Magical Nannies

Magical Nannies: Entertainment or Pedagogy

Many people would have you believe that Disney has been and remains today the evil of the movie media industry, in terms of what it teaches children through its representation of races classes, gender stereotypes and sexual morals. I don’t believe this to be true. I don’t believe that the Disney writers consciously sit around and plan, through casting and character development, to represent the white upper class as better than the rest. It is also my belief that they didn’t plan gender stereotypes or sexual morals. I believe that the writers wrote from the perspective of what was familiar to themselves and the targeted viewing audience. It is not a trait that is representative of Disney alone. Other movie media outlets write and cast from the same point of familiarity.

      The Walt Disney movie, Mary Poppins, was based on a series of books by PL Travers. It was released in 1964 and earned a net-profit of $28,500,000. Disney had been trying to purchase rights to the books, from PL Travers for many years. In 1961, Disney finally succeeded. Travers agreed only after being granted script approval rights, because he was afraid that the movie wouldn’t accurately represent his stories. Mary Poppins became a musical that was partially animated. It was set in 1910 London and portrayed in typical architecture and design of the period. The apparel is in standing with the period, as well.

The movie tells of the lives of the Banks family. Ironically, Mr. Banks works at a bank. He is a proper London gentleman who believes that life should be and is a series of repetitive and punctual events. He sings that “consistent is the life I lead” (Walt Disney). Mrs. Banks is a proper London upper class wife, who revels actively in the Women’s Rights Movement, which of course Mr. Banks disapproves of because it’s nonsense.   The children, Jane and Michael, never feel the love of their father who obviously believes that children should... [continues]

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