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Post by calithena on Jan 14, 2008 13:03:31 GMT -6
I watched this movie a couple times with my daughter. Mary seems like a good prototype for a high-level D&D magic user. Sure, you'd want to throw in a couple fights with giants and demons to make the film a proper D&D adventure, but other than that I thought it was pretty good.
I'm not kidding, but I expect you'll all think I'm smoking crack for suggesting it.
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Post by dwayanu on Jan 14, 2008 13:36:28 GMT -6
She wields quite powerful magic. In my memory of the books, she seems less "sweetness and light" than in the movie. That may not reflect a careful reading of the text, but it certainly reflects the impression I formed as a child: she was a bit spooky.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2008 16:14:22 GMT -6
Yeah, I never was very comfortable watching Mary Poppins as a little kid; she kind of creeped me out. But I agree, she would definently be up there level wise.
*I never liked clowns as a kid either, & I still don't trust 'em. That, & people who wear bow ties...* ;D
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Post by Finarvyn on Jan 14, 2008 16:36:56 GMT -6
I'm not kidding, but I expect you'll all think I'm smoking crack for suggesting it. Sort of, yeah. I watched this movie a couple times with my daughter. Mary seems like a good prototype for a high-level D&D magic user. I'll be honest and note that the idea never ever occured to me. I guess I associate Mary Poppins with the suitcase and unbrella and other magical items, and less with actual spellcasting. Having not seen this movie in a couple decades, can anyone summorize some of the spells she uses?
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Post by Rhuvein on Jan 14, 2008 18:10:15 GMT -6
Interesting idea, but yeah I haven't seen the movie in a while either since my daughter was little.
Great movie though. I can't recall if we own it, but I should buy a copy and then I can give it to my niece.
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Post by doc on Jan 14, 2008 20:57:41 GMT -6
Mary Poppins was originally published in 1934 and was followed by three other books in the series. I owned them all when I was a kid and liked 'em, but they took a back seat to the Narnia books.
The Mary in the books was quite a different bird from the one in the film. She was acidic, haughty, egotistical, and not very good looking (though she certainly thought that she was). She moved in circles both magical and cosmic, with not only mythical creatures and fantastical kings being in her debt, but also the moon and stars.
Wherever she went she was very highly respected and deferred to, so it is likely that she was indeed a high level character. Though I always got the inpression that she was less a witch than some sort of supernatural entity. Her time with the Banks children was clearly tied into some sort of greater agenda, but it was never made clear exactly what that agenda was.
And the book version of Mary would NEVER spontaniously break into song; not in a million years.
Doc
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Post by Finarvyn on Jan 14, 2008 21:13:54 GMT -6
Mary Poppins was originally published in 1934 and was followed by three other books in the series. Really? I had no idea. You don't happen to know the name of the author, do you?
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Jan 14, 2008 21:57:39 GMT -6
She wields quite powerful magic. In my memory of the books, she seems less "sweetness and light" than in the movie. That may not reflect a careful reading of the text, but it certainly reflects the impression I formed as a child: she was a bit spooky. I never had the opportunity to watch the movie as a child, having children of my own by then. But I have heard that the books are a bit darker, I suppose I should track them down and read them.
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Post by doc on Jan 14, 2008 23:03:37 GMT -6
The author is PL Travers, Fin.
Doc
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Post by philotomy on Jan 15, 2008 0:20:02 GMT -6
*I never liked clowns as a kid either, & I still don't trust 'em. Hmm. Offered with no additional comment:
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Post by dwayanu on Jan 15, 2008 11:20:15 GMT -6
Finarvyn, I can't give a D&D-equivalent rundown on Mary's "spells," although metamorphoses were IIRC common. It seemed she could do just about anything -- and would, regardless of what anyone else thought and perhaps without much forethought on her own part.
I vaguely recall her sorting out some gods in Hyde Park, but memory may be inaccurate.
Anyhow, I think she shows at least one way a D&D wizard might behave. The latter can cast several spells an hour all day (more or less, depending on level), so why not do so? Throw in the usual collection of magic items, and the wizard is even more casually superhuman.
At least with Greyhawk rules in effect, the wizard probably has somehow attained an Intelligence score of at least 18. Standing intellectually as a giant among pygmies, the wizard may naturally be impatient with the feeble reasoning of "mere mortals" (or even of relatively dull immortals).
To reach that pinnacle of power, the wizard's adventures probably included run-ins with godlike beings (such as the demon queens in some classic AD&D modules). They fall into the category of manageable problems, which makes earthly princes by comparison trivial annoyances.
The wizard is likely to have made arrangements that reduce mortality to a temporary inconvenience. An NPC at least may already have outlived (and by far out-experienced) venerable Elves.
It's neat to be reminded of the books! I'll put them with the Doctor Doolittle series on the "works to revisit" list. Have an "exalt," calithena!
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Post by Falconer on Jan 15, 2008 12:24:55 GMT -6
Oh, yeah, I read quite a few of the Dr Dolittle series as a child. Fantastic childrens' fantasy! Unfortunately there was some "insensitive" material in the originals, so nowadays they sell them bowdlerized if at all.
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Post by dwayanu on Jan 15, 2008 13:19:02 GMT -6
Veering slightly OT ...
The difference in portrayal of Mary Poppins reminds me of different responses to the 1980s Sherlock Holmes TV series. My girlfriend of the time didn't like it because Holmes (played, IIRC, by Jeremy Irons) was "creepy." Her concept of the character was founded on Basil Rathbone's incarnation.
Having been as a boy an avid reader of Sir Arthur's stories, I found the "creepiness" part and parcel of a faithful depiction. Holmes shoots cocaine not to get "jacked up" but to relax his mental tension (or so it seemed to me); in any case, he's not a warm and "just folks" kind of guy.
Apart from a recension of The Hour of the Dragon edited by Karl Edward Wagner, I have met Howard's Conan only via the De Camp bowdlerization. The mass-market volumes based on the Wandering Star editions are definitely on my shopping list!
Knowing the proclivities of my sister and brother-in-law, a "politically correct" Dolittle (or whatever the proper spelling) is probably preferable in terms of making the books available to the most delightful nephew and niece ever born ;D. Then again, Mom and Dad insisted on reading The Hobbit to a fellow who was probably not yet ready for it.
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Post by aldarron on Apr 29, 2009 17:55:47 GMT -6
I always thought Poppins and Bert were some kind of fairy godmother types, not precisely human. Elves, I suppose in OD&D terms. Actually though I do find all those old disney movies and TV cartoons to have some pretty intriguing ideas about magic, witchery and so forth - especially my daugther's Shirley Temple Theater collection.
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Post by TheMyth on Apr 29, 2009 20:31:51 GMT -6
I always thought Poppins and Bert were some kind of fairy godmother types, not precisely human. Elves, I suppose in OD&D terms. Actually though I do find all those old disney movies and TV cartoons to have some pretty intriguing ideas about magic, witchery and so forth - especially my daugther's Shirley Temple Theater collection. Shirley Temple? Have you seen the Mad Movies with the L.A. Connection version of her The Little Princess? Some YouTube clips... Here #1Here #2Here #3Now *THERE* is some inspiration for D&D!
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Post by aldarron on May 4, 2009 11:15:33 GMT -6
I always thought Poppins and Bert were some kind of fairy godmother types, not precisely human. Elves, I suppose in OD&D terms. Actually though I do find all those old disney movies and TV cartoons to have some pretty intriguing ideas about magic, witchery and so forth - especially my daugther's Shirley Temple Theater collection. Shirley Temple? Have you seen the Mad Movies with the L.A. Connection version of her The Little Princess? Some YouTube clips... Here #1Here #2Here #3Now *THERE* is some inspiration for D&D! Yep, and in the same vein - except its actually funny - www.youtube.com/watch?v=TErIFY0T9TsHowever, I was talking about the all grown up Miss Temple from the '60. She hosted "The Shirley Temple Show" with skits based on fairy tales and such. Anyway there is loads of stuff like that - even the smurphs had some cool sorcery and magic ideas.
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Post by TheMyth on May 4, 2009 23:03:28 GMT -6
That was funny? I guess it's a good thing we get to appreciate different forms of humor.
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Post by Falconer on Jul 8, 2009 3:19:05 GMT -6
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Post by Finarvyn on May 25, 2015 7:20:51 GMT -6
Ancient thread arise! (2009 to 2015 ... six year necro!) Since this thread popped up years ago I've had in the back of my mind acquiring the Mary Poppins books. I look for them at used bookstores and sometimes I think to hunt on e-bay, and when I find one it's a "rare book" and way out of my price range. Yesterday I was wandering around Barnes & Noble with a "20% off" coupon and trying to decide what to buy, when I came upon a table of classics. Narnia and that kind of thing. And they had two hardback copies of the 80th Anniversary Mary Poppins books in omnibus form (so all 4 novels in one volume). Bought the thing for under $20.
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Post by scottenkainen on May 25, 2015 9:56:22 GMT -6
It's interesting how this thread began years before Saving Mr. Banks came out. By now, everyone knows who P.L. Travers was.
~Scott "-enkainen" Casper
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