The Story of Mary Poppins

A couple weeks ago I had the wonderful experience of being part of a production of Mary Poppins, the full length musical. If you’re unfamiliar with the books they were written by P. L. Travers about a nanny inspired from her own life. Besides the books there is also a movie (made by Disney), and a musical (which is what I did). The interesting thing is that each of these is unique in its own way and portrays different aspects of the story.

I’ve always liked Mary Poppins, but through the musical I was able to fall in love with the story more than I ever have before. It was especially special to be a part of this show.

In this post I’m going to go through the three versions of the story (book, movie, musical), discussing what themes and characters are highlighted in each.

The Books

The first time I read the books was several years ago when I was only ten or so. I remember feeling so overwhelmed at the length of the books, haha!

These are very episodical books that consist of the many adventures the Banks children go on with Mary Poppins as their nanny. The stories range from lighthearted to rich and thoughtful, which makes for a delightful selection of stories that I only enjoy more the older I get.

An interesting thing to have in your mind while reading them is that P. L. Travers was basing this idea on a situation from her own life. There is a separate movie (Saving Mr. Banks) that goes into more detail on this, but in short, Travers’ desire for the books was that not only would Mary Poppins become the practically perfect new nanny for the children, she would also have an effect on the whole family (the father in specific) that would be moving enough to bring them together.

The Movie

I am going to assume that most people had their first experience with Mary Poppins thanks to the movie. The songs are familiar to many, and the actors are even more so. It isn’t for everybody (there are parts that tend to drag on for a long time), but I always was fond of it. I loved the sweet personality Julie Andrews brings to Mary Poppins, as well as the silly and entertaining situations.

However, as I’ve begun to have a broader view of the story of Mary Poppins I’ve started to appreciate it less. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad movie, only that it takes a different stance on the story and highlights different themes. The movie is fun and sweet, but sadly lacking in a lot of the meaning found in the original story.

The Musical

Now we’ve come the musical adaptation of the story, and the part of the blog post I’ve most looked forward to discussing.😊

First of all, the performance itself is absolutely incredible. It includes many of the well loved songs from the movie as well as extra fun adventures that got left out of the movie. But somehow, the musical holds a more meaningful, complete feel. The musical focuses deeply on the underlying story of the Banks family and their connection with each other, which feel terribly left out of the movie, and even (in my opinion) scarce in the books.

I absolutely adore thoughtful and bittersweet messages and music of this show, and highly encourage you to see it if you haven’t already. There is something magical about the story in a totally unique way not to mention the storytelling itself is brilliantly done!).

Final Thoughts

I have heard of people that are fans of Mary Poppins, and others that don’t, but in the end, I am wholeheartedly one of the fans. Mary Poppins continues to impress the story loving side of me, and I feel like not enough book lovers give it a fair try. So, if you have resisted from it so far for one reason or another, I hope this post will be your inspiration not to do so any longer!

Now it’s your chance to share some thoughts! Have you read or watched Mary Poppins before, and if so, what do you think of it?