Mary Poppins (song)
"Mary Poppins" is a song from the 2015 stage musical "Love Birds" with music and lyrics by Robert J. Sherman. It is sung by "The Original Quack Pack", a penguin barbershop quartet who resemble the penguins from the 1964 Walt Disney motion picture, "Mary Poppins". In dialogue leading up to the song, the penguins explain that while they did know the same nanny, (Mary Poppins) they are not the same penguins as in the movie. The song expresses their longing for the magical nanny of literary fame.
The Sound of Music (film)
Lehman's first and only choice for Maria was Julie Andrews. When Wise joined the project, he made a list of his choices for the role, which included Andrews as his first choice, Grace Kelly, and Shirley Jones. Wise and Lehman went to Disney Studios to view footage from "Mary Poppins", which was not yet released. A few minutes into the film, Wise told Lehman, "Let's go sign this girl before somebody else sees this film and grabs her!" Andrews had some reservations—mainly about the amount of sweetness in the theatrical version—but when she learned that her concerns were shared by Wise and Lehman and what their vision was, she signed a contract with Fox to star in "The Sound of Music" and one other film for $225,000 (). Wise had a more difficult time casting the role of the Captain. A number of actors were considered for the part, including Bing Crosby, Yul Brynner, Sean Connery, and Richard Burton. Wise had seen Christopher Plummer on Broadway and wanted him for the role, but the stage actor turned down the offer several times. Wise flew to London to meet with Plummer and explained his concept of the film; the actor accepted after being assured that he could work with Lehman to improve the character; Plummer later described himself as having become quite arrogant at the time, "spoiled by too many great theater roles".