevenson’s 1964 elating and legendary musical Mary Poppins magically turns an incredibly simple story into a sweet, stirring, mellifluous and extremely goodhearted piece of cinema, it is a celebration of simplicity, honesty and innocence which with its pleasant sense of humor and addictive songs easily connects with everybody, young or old, stern or easygoing. It mixes fantasy, magical realism, live action and animation to create something unforgettable and utterly amusing, it’s hard to watch Julie Andrews singing and dancing on the rooftops and not get delighted. If I have watched this when I was 6 or 7 I would have said that it is the best film ever made, such is the charm and enchantment of Mary Poppins.…

“First of all, I would like to make one thing quite clear. I never explain anything.”

There’s really no need to explain why I love Mary Poppins. It is, like its titular character, practically perfect in every way. No need to give references; a very old-fashioned idea, to my mind.

To be sure, it’s a Disney contraption: bright colors, catchy tunes, sweet disposition. But, like practically perfect people, it doesn’t permit sentiment to muddle its thinking. There’s a powerful streak of twilight-hued melancholy through Mary Poppins. It is, wisely, neither all sugar nor all medicine.

That variegation begins with Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) herself. Her list of qualifications is long. Cheery disposition? She is never cross—but that is not to…

This being overseen by Walt Disney, a sucker for capitalism who was debatably problematic in other ways (see: "personality and reputation"), notwithstanding, this is a masterpiece (in its defense, it was directed by Robert Stevenson, who also directed Bedknobs and Broomsticks, so you know he was down with the witch). I haven't watched it for years but used to watch it at least once a year as a child and its been seared on my brain for twenty years; as a 30-year-old woman, I enjoyed it not less, but perhaps even more, seeing what it's really saying: toxic masculinity's trappings are stupid, sad garbage and create nothing but waste and pain, only men who are sensitive and silly and kind…

IT’S SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!

Joyful in every sense of that word. I mean, this is a movie where people jump into a beautiful painting and dance with penguins before going on a horse race with cartoon figures. A movie where a woman takes huge objects out of a small bag, flies with an umbrella, and people begin floating when they laugh. It's a joyride. I have to admit that I liked "Singin' in the Rain" more than "Mary Poppins". Not meaning that this wasn't wonderful on it's own. Although the effects didn't age well at all, if you just watch it as what it is, it's a very pleasant experience. This is indeed one of those perfect movies to watch when being…