I Saw This!

There's no overestimating the impact Mary Poppins had on my life. The first movie I ever saw in the theater, it began my lifelong love affair with film. One of the clearest and dearest memories of my childhood is of lights going down and the big red curtains at the State Lake Theater opening to reveal that first memorable scene, the rooftops of London.

So when we went to The Museum of Science and Industry yesterday, I was hoping that the much-talked about Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit would include my girl, Mary. After all, to me that nanny is every Disney Princess, all rolled into one. But I was worried because none of the PR releases I'd read in advance even mentioned her.

Oh, Gal of Little Faith! There was a trove of Maryphernalia! I saw original sketches of the famous "Jolly Holiday" (penguin) number and authentic costumes and a deleted scene (no sound, but still!) and the actual alphabet blocks that magically fell into her name during "A Spoonful of Sugar." But best of all, I saw this ...

 The actual globe she's holding in her hands was on display! The snowglobe that inspired her to sing "Feed the Birds!" I saw it! Kathy was amused that I actually fell to me knees to get a closer look at it in the case, but I refuse to be embarrassed. I was thrilled.

When I got to work this morning, I mentioned this to two of my coworkers, who also remembered being piled into the car by their parents and driven to the theater to see Mary Poppins. It was a lovely collective memory of 1964.

Here's the clip of the scene. I love it, love it, love it.