This summer, I went on vacation
with my best friend and her family. Her
little 3-year-old sister loves Mary Poppins.
It was one of my favorites as a child too, so we would spend hours
singing, “Let’s go fly a kite! Up to the
highest heights! Let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring! Up through the atmosphere! Up where the air is clear! Oh, let’s go fly a kite!” Probably one of my all time favorite Disney
songs. Besides the catchy lyrics and
uncontainable joy the song makes you feel, the words really go deeper, as does
the whole movie. Once again, showing
there is more than just what meets the eye in literature.
Mary
Poppins herself flies. If that isn’t
symbolism, I don’t know what is. She is
the original Superman because she literally flies in and saves the day. Foster mentions angels, having wings and
harps, flight and music, like a bird.
Mary Poppins has the same, an umbrella to fly with and a wonderful gift
for singing. Of course, as all Disney
movies have, there is a little bit of magic to keep the imagination at
work. So, the flying aspect helps with
the wonderment kid factor, but I prefer to think of Mary Poppins as an angel,
gliding in from heaven.
The ending
song really hits home Foster’s idea that “flight is freedom”. Mr. Banks, the father is free from his
problems at work. The children have a
fixed kite and a happy father. And Mary
Poppins’ job is done. Happy ending! Now that everything is as it should be,
anything is possible, even flying.
Flying a kite is symbolic of real flying. “With tuppence for paper and strings, you can
have your own set of wings. With your
feet on the ground, you’re a bird in a flight.
With your fist holding tight to the string of your kite!”
While in
reality, flying a kite is not that exciting, and even a child usually gets
bored of it quickly, it’s the symbolism in this scene that makes it so great
and memorable. Any other activity, such
as building a snowman perhaps, would not have had quite the same effect on the
audience. Flying is so surreal and so
completely impossible for humans, that we are obsessed with it. So many books, movies, and plays use flying
to intrigue audiences and to symbolize freedom, escape, and often have to deal
with childhood innocence and the belief in magic. Peter Pan also comes to mind. Flying to Never land in a sort of out of body
experience for only children, escaping the real world. Or Matilda, who uses her powers of making
other objects fly to gain her own freedom from her terrible family. Flying is the ultimate release. A soul “flies” up to heaven after the person
dies and becomes an angel. Even flying
downwards (falling) is symbolic. Flying/falling
from an airplane to your ultimate death (depending on the parachute situation)
can symbolize final release or some sort of freedom, even if it’s just freedom
from gravity for a split second. Flight can
really improve one’s literary experience to infinity and beyond (they also flew
in Toy Story).
