Glynis Johns was eyed by Disney for the role of Mrs. Banks, but she assumed she would get the role of Mary Poppins. When she learned that Julie Andrews was playing the role, Johns told Walt Disney that having her own solo would give her a big reason to sign on.

The story goes that Disney assured Johns that there was indeed a song for her so she agreed to take the Mrs. Banks part if she liked the song. Disney quickly asked the songwriting team to write a song for Johns and they came up with the iconic “Sister Suffragette.”

Dick Van Dyke’s singing and dancing were very much a big part of the film, but critics were appalled by the actor’s attempt at a Cockney accent.

“I was concentrating on the dancing, mostly, and they had given me a [voice] coach who turned out to be an Irishman, and his Cockney wasn’t much better than mine,” he said. Van Dyke was pretty much forgiven, and even Julie Andrews had to comment in a USA Today interview, “Doesn’t seem to have harmed the film that much, 50 years later.”

Van Dyke still apologized while accepting a BAFTA award, viewing his accent for the film as the “most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema.”

The young actor who played Michael Banks didn’t like heights, so when they had to shoot the tea on the ceiling scene with Uncle Albert, Garber refused to strap on the harness and wires needed to stay up for the scene. A crew member had to bribe him with a dime for every time they had to shoot the scene.

Garber’s young costar Karen Dotrice also called him a “very naughty boy” for his many pranks around the set. Dick Van Dyke had his leg bitten by the young actor just because he was bored waiting around between scenes!

Walt Disney himself asked veteran actor Jane Darwell, who was 83 at the time, to play the woman feeding birds. Darwell was retired, and her heart problems meant Disney had to do a lot of convincing for Darwell to take the part.

Disney offered Darwell a limo and the promise that shooting would only take a day. The crew even cut a hole in the stairs so Darwell would be comfortable as she sat on a pillow for the scene. Mary Poppins was Darwell’s last film, and she passed away a few years after the release.

The film featured a lot of special effects which were way ahead of the time but it wasn’t exactly easy on set. To be able to fly, animatronics and uncomfortable harnesses were used, while sodium vapor compositing allowed the actors to appear in those cartoon scenes. The sodium vapor was hard on the actors’ eyes and proved to be very uncomfortable.

“Because the special effects were filled in later, we had these large, sweaty prop guys in braces dancing about with cut-out horses and penguins to show us what was going on. They both tried hard not to cuss in front of us children,” actress Karen Dotrice told The Guardian.

Robert and Richard Sherman were tasked with coming up with ideas on turning the book into a film. The brothers were also asked to convince P.L. Travers to give the go-ahead for the script, which wasn’t exactly easy thanks to her commitment to staying true to the book. The brothers spent two and a half years writing songs after Travers finally agreed to the script.

The Sherman brothers went on to write 34 songs though only 14 made it into the film. The unused songs found themselves in other films, like “The Beautiful Briny,” which ended up in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and “Land of Sand,” which went on to become “Trust in Me” from The Jungle Book.

Robert and Richard Sherman won two Academy Awards for Mary Poppins.

“A Spoonful of Sugar” is a catchy tune that works really well for injecting some fun into cleaning a room. But did you know the song was inspired by the Polio vaccine which had been around since 1955? Those vaccines were developed into an oral solution in the early 1960s.

Robert Sherman wasted a whole day trying to write a song, and when he came home to his children who had just gotten the vaccine, he asked them if it hurt. It turns out the nurses gave his kids the oral vaccine by placing the liquid on a sugar cube. That’s how that spoonful of sugar idea came to be.

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” came from Richard Sherman’s experiences with his brother making up words at summer camp. They remembered the nonsense word years later and thought it could be something Mary Poppins could use. The word was slightly altered to rhyme and it became one of the film’s most memorable songs.

The brothers found themselves facing a lawsuit when two other songwriters claimed they wrote the similar “Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus” way back in 1949. The complainants even claimed to have sent their song to Disney Studios in the early 1950s.

A judge eventually found that the phrase’s origin predated both songs. A librarian for Disney also discovered the word “supercaliflawjalisticexpialadoshus” in a newspaper clipping from 1931.

Jane Banks actress Karen Dotrice took lessons at the Royal Shakespeare Company where she was instructed in the style of an operetta singer.

But when it came time for Dotrice to sing on set, the crew “pissed themselves laughing” at her singing style.

Dotrice cried to the point that Julie Andrews came in to help her. Dotrice and Andrews spent the next day off together, with Andrews teaching her to sing in a more natural way.

We love Dick Van Dyke as the chimney sweep Bert, but the actor also wanted to play the old banker, Mr. Dawes. He was willing to take the role without the extra pay, but for unknown reasons, Walt Disney refused to give Van Dyke both roles. The actor had to persuade Disney.

“So he made me do a little screen test and gave me the part… And he didn’t pay me – I had to donate $4,000 to his CalArts school.”

Van Dyke had to pay off Walt Disney just for the privilege of playing the old banker. He also wasn’t credited for the part.

In 1934, Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers published the first book in the series, and Walt Disney’s young daughter Diane became a fan sometime in the early ’40s.

Walt Disney saw the potential of attempting to persuade Travers to let him turn it into a movie, but it proved to be a tough task. Disney and Travers remained in contact for at least 15 years. He would visit her, even sending telegrams trying to win her approval for the movie rights. “It was as if he were dangling a watch, hypnotically, before the eyes of a child,” Travers claimed.

Disney did eventually charm Travers into agreeing but not before she laid down some terms. The script needed her approval, also saying that she didn’t want it turned into a cartoon. Disney agreed and gave Travers $100,000 including 5% of the profits.

Walt Disney gave P.L. Travers script approval but his writers noted Travers’s stories didn’t have a single plotline. They had to find a way to work with the short stories, so they added a dysfunctional element to the Banks family which made a way for Mary Poppins to come and help.

The studio already had a script prepared including all the songs, but Travers sent them her version which was entirely different from what they envisioned. Disney paid for Travers to visit the studio so the team could bring her on board.

More than a week’s worth of meetings between artist Don DaGradi and the Sherman brothers ended in arguments as Travers dismissed all of their ideas.

Traverse did eventually agree but would continue to protest all throughout production.

P.L. Travers was not invited to the Mary Poppins premiere in 1964 but she was adamant on seeing the final cut, so she persuaded a Disney executive to allow her to attend so she could embarrass Disney. Apparently, Travers cried at the screening. They were tears of despair and disappointment.

Travers made her way to the after-party where she confronted Disney, saying, “The first thing that has to go is the animation sequence.” The film was a hit whether Travers liked it or not, so Disney famously replied, “Pamela, the ship has sailed.”

Songwriter Richard Sherman told The Guardian:
“She resented the fact that the father had been made into a flawed character who changes during the course of the film. She’d made him the hero, an idyllic man, and wanted that preserved; her own father had been a drunk.”

Filming Mary Poppins required the actors to wear uncomfortable harnesses as they hung in the air, risking possible injury as they acted out scenes. Julie Andrews revealed a dangerous incident during filming.

Andrews remembered, “I plummeted to the stage… And there was an awful silence for a minute, and I did let fly with a few Anglo-Saxon four-letter words, I have to admit.”

Disney had Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, and Mary Martin in mind to portray Poppins. Julie Andrews had never been in a film, but Disney employees saw her on the Ed Sullivan Show performing a number from the musical Camelot and it was then that they knew she was perfect for the role.

Julie Andrews was actually pregnant when Disney offered the part. Disney allowed production to be delayed since it was Andrews he really wanted for the part.

P.L. Travers wasn’t so sure about the actress, even calling Andrews in the hospital the day after she gave birth. Andrews was surprised at the phone call telling Travers, “I’m feeling a bit woozy right now. I just had a baby yesterday.”

Travers wasn’t exactly pleased but eventually accepted Andrews, saying, “Well. You’re far too pretty, of course. But you’ve got the nose for it.”