AustLit

In Depression-era London, a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, along with Michael's three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.

Source: IMDb blurb

'Shifting back and forth between 1961 and 1907, this film tells the story of P.L. Travers (Pamela), the woman who created Mary Poppins. Framed by her experiences negotiating with Walt Disney and his team for the film of Mary Poppins, the main story of the film is of Pamela's childhood, in rural Queensland. Living in a small country town with a depressed mother and an alcoholic father, Pamela used her vivid imagination to create a richer, more welcoming environment for herself. From the characters of her childhood, and the worlds she invented, Pamela eventually created Mary Poppins, a character who has given pleasure to generations of readers and filmgoers, adults and children alike.'

Source: Essential Media Entertainment website, www.essential-media.com (sighted: 17/04/2012)

Mary Poppins takes two children through the chalk drawings on the pavement and into the story of King Cole and a Cat. In a battle of wits, facts and figures, both the children and King Cole learn that things aren't always what they seem and, sometimes, all it takes is a clever Cat to help you see the merry old soul within.

An adaptation by Walt Disney Productions of Jame Aldridge's novel A Sporting Proposition.

Musical.

A London banker and his suffragette wife are too busy to pay attention to their bored children, Jane and Michael. The family has its world turned upside down, however, by the irrepressible and nonsensical Mary Poppins, who teaches them how to enjoy life. Poppins is a kind of super-nanny who flies in with her umbrella in response to the request of the Banks children and proceeds to put things right with the aid of her rather extraordinary magical powers before flying off again. Jane and Michael experience a world of imagination in which people fly, carousel horses come alive, and tea parties are held on the ceiling.