8 Facts You Might Not Know About Mary Poppins
You’ll never guess who convinced Walt Disney to make this iconic movie
There’s no doubt about it—Mary Poppins is a Disney classic. For nearly 60 years, this film has kept generations of viewers laughing, singing, and dancing. Perhaps just as entertaining as the actual musical, though, is the lesser-known stories behind it. From the big-name stars who almost played Mary and Bert to the movie’s profits helping to build the Disney monorail, here are some Mary Poppins facts you probably weren’t aware of.
None of its scenes were filmed in London.
Sorry to break it to you, but none of the scenes from Mary Poppins were shot in London. In fact, every single frame was filmed in Disney’s Burbank soundstage that the company had bought 20 or so years earlier.
It was Julie Andrews' first feature film.
Perhaps surprisingly, Mary Poppins was Julie Andrews’ very first feature film. Before Mary Poppins, the actress had an illustrious Broadway career that included playing Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Queen Guinevere in Camelot.
Walt Disney’s daughters inspired the making of the film.
Something many people may not realize—Mary Poppins was originally a book series created by Australian-British writer P. L. Travers. Walt Disney's daughters were so in love with these books that they had their father promise them he'd turn them into a movie.
It took Disney 20 years to get the movie rights.
However, adapting the book series to the screen was not a simple process—it took Disney over 20 years to convince the author to sell him the film rights.
Many other actors auditioned for Mary and Bert.
Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke weren’t the only ones in the running for their Mary Poppins characters. Other big-name stars were also considered, including Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, and Cary Grant.
Dick Van Dyke played two characters.
When you think of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, you may immediately think of him as Bert, the singing chimney sweeper. But did you know that he also played the role of Mr. Dawes Sr., George Banks’ greedy boss?
It’s considered Disney’s “crowning achievement”
Mary Poppins did very well at the box office and brought in quite a profit for Disney—its estimated budget was between $4.4-6 million and had a net profit of $28.5 million. Because of this, Disney was incredibly proud of how successful the film was and thought of it as his “crowning achievement.”
The movie’s profits helped fund Walt Disney's Monorail System.
The movie’s profits also helped make Walt Disney Monorail System a reality. The monorail honored the film by naming its safety system MAPO (MAry POppins) after it.
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