Jolly Holiday

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"Jolly Holiday" is a song from Walt Disney's film Mary Poppins. It was composed by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The song is sung in the film by Bert (Dick Van Dyke) and Mary (Julie Andrews) in the pastel fantasy sequence before reaching the carousel. Oscar winning music arranger, Irwin Kostal provided the much lauded orchestration.

This song also appears in the musical, but it was changed to fit the story of Neleus from Mary Poppins Opens the Door. Also added to it was that Mary makes the park colorful and glamorous compared to the usual park that the Banks children go to often. It also shows that the kids were not won over by Mary Poppins at first and it wasn't until Neleus came to life and the park changed before they were amazed.("Boring, just like other nannies, thinking parks are good for us. It's just statues, ducks and grannies. I don't understand all the fuss..." - lyrics from the musical version)

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The motion picture takes place in 1910 (although the P.L. Travers books place the story in 1934) and for this reason the song was written in turn of the century Music Hall style. It is the only song in the score which was written with chrono-stylistic accuracy in mind.

This song has been parodied in Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act and the show's album, with the name "Jolly Holiday with Rudy," which made fun of the cleaning of Broadway at the time.

[edit] Literary Sources