Random Behind Scenes, Making Of 'Mary Poppins' Was Not As Magical As You'd Think (16 items)

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  (#5) Dick Van Dyke Wanted The Mr. Dawes Role So Badly, He Paid For The Part

  Dick Van Dyke gladly signed on to play the friendly chimney sweep Bert, but after reading the script, Van Dyke decided he also wanted to play the part of the old banker, Mr. Dawes. He even offered to take the additional role without charging a fee. For reasons unknown, Walt Disney refused to give him both roles. After some persuasion, Van Dyke managed to change Disney's mind. "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 recalled to CNN. Basically, the actor had to pay off Walt Disney for the privilege of playing the part.

  Beyond the old age makeup that made him unrecognizable, Van Dyke didn't even get credit for the part at the end of the movie. Keen viewers who scour the credits can see an anagram of "Dick Van Dyke" plays Mr. Dawes. Van Dyke wasn't the only actor to play more than one role in Mary Poppins, though, as Mr. Banks actor David Tomlinson also provided several voice-overs for animated characters, as well as Mary Poppins' parrot umbrella.
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  (#13) Van Dyke Got His Role By Criticizing The Entertainment Industry

  Dick Van Dyke had appeared on stage in shows like Bye Bye Birdie and starred in a popular show on television when Walt Disney asked to speak with him about Mary Poppins. It turned out it wasn't Van Dyke's dancing and singing ability that attracted Disney, but rather his opinions on the industry. "He had heard me in an interview talking about what was happening to family entertainment. I was decrying the fact that it seemed like no holds were barred anymore in entertainment," Van Dyke explained to CNN. Because he held similar views on family values as Disney, the two men hit it off, and Van Dyke won the part.

  Although audiences and critics enjoyed his singing and dancing throughout the film, some criticized Van Dyke'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. Audiences, including those in England, forgave him thanks to his other talents, and Julie Andrews added in a USA Today interview, "Doesn't seem to have harmed the film that much, 50 years later."

  Despite being forgiven, Van Dyke later felt the need to apologize while accepting a BAFTA award, realizing his accent could very well be viewed as the "most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema."
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  (#12) Matthew Garber Had To Be Bribed To Do Aerial Stunts

  Michael Banks actor Matthew Garber had a fear of heights, something that became a problem once production started. The scene where Mary Poppins, Bert, Jane, and Michael have tea on the ceiling with Uncle Albert required the actors to wear harnesses attached to wires and hang several feet above the ground. Garber refused to do the scene until a crew member got the idea to bribe the young actor with a dime. Every time Garber agreed to wear the harness and hang from the wires, he earned a little extra money.

  He also developed a reputation as a prankster around the set, with his young costar Karen Dotrice calling him a "very naughty boy." Dick Van Dyke remembered Garber disliking all the waiting around between scenes while filming and recalled the young actor biting him on the leg out of boredom.
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  (#16) The Children Had Plaster Butt Casts Made So They Could Travel Up The Stair Rail

  Along with having to act alongside crew members holding cardboard cutouts of animals that would later be animated over, the child actors of Mary Poppins experienced first-hand how cinematic special effects don't always look so special behind the scenes. Karen Dotrice recalled in an interview with The Independent that the filmmakers used an unusual technique to allow the characters to magically ascend the handrail of a staircase.

  The crew made plaster casts of their behinds, and those casts were later fitted with wires and used as a form-fitting seat to carry them up the railing. The casts were hidden by the children's clothing throughout the scene and made them appear to be moving on their own. "I thought it was fantastic, going to have your bum imprinted," Dotrice remembered. "It's not quite Mann's Chinese Theatre, but it's close."
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  (#10) Polio Inspired 'A Spoonful Of Sugar'

  Of all the memorable songs in Mary Poppins, "A Spoonful of Sugar" may be the most beloved. Although it works quite well as a metaphor for having fun while cleaning your room, the song was actually inspired by polio treatments. Polio vaccine shots had been around since 1955, but they developed into an oral form by the early 1960s.

  After spending the day unsuccessfully trying to write a song, Robert Sherman came home and learned his children had been given the vaccine. Thinking they received a shot, he asked them if it hurt. When he learned nurses administered the oral vaccine by placing the liquid on a sugar cube, the lyrics about sugar helping medicine go down were born.
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  (#3) Julie Andrews Was Not Disney's First Choice

  Disney considered a number of actors to play Mary Poppins, including Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, and Mary Martin. At the time, Julie Andrews had never appeared in a film and was starring in Camelot on Broadway. A few Disney employees happened to be in the audience of the Ed Sullivan Show when she appeared along with Richard Burton to perform a number from the musical and realized she would be perfect.

  Walt Disney himself flew to New York to see a performance and immediately went backstage to offer Andrews the role. He even promised her husband a job as a costume designer for the film. Andrews signed on, partly because she had been turned down for the film version of My Fair Lady; a role which she had previously played on Broadway to rave reviews. When she beat her replacement, the more famous Audrey Hepburn, for a Golden Globe that year, Andrews thanked My Fair Lady's director for freeing her up to take on Mary Poppins.

  At the time Disney offered her the part, however, Andrews was pregnant. He made an exception since he considered her a must for the role and allowed production to be delayed. Although Disney remained adamant that Andrews play Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers wasn't so sure. She called Andrews in the hospital the day after she gave birth to find out what kind of person she was.

  Andrews remembered being surprised at the phone call, explaining to Travers, "I'm feeling a bit woozy right now. I just had a baby yesterday." Although she was less than excited about the casting, Travers eventually accepted her in the role, according to Andrews, saying, "Well. You're far too pretty, of course. But you've got the nose for it."

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