Although the musical is slightly different from the film; there is an enduring message of friendship and family throughout both as Mary Poppins teaches not only the children, but also the adults to look beyond the rules and responsibilities that society puts on them and actually appreciate the people around them. Although, I never fully read the books of P.L. Travers, there is something in her penmanship that you can relate to about the family unit. Over the last month when I haven't been writing the blog, the importance of family and friends have been highlighted to me in so many different way as 2016 seems to be a year where the winds of change are proving to be very strong minded and brutal in the way they want to shape this year. Whether we want it or not, change is also going to be present in our lives and it how we adapt what is thrown at us that often ultimately determines how we move forward.
Going back to Mary Poppins, after the film was release in 1964, Walt Disney received 13 Oscar nominations and won 5 of them including best original score and best original song for Chim Chim Cher-ee. I would say that each of the songs on the soundtrack is a classic, but it is interesting to know that there was a total of 30 tracks that weren't included in the original score!
Although Mary Poppins is one of the greatest loved film made by Disney, Travers wasn't overally impressed with the whole approach so when Cameron Macintosh approached her for the rights for the musical, she gave explicit instructions that the no one from the original film was allowed to be involved with the musical, which meant the Sherman brothers could not contribute anything additional music to the score. Macintosh was able to included some of the original music in the score of the music but there is very obvious difference, although the souls of the characters are the same and it is a magical production.
To hear the music from the film and here's hoping you have a magical weekend
Mary Poppins' soundtrack
