INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE MOVIE MARY POPPINS:
1. IT TOOK MORE THAN 20 YEARS TO CONVINCE THE AUTHOR OFMARY POPPINS TO SELL THE MOVIE RIGHTS.
It all started in the early 1940s, when Walt Disney told his daughter Diane that he would make her favorite book into a movie. He was probably assuming that any author would be thrilled to hitch her name up to the Disney wagon, but quickly discovered that P.L. Travers was not just any author. For more than 20 years, Travers refused to deal with Disney. It was only in 1961 that she finally relented, mostly because she needed the money.
2. JULIE ANDREWS AND DICK VAN DYKE WEREN'T THE ONLY OPTIONS FOR THE LEAD ROLES.
Angela Lansbury and Bette Davis were also considered for the role of Mary. Cary Grant was Walt's favorite for Bert.
3. JULIE ANDREWS ALMOST PASSED ON THE MOVIE.
Because she had originated the role on Broadway, Andrews was hoping to be cast as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, so she didn't accept Disney's offer right away. Warner ultimately decided that Audrey Hepburn was their Eliza. Andrews and Hepburn ended up vying for a Golden Globe for their respective roles. When Andrews won, she took the opportunity to cheekily thank Jack Warner during her acceptance speech.
4. DICK VAN DYKE’S COCKNEY ACCENT HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF THE WORST ACCENT ATTEMPTS IN FILM HISTORY.
Van Dyke has defended himself in recent years, saying that his vocal coach, an Irishman attempting to do a Cockney accent, was just as bad. “I don’t talk to British people because they just make a mess of me,” he told NPR in 2010.
5. THE SHERMAN BROTHERS WROTE 30 SONGS FOR THE MOVIE.
Roughly 20 of them were cut, but some found new homes. “The Beautiful Briny" was later used in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and the melody from “Land of Sand” was eventually recycled as “Trust in Me” from Jungle Book.
