Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Blu-ray December 10th, 2013 (2 Viewers)

[Erik_H]

A treat to see that ad for the original home video release of "Mary Poppins" from way back when---thanks for sharing that, Classicmovieguy.

For those of you who are incredulous at the thought of $75 for a VHS or Beta, that was the economic model in the early 1980s. Studios sold tapes primarily for the rental market; a consumer who wanted to purchase a new copy of a film paid a considerable premium. I purchased a Betamax in 1980, and the first pre-recorded tape I bought was "Superman" --- at a cost of about $70. "Mary Poppins" was another early purchase. The concept of selling new copies of films at a lower price to consumers (also known as "sell-through") didn't take hold until the mid-1980s. Until then, collectors either paid top dollar for new copies or bought used copies at a discount from rental stores. Disney was an early adopter with sell-through releases, such as with "Pinocchio" (the first Disney animated classic to be released on home video) in 1985. If memory serves, the retail price for the initial home video release of "Pinocchio" was $24.95. Paramount's home video release of "Beverly Hills Cop" at a similar price point was another sell-through milestone. Some titles remained holdouts from the sell-through market for years---Gone With the Wind" was sold at a premium price of about $90 until at least the late 1980s.

 

[classicmovieguy]

"Pete's Dragon" was historically the first Disney title to be issued on the home video format, in a 1980 partnership deal with Fotomat which comprised of an initial roll-out of 13 titles from the Disney catalogue. "Mary Poppins" was added as the 14th title in the range in December 1980.

 

[Ejanss]

"Pete's Dragon" was historically the first Disney title to be issued on the home video format, in a 1980 partnership deal with Fotomat which comprised of an initial roll-out of 13 titles from the Disney catalogue. "Mary Poppins" was added as the 14th title in the range in late-1980.

(And how old am I? I REMEMBER Fotomat rentals.
$14.95 a week. Ordered a week ahead off print catalog. From your local Fotomat kiosk.
Oddly enough, think I remember Pete's Dragon, too.)

 

[classicmovieguy]

Here is the cover of the original December 1980 "Mary Poppins" VHS, although in Australia (and possibly also the UK), I believe it may have been a similar artwork to the advertisement I posted a while back, because I used to have an illustrated video guide from the time and distinctly remember the "Mary Poppins" logo spelled out in classic lightbulb-style with the illustration of Julie Andrews flying over it...

 

[BBbrowd]

Great to see the ad for the first home video!
It brings back memories. I was around 13 years old in 1980 and I remember seeing the Mary Poppins home video behind the counter in one of the Main Street shops in Disney World. My heart skipped a beat. The thought of being able to own the film was exciting. It was expensive though and I didn't even own a player at that time.
In recent years I purchased one of the original Beta tapes for collecting purposes. I still smile when I see that cover!
Here it is next to a recent Poppins mug from Hallmark.

P.S. - Classicmovieguy, That image of the VHS you posted was its second home video release. The first U.S. version of the Vhs was the artwork of her in flight as you mentioned, same as the Beta photo above.

 

[classicmovieguy]

Yes! That was the artwork I remember!!!!

 

[classicmovieguy]

I knew it must have been a later release, as I said before, I distinctly remembered the lightbulb logo from the advertisement. The 2nd edition was the standard art used for most of the 80's video prints.

 

[classicmovieguy]

This is a treasure I've kept for well over 25 years now. Alas the tape is long-gone.

 

[Brian McP]

I like your thoughts Ejanss regarding Dick Van Dyke's accent -- Dick himself says to this day that he inadvertedly invented a whole new dialect in English accents.

He was coached in this accent by J. Pat O'Malley who also played Rob Petrie's father on a few episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" -- if you listen to Dick in the movie, and if you know J. Pat's voice work and film performances, you'll note that Dick may have taken a little too much notice of his coaching.

Also glad that Disney is going back to the 'lightbulb' artwork for this 50th anniversary release -- I know the 'floating heads' artwork was used for the movie posters and soundtrack album -- don't know if Disney will have a variety of releases, including a commemorative box set version, similar to the Warner anniversary releases -- if so, this floating head artwork would be perfect for that as it has been rarely used other than for theatrical promotion, and would look much better than any photoshopped image from the movie.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I also loved the "dancing Mary" art...

 

[jimmyjet]

somebody mentioned that they should have looked for someone with a better accent, even if was not as well-known.

i dont think it is that simple. dvd has some pretty unique dancing ability, and uniqueness to his body movements.

trying to replace that would not be so easy to do.

heck, i would be happy just to hear everyone speak american english in movies (movies made in america).

i just think that acting and doing accents have absolutely nothing to do with one another.

and i much prefer getting the best actor, and letting him do his thing, without forcing him to spend a lot of effort to sound different.

i highly suspect that this deters an actor's ability to perform.

i would have enjoyed mary poppins just as much if there were no english accents at all.

 

[Escapay]

Here is the cover of the original December 1980 "Mary Poppins" VHS

I have very fond memories of that clamshell VHS. This was the rental case I always remember seeing at Acme whenever we went grocery shopping. My siblings and I would always take turns picking a movie to rent, and most of the time, I'd pick Mary Poppins. When we finally did buy the retail version, it was this colorful case, which remains my favorite cover from the film's various releases:

 

[moviebuff75]

That's the cover I had/have too. I hope the Buena Vista logo is on the Blu-ray.

 

[Tim Glover]

All. Over. This! In my top 10 of all time!

 

[Doug Bull]

"MARY POPPINS" in 3D??

Oh well, my fondly remembered View-Master, purchased at Disneyland all those many years ago.

Doug.

 

[BBbrowd]

Doug, that's wonderful! Those View-Master reels of Mary Poppins were amazing. I loved those so much as a kid. Seeing those scenes in 3D was such a treat, especially since they were often at different angles than the shots we see in the film. I always loved the last frame on Reel 3, taken from down low on the doorstep as she prepares to fly away. I wish we could see the film in 3D!

 

[SilverWook]

View-Master rocks.

When Disney was testing the waters of cable tv in the early 80's, Mary was in the batch of films I must have watched nearly every time it was on HBO.

Coincidentally, the local revival house is running the film this week. I'm presuming it's an old print, but I really want to see it on the big screen.

 

[BBbrowd]

Last October, Cinemark theaters showed Mary Poppins in digital XD on an IMAX sized screen as part of their classic film series. The print was one I'd never seen before and its purity and detail were stunning. The opening credits looked a little rough and overly grainy, but overall the quality was remarkable. The skin tones were perfect and nothing like the print we currently have on DVD. I'm wondering if this is the same print we will see on the blu-ray or possibly it was the work in progress? I walked out of that theater saying, if that was the print that would make it to blu, I would not complain. It even started with the original Buena Vista title card.

 

[moviepas]

I love this film and the one irritation to me is David Tomlinson but I don't know why.
I have DVD and Laserdisc version of this title and saw all the VHS released in my country.
The author, PL Travers, drove the Disney people mad when they were making this film. Her real surname is the same real name as Australian musical star of the past, June Bronhill(named from birthplace silver city Broken Hill) who was Miss Goff. Both from country cities. I buy my gas & electricity from the company Travers was an early owner/shareholder.

The only really high priced VHS in Australia was Gone with the Wind which averaged $200 with a non-sell thru(we didn't have sell-thru yet) price to the rental shops of $150. One city book library system created a stir when they brought in copies of the film for free rental. The local renters were fit to kill.

If I remember correctly. Video shops used to charge a membership/deposit fee of $60 plus the rental fee which average about $8 at the start of this service. many came and many went along with video print magazines. I used to smile and letters from renters telling how great their business was in their first shop and planning to open more. The along came the foreign film rentals. Some even had big fanfare openings with clowns around local rail stations and free gifts like sweets and ice cream and didn't even last one day. Blockbuster had same store smashed up overnight in recent years and at last one of those has closed or been rebadged. Sell thru before DVD was never that great until the cheapies came then everyone had them.

Doug Bull used to live up the road from me but I think he moved away. We would have been in the same suburb but the area was divided and my section was placed under a new municipal council(and my property values went up!!!!). Sort of chopped up like the UK was. The name stayed the same for both sections. I knew Doug's brother well who worked in government radio as a teacher, I believe. Doug & I were one of the very few who bought laserdiscs in the country and Panasonic enthusiasts.

 

[Mark-P]

I wish we could see the film in 3D!

Oh God, don't give Disney any ideas! You know they'd do a 3D conversion in a minute if they thought they could resell it all over again. The Wizard of Oz in 3D is going to be a test case. If that sells really well, every studio will be jumping on the bandwagon and converting all their classics to 3D.