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Directed by Robert Stevenson. 139 min. This famed Disney masterwork is
indeed "practically perfect in every way," from its superb cast
to its lavish musical score and delightful songs provided by Richard M.
and Robert B. Sherman, which include such favorites as "Spoonful
of Sugar," "Feed the Birds," "Jolly Holiday,"
"Sister Suffragette," "The Life I Lead," "Step
in Time," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and "Let's
Go Fly a Kite." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed
too, giving it 13 nominations from which it won five Oscars® for Best
Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee"), Best
Music Score (the Sherman Brothers), Best Film Editing (Cotton Warburton),
and Best Special Visual Effects (Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and
Hamilton Luske). There was also a special Scientific award to Petro Vlahos,
Wadsworth E. Pohl, and Ub Iwerks for the creation and application
of Color Traveling Matte Composite Cinematography, which helped make possible
the combination of live action with animated actors in the film. P.L.
Travers, author of the popular books on which the film is based, continued
writing new adventures for Mary Poppins long after the film, and in the
late 1980s worked with a Disney screenwriter on a film sequel that has
not yet materialized. Reissued theatrically in 1973 and 1980; released
on video in 1980 and kept available continuously. |