History Headscratchers / MaryPoppins

** I always thought it was a joke about humility. She actually is perfect, but part of that perfection is humility, which means she can never claim to actually be perfect. It's a simple Catch-22.
*** I agree. It wouldn't sound as good if she said, "Absolutely and undoubtedly perfect in every way."
** This troper always thought it was for AddedAlliterativeAppeal.

** This Troper just always assumed it was simple BlatantLies on Mary's part. Both as some sort of obscure lesson for the children, and self- (and job) preservation: after all, CHILDREN will tell you they jumped through chalk drawings, rode a carousel that came to life, and the nursery cleaned itself by magic, and adults say "Aw, how cute, they have imaginations." If an adult responsible for said children says "Yep, absolutely, and while they were riding the carousel the local sweep and I were dancing with penguin waiters", at best they might wind up dismissed. At worst, well, early Edwardian mental hospitals weren't the most fun places on Earth to be...

** This troper can think of two reasons:

* How has Admiral Boom not been arrested for routinely firing that cannon of his all the time? Now, I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that counts as disturbing the peace (not to mention noise comlaints, etc).

** He was implying that he really didn't want to marry her and/or she forced him to get married. Either way, an insult.

* Why did the man's "girl who's now his wife" hit him?

** "Jelly isn't jelly 'til you set it"- everything has its own way, and to make something, you have to go through the necessary steps and be patient.

* In the musical, what do some of the lyrics in "Anything Can Happen if You Let It" mean? "Dreams are made of strong elastic"--does that mean you can "stretch" them? I suppose that "You can move a mountain if you use a larger spade" means that you can do difficult things if you're strategic, but what do "You can be a butterfly or just stay larval" and "If you reach for the heavens, you get the stars thrown in" mean? Likewise, what does "Jelly isn't jelly 'til you set it" mean? (I know what setting jelly is, I just don't know what the lyric is meant to mean.)

*** 2 - Uncle Albert spoke of visitors making him happy and their departure making him sad. It's entirely possible that the eldest was a visitor there at least once on matters of business or that Albert came to the bank in a good enough mood to laugh around them and place the tiniest bit of his infectious laughter.

** No. By that point both Mr Banks and the Old Men of the Bank have learned their lessons on a healthier work/life balance. That is the significance of them all flying kites with friends and families instead of slaving away over accountbooks in cold and lonely offices. The job is still there, and Mr Banks and the Old Men are going to go back to it (not spending a life of frivolity alone) but they've all learned that amidst the work they must make time for each other. Everyone should make time to fly a kite now and then.

** Maybe it is happening in the minds of the children? But then, what prompts Bank's sudden epiphany?

*** Or at least not the things he wanted them to learn. Things Mary taught: 1) a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, 2) the phrase "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", 3) there's a time for laughter, but also a time for solmenity, 4) there's more to life than being in the 1%.

* What was Mary Poppin's plan when she proposed the outing to the bank? If she thought the mere act of giving a tuppence to an old lady and feed some birds was going to change Mr. Banks' character completely, she either is too naive or overestimated the influence she had on him, if she *wanted* him to get fired (but then how did she foresee the riot at the bank?) that makes her completely unlikeable. The most probable outcome would have been that Michael was forced to put his money in a bank and Mr Banks feeling smug about having taught him a lifelesson, while Michael's resentment for his father grew. It all seems to come down to a huge BatmanGambit with way too many uncertainties. While she is magical, nothing in the movies or books (correct me if I'm wrong, since I haven't read all of them) suggests that she can tell the future.

** Mary had a twofold goal, and it's in line with what Bert told Jane and Michael in the alley. 1- The kids think their father is a boring fuddy duddy who doesn't really love them but dislikes them at best. By the time they run from the bank they're convinced he doesn't love them let alone like them. 2- Banks knows from Winnie and all the Nannies they've gone through that his children are misbehaving little rapscallions (or just high spirited children of eight and 10 depending on your point of view) when not in his rightfully strict and regimented presence. But he's ''never seen that for himself''. Mary knows that if they're ever going to mend this family they are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle. So if she suggests feeding the birds, and the children ask -- George will allow it and maybe become a bit softer toward his children being children. If they pass up the bird feeding, the children will see the bank and realize that George is in a cage, just like Bert said. It didn't work out that way precisely, but the reaction was delayed. The children gave back the tuppence in hopes it would make up for their behaviour (which they realized was wrong and got their father in trouble), and seeing the tuppence made George realize his children were just being children, and he was about to be fired for something ''all'' adults, especially those with children of their own, should already know.

** Winnie can't get the children, she's too busy chaining herself to the Prime Minister's carriage. It's her turn, you know.

** Too rich and/or powerfl for anybody to touch him, probably.

** Mary had a twofold goal, and it's in line with what Bert told Jane and Michael in the alley. 1- The kids think their father is a boring fuddy duddy who doesn't really love them but dislikes them at best. By the time they run from the bank they're convinced he doesn't love them let alone like them. 2- Banks knows from Winnie and all the Nannies they've gone through that his children are misbehaving little rapscallions when not in his rightfully strict and regimented presence. But he's ''never seen that for himself''. Mary knows that if they're ever going to mend this family they are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle. So if she suggests feeding the birds, and the children ask -- George will allow it and maybe become a bit softer toward his children being children. If they pass up the bird feeding, the children will see the bank and realize that George is in a cage, just like Bert said. It didn't work out that way precisely, but the reaction was delayed. The children gave back the tuppence in hopes it would make up for their behaviour (which they realized was wrong and got their father in trouble), and seeing the tuppence made George realize his children were just being children, and he was about to be fired for something ''all'' adults, especially those with children of their own, should already know.

** Mary had a twofold goal, and it's in line with what Bert told Jane and Michael in the alley. 1- The kids think their father is a boring fuddy duddy who doesn't really love them but dislikes them at best. By the time they run from the bank they're convinced he doesn't love them let alone like them. 2- Banks knows from Winnie and all the Nannies they've gone through that his children are misbehaving little rapscallions when not in his rightfully strict and regimented presence. But he's ''never seen that for himself''. Mary knows that if they're ever going to mend this family they are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle. So if she suggests feeding the birds, and the children ask -- George will allow it and maybe become a bit softer toward his children being children. If they pass up the bird feeding, the children will see the bank and realize that George is in a cage, just like Bert said. It didn't work out that way precisely, but the reaction was delayed. The children gave back the tuppence in hopes it would make up for their behaviour (which they realized was wrong and got their father in trouble), and seeing the tuppence made George realize his children were just being children, and he was about to be fired for something ''all'' adults, especially those with children of their own, should already know.

** Seriously? In a movie with magical nannies and dancing chimney sweepers, that's supposed to be even a question?

* At the end of the movie, why did the banker's dad suddenly start floating when he laughed?

** PL Travers (the author) insisted it was set in the Edwardian Era. (pages 254 & 255 in my copy of PL Traver's biography <i>Mary Poppins, She Wrote</i>

** From how the song goes, it seems that he was planning to keep the children there all day to watch him work and learn about what actually goes on in the bank.