I have a confession to make…..

Big breath…………

Okay..

Here it is…………………………………………………….

One of my favorite radio programs is Showtune Saturday Night on Kosy 106.5 out of Salt Lake City.

Yes, I like showtunes.  Please don’t send me hate mail or think less of me for it.  Last week, the host, Laura Bedore, told the story of the song Feed The Birds from Mary Poppins and how it was Walt Disney’s favorite song. 

It seems the song was was not favored by the author of the Mary Poppins books, Pamela Travers.  She wanted to stick to more Edwardian songs but eventually she gave in.  She really wanted Greensleeves.  What a loss that would have been!  Feed The Birds is such a wonderful song!

The song was written by brothers Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman and is used to frame the important moments in the show.  It is about giving charity and is the lesson Mary Poppins teaches to the children Jane and Michael Banks and their banker father, Mr. Banks. 

It was the final show that the actress who played the bird lady, Jane Darwell, ever appeared in.  She was in her 80’s at the time and initially turned down the part.  It was only after Disney himself pleaded with her that she accepted the role.  She actually out lived Disney by more than 6 months.

Robert Sherman recalled: "On Fridays, after work, [Walt Disney would] often invite us into his office and we'd talk about things that were going on at the Studio. After a while, he'd wander to the north window, look out into the distance and just say, 'Play it.' And Dick would wander over to the piano and play 'Feed the Birds' for him. One time just as Dick was almost finished, under his breath, I heard Walt say, 'Yep. That's what it's all about.'"

Tony Brown of The Plain Dealer tells that “we seized on one incident, in Chapter 7 of 'Mary Poppins Comes Back', the second book -- the bird woman. And we realized that was the metaphor for why Mary came, to teach the children -- and Mr. Banks -- the value of charity. So we wrote the song and took it up to Walt's office and played it and sang it for him. He leaned back in his chair, looking out the window, and he said: 'That's it, isn't it? That's what this is all about. This is the metaphor for the whole film.' And that was the turning point in our lives ... We were full-time staff, so we had an office at the studio, and every so often Walt would call us up to his office on a Friday afternoon. We knew what he wanted. When we got there, he would say, 'I just wanted to know what you boys were up to these days.' Then he would turn around in his chair and stare out the window, like the first time we played it for him, and he would say, 'Play it.' And we would ... And you could just see Walt thinking, 'That's what it's all about, everything we do at Disney.'"

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_the_Birds