Mary Poppins (character)

Mary Poppins is the titular character from the 1964 film,  Mary Poppins. She is a nanny who uses her magic powers to help the Banks family. In the film, she is portrayed by Julie Andrews.

Background
It is never explained where Mary Poppins comes from, though she is seen sitting on a cloud near the beginning of the film. it is known that she has a friend, Bert and a relative, Uncle Albert who both reside in London. She is described as being "practically perfect in every way." As a nanny she is fairly stern, but also kind and nurturing. She is shown to possess various magical abilities including the abilities to speak to animals, to transport herself and others to various places (including pavement pictures), as well as flight. However, afterward, she will deny any usage of these powers.

Role in the film
Mary Poppins first appears at the beginning of the film, sitting on a cloud fixing her makeup. Later, she responds to the advertisement of Jane and Michael Banks for a kind nanny. After all the other nanny candidates are literally blown away, she quickly takes charge and effectively hires herself, much to the surprise of George Banks. Mr. Banks is especially confused as he had previously tossed Jane and Michael's advertisement into the fire.

Mary Poppins goes up to her room, and introduces herself to the children. While unpacking, she astounds the children with her seemingly bottomless carpet bag, which contains such items as a hatstand and a large plant. She tend takes out her tape measure, and measures the children. Michael is said to be stubborn and suspicious, while Jane is inclined to giggle and to leave messes. The children then ask to measure Mary, who complies. The tape measure shows a personalized message which says that she is "practically perfect in every way". It also has her name, which is revealed to the children.

Next Mary Poppins leads the children in a game, which turns out to be tidying the nursery using magic. Simply by snapping, beds fold themselves, and toys put themselves away. After the nursery is clean, Mary Poppins takes the children on an outing. Though they intend to go to the park, they run into Bert, who is an old friend of Mary's. Bert scoffs at the mundane nature of the outing, and notes that with Mary Poppins, unusual things happen. He is then able to goad Mary into transporting them into a chalk picture, done by Bert, of the English countryside.

While Jane and Michael enjoy a nearby fair, Mary and Bert stroll through the English countryside, and enjoy a lunch together. However, their relationship is said to be merely platonic in nature. Later, Mary, Bert, and the children are on a carousel, and at Mary's word, the horses fly off the carousel. Eventually, Mary leads them to a horse race, which she wins handily. When asked by reporters for a word to describe her emotions at winning, she reveal her all purpose word, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. However, a rainstorm hits and washes out the drawing, forcing Mary to cut the outing short. That night the children ask Mary to stay forever, but she promises to only stay until the wind changes.

The next day, Mary takes the children with her to do errands, but an emergency calls them to other matters. Mary's Uncle Albert is floating in the air due to too much laughter and is unable to come down. Mary attempts to keep everyone calm, as the "disease" is contagious. But after Bert, and the children are all affected as well, Mary allows them to have tea while floating in the air. However, everyone is able to come down after being faced with the sad thought that they must go home.

That night, worried by his children's recount of the day's events, Mr. Banks tries to fire Mary Poppins, but is soon manipulated in taking the children to the bank with him. The next day also happens to be Mary's day off, and so when the outing ends in disaster, Mrs Banks is forced to hire Bert to watch the children. Bert allows the children to watch as he cleans the Banks' chimney. Mary soon appears, warning the children of the danger. Both children fly up the chimney in rapid succession. Mary and Bert follow them, and they take time to explore the rooftops. They meet up with Bert's chimney sweep friends, and eventually all return to the Bank's home, where everyone parties. Mr. Banks returns from work, and demands an explanation, which Mary refuses to give. Later, it is revealed that as a result of what happened during the bank outing, that Mr. Banks had been sacked. However, remembering Mary's all purpose word, he is able to laugh.

The next day, Mary is seen preparing to leave, as the wind has changed. However, during the night, it is revealed that Mr. Banks has had a change of heart, and has decided to be a more caring father. This pleases Jane and Michael so much that they forget to say goodbye to Mary Poppins. Mary notes that everything is as it should be., and it is implied that she has helped numerous families like the Banks. She then flies off, and Bert, noticing her, asks her not to sat away too long.