Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary!

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

HOLLYWOOD — It was almost a "Jolly Holiday" without Mary; Hollywood traffic Tuesday night delayed Julie Andrews' arrival at the 40th anniversary "re-premiere" of Mary Poppins. But just before the clock struck 7, the 69-year-old actress swept in looking supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in a beaded St. John top. (Alas, no flowered hat, carpetbag or parrot-headed umbrella.)
To celebrate the arrival Dec. 14 of the fully restored classic on DVD ($29.99,Walt Disney Home Entertainment), Disney did its best to re-create the film's original 1964 Hollywood premiere: Guests were asked to dress in tuxedos, gowns and fur stoles.

Dancing chimney sweeps, an oom-pah band, sidewalk chalk artists and six real-life waddling South African Blackfoot penguins commanded the red carpet before the arrivals of the film's surviving cast — Andrews; Dick Van Dyke (Bert), 78; Glynis Johns (Mrs. Winifred Banks), 81; and Karen Dotrice (Jane), 49.

Before showtime, footage from the original Tinseltown premiere played on the screen, reminding attendees of the era's glamour and serious star power. Among the guests that historic '64 night: the entire cast of The Dick Van Dyke Show, then in its fourth season. This time around, only Van Dyke and Rose Marie, 81, represented the cast.

Van Dyke remembered talk of a Poppins sequel. "Walt had taken an option on P.L. Travers' (follow-up) book, Mary Poppins Comes Back, and he had every intention of doing the sequel, and I'm sure we would have," Van Dyke said. "But then we lost Walt."

Dotrice, who was 8 when she played Poppins' charge, little Jane Banks, remembers her parents informing her of "Uncle Walt's" death in 1966, followed by news of the death of her Poppins brother, Matthew Garber (Michael Banks), who died of pancreatitis in 1977 at age 21. Dotrice says Andrews was not quite the "practically perfect" nanny she played.

"Julie's a naughty girl," Dotrice revealed. "She swore a lot and smoked back then."

To that, Andrews just laughed, but corrected: "I never smoked, but maybe the occasional four-letter word every once in a while."

So whatever became of Nanny Poppins and her charming chimney sweep? "I like to think they got married and flew away together," Van Dyke said.

Andrews offered an alternate theory: "I'm not sure they got married. I think Mary has a slightly riskier life than that."