Supercactifragilisticexpialidocious!

[beamjockey]

A while back, at Saint Irene's, one of the plants behind the altar was rather odd-looking. It stirred a childhood memory.


Left, a plant. (Copyright 2012 by William S. Higgins) Right, Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins. (Copyright 1964 by Walt Disney Productions.)

Now that I think about it, as portrayed by Julie Andrews, Mary herself was a bit prickly.

Comments

[maiac.livejournal.com]

As I recall, Miss Poppins was even pricklier in the books than in the movie.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

By FAR. Which is only one of many many reasons I dislike that movie.

K.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

P. L. Travers loathed the movie.

I enjoyed the movie as a child, but even Julie Andrews can't salvage it for me now.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

I have not read the books (should I?).

I have read Winnie the Pooh, though, and loathe the Disney versions of it.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

It's been ::mumblemumble:: years since I've read the Mary Poppins books, but I discovered them about the same time I fell in love with science fiction, and I loved them. That may be a recommendation.

[tlunquist.livejournal.com]

It probably depends on whether you want to continue to like the movie (assuming you do). I've never read the books either, although I understand they are considerably darker than the movie, and more explicit about the nature of Mary Poppins as a witch (see also Nanny McPhee).

Personally I adore the movie, but I recognize that the movie and the books are two totally different things. I evaluate the movie on its own merit, as a triumph of several cutting edge (at the time) special effects techniques and as a masterful performance by Dick Van Dyke. And I love all the music.

But I'm also a known Disney freak, and like all Disney freaks, I cut them an unnatural amount of slack for their sanitized rewrites of many stories. The only one I absolutely cannot abide is Hercules. I just can't swallow "Zeus and Hera, the happy couple."

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

The books could be triggery if you have certain types of dysfunctional-family issues; Mary Poppins is squarely in the British tradition of borderline-abusive guardians. I remember liking them as a child, but at this point I would hesitate to re-read them lest I discover they'd had a visit from the Suck Fairy.