History Trivia / MaryPoppins

* StillbornFranchise: After the film's success, Creator/WaltDisney approached P.L. Travers for rights to film the other books, but given her thoughts about how the film deviated from her stories, she unsurprisingly refused.

* SleeperHit: Creator/LindsayEllis noted that musicals seemed to be waning in popularity in the early 1960s, and the film's budget was relatively small compared to some of the other glossy studio releases - suggesting Disney didn't expect it to be a mega hit. It ended up grossing over $100 million worldwide, turned Julie Andrews into a household name, won six Academy Awards and got nominated for an additional eight.

** Hermione Baddeley, who played Ellen, the Banks' parlormaid, would later voice Madame Adelaide Bonfamille in ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats''.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/WaltDisney wanted only one person for the small part of the Bird Woman--Jane Darwell, his favorite actress. Darwell had a long, storied career in character parts (she's probably best remembered for playing Ma Joad in ''Film/TheGrapesOfWrath'', which won her an Oscar), and by that point was retired, so she politely declined when a representative offered her the role. Undeterred, Disney himself personally traveled to Darwell's retirement home to ask her to accept, even offering to have a private limousine sent to pick her up and bring her back on her single day of shooting. Darwell was so touched by the offer and Walt's appreciation for her that she agreed to appear in the film.

** Creator/DickVanDyke. That accent. Ironically, he also plays [[spoiler:Mr. Dawes, Sr]], doing so brilliant a job that many viewers don't even realize it was him. Dick van Dyke's Cockney accent is a contender for second most notorious film example of all time. If you're wondering who owns the title for most notorious, see [[Creator/SeanConnery here]]. Dick defended himself on Creator/{{NPR}}'s ''Radio/WaitWaitDontTellMe'' by explaining that his accent coach was J. Pat O'Malley, who didn't speak Cockney any better than he did. Though J. Pat O'Malley was English, he was from Burnley, OopNorth and nowhere near London. To hear his take on Cockney listen to Jasper in the original ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', for whom he provided the voice, as well as the voice of the Colonel.

* RoleReprise: Gavin Lee originated the role of Bert in London, on UsefulNotes/{{Broadway}} and on the US National Tour.

** In addition, Creator/ThurlRavenscroft, who voiced the hog in the barnyard scene in the animation sequence, also appeared in ''The Aristocats'' as the Russian cat.

** Creator/WaltDisney hand-picked Creator/JulieAndrews after seeing her in ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'' on Broadway. He was so keen to cast her that he waited until she gave birth. What really sealed the deal was when P.L. Travers spoke to her on the telephone from her hospital bed. In fact, Andrews was one of the few things that Travers liked about the film.

** Creator/FredAstaire, Creator/JimDale, Creator/DannyKaye, and even Creator/CaryGrant were considered for Bert.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/WaltDisney hand-picked Creator/JulieAndrews after seeing her in ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'' on Broadway. He was so keen to cast her that he waited until she gave birth. What really sealed the deal was when P.L. Travers spoke to her on the telephone from her hospital bed. In fact, Andrews was one of the few things that Travers liked about the film.

* CreatorChosenCasting:
** Creator/WaltDisney hand-picked Creator/JulieAndrews after seeing her in ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'' on Broadway. He was so keen to cast her that he waited until she gave birth. What really sealed the deal was when P.L. Travers spoke to her on the telephone from her hospital bed. In fact, Andrews was one of the few things that Travers liked about the film.
** Disney cast Creator/DickVanDyke after seeing his work on ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow''.
** As noted under AwesomeDearBoy and StuntCasting, Disney wanted his favorite actress, Jane Darwell, for the part of the Bird Woman, going so far as to personally travel to her retirement home and arrange a private limousine to transport her to and from the set.

** "Let's Go Fly a Kite" was going to have a Tin Alley melody until Disney resulted it sounded more British.

** In addition to playing Mr. Banks, Creator/DavidTomlinson voices Mary Poppins's umbrella. He also voiced some of the animated characters in the chalk drawing scene. He also voices Admiral Boom's first mate.
** Julie Andrews whistled for the robin and was one of the female pearlies during "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/DavidTomlinson, who portrayed the stern and emotionally distant patriarch, George Banks, was by all accounts a loving and devoted father in real life. Even at the height of his career, he was known to avoid showbiz circles and regularly turned down social invites (despite getting tons of them) in order to spend as much time with his family as he could at their home in Buckinghamshire.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/DavidTomlinson, who portrayed the stern and emotionally distant patriarch, George Banks, was by all accounts a loving and devoted father in real life. Even at the height of his career, he was known to avoid showbiz circles and regularly turned down social invites (despite getting tons of them) in order to spend as much time with his family as he could at their country cottage in Buckinghamshire.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/DavidTomlinson, who portrayed the stern and emotionally distant patriarch, George Banks, was by all accounts a loving and devoted father in real life. Even at the height of his career, he was known to avoid showbiz circles and regularly turned down social invites in order to spend as much time with his family as possible at his country cottage in Buckinghamshire.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/DavidTomlinson, who portrayed the stern and emotionally distant patriarch, George Banks, was by all accounts a loving and devoted father in real life. He was known to avoid showbiz circles and regularly turned down social invites in order to spend as much time with his family as possible at his country cottage in Buckinghamshire.