Mary Poppins (film) - The Cat That Looked at A King

The Cat That Looked At A King

In 2004, Julie Andrews appeared in a live-action/animated short that was produced by DisneyToon Studios for the 40th Anniversary DVD release of the 1964 film. Titled The Cat That Looked at a King, the film was based upon part of Travers's book Mary Poppins Opens the Door, and it could be seen as something of a sequel or follow-up to the movie. The film was offered to The Answer Studio, which is partly made up of former employees of Walt Disney Animation (Japan), to be their first project. President Motoyoshi Tokunaga says that 20 artists/animators worked on the film for a period of three months.

The film opens in the modern day with two British children looking at chalk drawings at the same location where Bert did his artwork in the original movie. (According to Julie Andrews, the set was re-created, down to the last detail, using the originals.) Andrews, dressed in modern clothes, greets the children and takes them into the chalk drawing where they watch the tale unfold. A cat (Tracey Ullman) comes into the presence of a king (David Ogden Stiers) who loves the facts and figures of the world more than anything else. Unfortunately, this includes his wife, the Queen (Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York). The cat and the King challenge each other to three questions each: if the Cat wins, she gets the kingdom but if the King wins, he will become the smartest man in the universe. The Cat wins all her questions whilst the King wins none. When the King tells them he does not know who he is anymore, the Cat shows an image of him dancing with the Queen. She declines her prize and is given a brooch as a token of thanks by the Queen. The children and Andrews return to the park entrance, where Andrews denies that she took them into the painting, as she did in the film. The Prime Minister was also voiced by David Ogden Stiers.

Whether Andrews is playing a modern-day Mary Poppins or not is left to the viewer's imagination, although some sources identify Andrews' character as Mary Poppins. The shadow of Mary Poppins can also be seen when she looks down at the live action cat towards the end.

An orchestral reprise of "Feed the Birds" is heard to open the film and another reprise of Jolly Holiday is heard at the end. Quotes from the film such as Mary's catchphrase "Spit-spot!" and "I have no intention of making a spectacle of myself, thank you," are also featured. She also says, "A respectable person like me in a painting? How dare you suggest such a thing!" This parodies "A respectable person like me in a horse race? How dare you suggest such a thing!", which she said when Jane and Michael told her of their adventure in Bert's chalk picture in the film.