The tall attractive redhead was quite pregnant when she walked passed my office and down the hallway in Disney’s Animation Building. Though she looked familiar, I didn’t immediately recognize Julie Andrews as she headed down D-Wing to Frank Thomas’ office. It appeared that Walt Disney had finally convinced the talented young actress to play the lead in his new feature film, “Mary Poppins.” He was a man who knew what he wanted, so even though Miss Andrews was having a baby, Walt Disney was prepared to wait.
I was not familiar with the P.L. Travers novels, though I had heard stories of the exceptional English nanny. For the past year of so, I had been looking at a series of sketches and designs in the third floor offices of Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. I knew they had been developing this property over time, but I had no idea that Walt was ready to bring this story to the big screen, and put the resources of the entire Disney studio behind it. In time, “Mary Poppins” would involve every artist, actor, musician, technician and craftsman at Walt’s magic factory.
After Julie Andrews had finally given birth to her daughter, Emma, the real work was ready to begin. Irwin Kostel had been chosen as Musical Director, and recording sessions began on Disney’s recording stage across the street from the Animation Building. Keep in mind this was Disney in the sixties when we all worked together as one big family. A far cry from film work today where jobs are contracted out all over town, and several crews work on a movie and never even meet each other. On “Mary Poppins” I got to know everybody, and that included attending the recording sessions where Julie Andrews and co-star, *** Van *** recorded the numbers they would lip sync to once filming began. On that first day of recording, *** Van *** was in a festive mood. He enjoyed cracking us up with his comic mannerisms. Soon, the stage was filled with the sounds of “Chim, Chim, Cher-ee. The composers of the score, Richard and Robert Sherman had big smiles on their faces, as did we all. I think we knew we were going to be part of something very special.
While the score was being recorded, construction was under way on every sound stage on the Disney lot. Stage Two would house the exterior of the Banks’ home, as well as the park where Bert would do his chalk drawings. Stage One contained the interior of the Banks’ home, and the rooftops of London would find their home on Stage Three. Of course a film like “Mary Poppins” had many sets, so once a sequence was in the can, those sets were struck to make room for others. The sets for “Mary Poppins” were impressive. Like most musicals of the day, interiors as well as exteriors were all shot on stages, giving the art directors and lighting cameramen total control of the environment. Hollywood had a term for it back then, “Technicolor gloss” is something rarely seen in today’s musicals, what few there are.
With a lack of rehearsal space, Disney’s carpenters built a temporary stage platform on the studio back lot. Choreographers Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood put the dancers through their paces in this sunny outdoor location. They were preparing for the vigorous “Step in Time” rooftop number that would, no pun intended, bring the house down. As always, many of the animation artists were on hand for the rehearsals, and on occasion, the actual filming. We knew once the actors had done their stuff, the scenes would be headed our way. As always, Disney filmed the live-action using the Sodium Matte process. This provided separation negatives that would eventually be composited with the animation by Ub Iwerks and his wizards in the process lab.
Those familiar with matching animation with live-action have heard of rotoscopes. These are individual frames of live footage printed on sheets of paper punched to match the pegs on our animation disks. Though we often found working with the stacks of “rotos” cumbersome, they were necessary in making sure our drawings would composite perfectly with the live footage. Sometimes there were so many working levels in an animated scene, the “pencil tests” had to be printed on cels. An example of this was the very involved dance number where *** Van *** danced with the penguins. Animation master, Frank Thomas, beautifully brought this fantastic number to life. Yet, there were other scenes equally daunting. The singing, dancing “Pearlies” were an animator’s nightmare. And, should one ask, did we do all of those little pearls sewn onto the character’s garments by hand — the answer is an emphatic yes. Where are the computers when you really need one?
Chances are you didn’t know about the change in art direction on the “Jolly Holiday” sequence, did you? Originally, the animation was supposed to look like chalk drawings. After all, *** Van ***’s character, Bert was a chalk artist, and wouldn’t animated chalk sketches look really cool? After trying a number of tests, the Old Maestro gave us thumbs down. Though animated “chalk drawings” might have had a unique appeal, Walt decided to trust his instincts and go with what has become “The Disney House Style.” The background artists modified their backgrounds to give them a chalk like appearance, but you’ll never see the sequence the way it was originally conceived.
“Mary Poppins” opened to rave reviews in 1964, and even garnered five Academy Awards. To the delight of all, Julie Andrews took home an Oscar for Best Actress. For Walt Disney, it was his crowning achievement, and the Old Maestro hadn’t been that proud since the opening of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” As for myself, I put down my animation pencil for good as I moved upstairs to the story department. Yet, I’ll never forget my time spent on this very special movie, and the talented people who brought it all to life. It was a lot of hard work to be sure, but in a very special way I’ll always remember it as a “Jolly Holiday.”
Ah, what’s better than hearing about Hollywood history from a man who actually lived it? If you’d like to learn more about Floyd’s amazing career, then you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Norman’s newest book, “Son of Faster, Cheaper.” This wonderful collection of animation-related cartoons is currently up for sale over at the Afro-Kids store. If you’d like to buy your very own copy of Floyd’s fantastically funny book, just click the image to the right and follow the appropriate links to where “Son of Faster, Cheaper” is located. Or — if you’d prefer — you can go grab a copy of Floyd’s first book,”Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation.” Which is available for sale over at John Cawley’s excellent www.cataroo.com web site. No matter which “Faster, Cheaper” you pick up, I guarantee that you’ll have fun reading that book. |