Day 2: Mary Poppins: Feed the Birds

 

"Feed The Birds"

Sung by: Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and Ashley Brown as Broadway's Mary Poppins

Written by: The Sherman Brothers

For the start of 2021's DisneySongSaturday we turn to the 1964 live-action/animated classic Mary Poppins with "Feed The Birds". Mary Poppins, a magical nanny, sings this song as a way to teach The Banks Children, Jane and Michael, one of life's biggest lessons: it doesn't take much to show a little kindness or that you care. Julie Andrews originated the role in the 1964 film and Ashley Brown originated the Broadway version of Mary Poppins in 2006.

 "Feed the Birds" was Walt's favorite song. On Fridays, he would have The Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert, come in and play it for him in the office after talking shop. For the filming, Walt talked Jane Darwell, the bird woman on the steps, out of retirement for her last role because he was such a big fan of hers, though he had to have her voice dubbed since her own was too quiet to be heard. During the rededication ceremony for the Partners Statue at Disneyland on Walt's 100th birthday, Dec 5, 2001, Richard played this song as the last song of the ceremony. If you look and listen in the background of this video of him preforming it for Walt, the birds are happily singing along with him and flying around Walt and Mickey's (The Partners) statue but at no other time in it. Richard also explained some of their thought processes too.

This song is also one of my favorites, even though I will fall asleep to it every time I hear it because it's sung like a lullaby. Though Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies and I know the soundtrack by heart, I cannot stay awake during this song if I hear it. The message behind it is wholesome sweet and true. A little act of kindness no matter how small can make a world of difference. 

For those unfamiliar with the song, there is a bird lady asking for money (tuppence) to feed the birds at St. Paul's Cathedral and tuppence is a 2pence piece (roughly the equivalent of 2 pennies or 2 cents) usually given to children. The bird lady had a lot of birds that she wanted to care for and would give a bag of breadcrumbs to anyone who paid her for one. Tuppence was not a lot of money to adults but it was to children. Though the birds had their own ability to find food as all birds do, the bird lady wanted to make sure they would never go hungry. In purchasing the crumbs from the bird lady, it helped the bird lady get more crumbs and more birds get to eat which made the bird lady extremely happy. An added bonus is getting to leave with a fuller heart knowing good was done. 

Kindness takes many forms and it doesn't take much. Have you ever had someone do a "random act of kindness" or say a kind word to you? Was it something grand and elaborate or something simple? How did it make you feel? Perhaps you yourself have done "random acts of kindness" or said kind words. Given the state of things nowadays with everything going on, kindness goes a long way and straight to the heart. It could be something as simple as paying someone a compliment about them, be it their hair nails clothes, cooking or whatever. It can be more grand like buying them a meal or groceries or elaborate like an experience the other person wanted to have. I myself love to surprise people. My mom always said to "Kill them with kindness" no matter how wronged I may have been because how you react and treat people is a reflection on who you truly are. You also never know what another person is going through so it's always better to treat them kindly. That kindness you show has a way of snowballing into more kindness. It might not be the next moment or even next year but when that person looks back on their past, there's a good chance they'll remember that moment or how it felt. It may also inspire them to be kinder as well and maybe even pull them out of whatever "rock bottom" feelings they may have at that moment in time. 

A tradition we humans have that is seen as an act of kindness is feeding the birds or other wildlife. I've done it ever since I was a little girl going to my Grammie's down the street to help feed the birds in her backyard, the Covered Bridge in Elizabethton TN to feed bread to the ducks during our summer vacations to visit family or feed the catfish in the Bull Shoals Lake from the docks or at Dogpatch USA with fish food bought with quarters from my allowance. I know now bread is not good for the ducks tummies but that was then and this is now. I still remember the joy of the ducks and fish swarming to my location to quack and glub for food. It always seemed like they'd quack a thank you or quack for more when I'd throw it. It made me happy knowing they had fuller tummies because of me. I was lucky because in those areas it's ok to feed the animals. There are many places in the world where it's not ok to feed the animals because they don't want wild animals to become so dependent on human hand-outs they forget how to forage for food or eat human food that's not good for their tummies. If you want to truly feed the wildlife, make sure you check with your local authorities to make sure it's ok and you won't get in trouble for doing so. Also make sure you get the proper seeds, nuts or food so you don't hurt the wildlife's tummies. Most of what we humans eat, wildlife can't and shouldn't. 

So until next time, feed the birds with kindness and Keep Cooking with Character!