What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this is a fine movie for children of any age. Ask young viewers what changes they think Mary helped bring about in the family. What was the family like before her visit compared to after? Since viewers won't really learn anything about the suffrage movement from the movie's silly side plot, parents may want to fill in the history of a woman's right to vote. Also, take a look at the original books that inspired the movie -- Walt Disney himself tried for years to get the movie rights, and finally succeeded by making a personal visit to the author.

Families can talk about if they get too busy sometimes to "go fly a kite." Why is it important to spend time together? What's your favorite kind of laugh? And can you make up your own very long, silly word?

Common Sense Media Review
In 1910 Britain, a British family seeks a new nanny for young Jane and Michael. In flies magical Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), not at all what proper Mr. Banks was looking for, but precisely what the children ordered! Mary takes control and takes the children on glorious adventures. The kids also frolic with Bert (Dick Van Dyke), a one-man-band, sidewalk artists, and chimney sweep. Wonderful singing, dancing, and animation bring the story to life as somehow this unusual nanny helps Mr. Banks show love to his children, and the whole family appreciate each other all the more.

Parents who take the time to re-watch this movie with their kids will probably find themselves saying, "They don't make movies like this anymore,' and be extremely grateful for DVDs. Rarely does a movie manage to be so much fun while delivering a simple, heartwarming story. While songs in today's Disney's musicals, though sometimes good, only serve to explain the characters' emotions or intentions, the best songs in MARY POPPINS use the feelings of the characters as starting points from which to take off and explore, often in wildly whimsical directions.

The story follows suit, using small plot events to take viewers to many unexpected places. For example, when Bert the chimney sweep finds the Banks children on the streets of London, he escorts them safely home, begins to clean their chimney, and up they go with Mary to the rooftops for what results in an incredible scene of dancing and celebrating by soot-covered chimney sweeps.

The two-disc 40th Anniversary DVD is graced with the participation of the many original artists, cast and crew members, including a much older Andrews and Van Dyke. Kids may delight in seeing Andrews, Van Dyke, and composer Richard Sherman sitting at a piano and reviewing some of their favorite songs in the bonus section titled "A Magical Musical Reunion." The deleted song "Chimpanzoo" is hilarious. The DVD also comes with an excellent 50-minute feature, "The Making of Mary Poppins," which is full of fascinating memories, information, and footage. A bonus animated short is pretty dull, though, and the optional audio commentary adds little to the movie.

MARY POPPINS was the incomparable Julie Andrews' first movie, for which she won and Best Actress Oscar.