Tune Tuesday : Meet the (Julie) Andrews Sisters

Jim Hill

18 years ago

Barry S. of Stowe, VT writes in to say:

Dear Jim –

Since you’re such a fan of visual effects, I was wondering if you’ve seen Christina Aguilera‘s new video, “Candyman“. Didn’t the effect artists who worked on this production do a great job ? The digital doubling of Christina looks seamless to me. And the song itself is a clever if somewhat racy homage to the Andrew Sisters‘ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy“.

If you haven’t see “Candyman” yet, be sure and check it out.

Following Barry’s suggestion, I went over to YouTube yesterday and checked out Ms. Aguilera’s latest opus. And he’s right. “Candyman” is a fun little video with some great special effects. Which then allow this former MMC member to do a pretty authentic-looking Patty, Maxine & Laverne routine all by herself.

If I had to complain about this particular video (And I don’t really wanna …) … It’s just that there’s honestly not all that much difference between the three performers that Christina is portraying. I mean, sure. The lead version of Ms. Aguilera is a blonde, while her two digital clones are a brunette and a redhead respectively. And there is some limited interaction between the members of this “trio” (I.E. Quick nods to one another, knowing glances, etc). But you never really get the sense that this Grammy Award winner is trying to portray three different characters.

Now contrast this with what Julie Andrews did during the debut episode of her 1972 variety show, “The Julie Andrews Hour.”

Since the producers of this new television program wanted to get as much publicity as possible for their first episode, it was decided that — through the magic of chroma key technology — Ms. Andrews would appear alongside her two most famous characters: Eliza Doolittle from “My Fair Lady” and Mary Poppins from … Well, Walt Disney’s “Mary Poppins.”

This sequence of the show started out with Julie strolling through a stylized version of London. Where she happens upon Miss Doolittle, who is still selling flowers in the Convent Garden market while she sings “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.”

Julie walks over to Eliza and — after pulling up a crate & sitting down — joins her old Lerner & Loewe character in song. And these two old pals seem to be having a grand old time until she shows up …

That’s actually one of the funnier conceits of this sequence from the show: That Mary Poppins and Eliza Doolittle hate each another. Almost as soon as that practically perfect nanny drops out of the sky, this cockney flower girl begins cussing her out. Giving Mary an awfully bad time for daring to horn in on her reunion with Julie.

As you might expect, Miss Poppins does not appreciate coarse behavior or foul language. So she magically whisks Ms. Andrews away. Where the two of them then dance among the chimneys tops of London while singing (What else) “Chim-Chim-Cheree.”

But you can’t get rid of Eliza Doolittle that easily. She soon finds Julie & Mary and gives them what for.

Eliza’s antics so unnerve Mary Poppins that she actually raises her umbrella to strike the street urchin … But then stops herself. Quickly realizing that this isn’t the way that a practically perfect person should behave.

Realizing that she has to do something before these two characters clobber one another, Julie suggests a song. Which is why Mary & Eliza then join her in a rousing rendition of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Now what’s great about this part of the sketch is that there’s tons of interaction between Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins and Eliza Doolittle. Even with somewhat cheesy 1970s-era special effects, you really get the sense that there are three different people up there performing. Particularly when Eliza & Mary — during the dance portion of this number — actually swap spots on stage.

That (to my way of thinking, anyway) is the key difference between what Christina Aguilera does in her “Candyman” video and what Julie Andrews does in this musical number from the debut episode of her TV variety show. While digital technology may make it appear as though Ms. Aguilera is a trio of girl singers, Christina’s just not a good enough actress to actually sell the idea that she’s really three different performers.

Whereas Julie Andrews … Like I said earlier, even with those cheesy 1970s-era effects, this is a magical musical number. With three distinct personalities all seeming to interact, literally appearing to bounce off of one another … All because Julie Andrews has strong enough chops to actually pull off a stunt like this.

Which is Christina’s version of Patty, Maxine & Laverne just can’t hold a candle to the (Julie) Andrews Sisters.

So if you’d like to see this terrific musical sequence from this Emmy Award-winning television, first click on this link (Which will get you the first half of the number), then click on this link (Which will get you the rest of the skit).

Your thoughts ?