Mary Poppins (1964)

"Disney through and through; spectacular, colorful, gorgeous but all wrapped around mediocrity." After doggedly, endlessly fighting filmmaker Walt Disney every inch of the way for more than two decades, that was the reaction of "Mary Poppins" author P.L. Travers to a film that rightfully remains one of Disney's most beloved classics. Even so, director Robert Stevenson, screenwriters Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, and songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman's Mary Poppins stands as a rare beacon of family cinema that outshines the book series that inspired it and continues to delight children of all ages, even some fifty years after its original release. The warmth, the heart, the joy, the magic… it exemplifies everything Disney hoped to achieve with its adaptation and more. In 1964, the film was hailed by audiences and critics, becoming an overnight success that earned a staggering thirteen Academy Award nominations, among them Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and, most ironically, Best Writing in the Adapted Screenplay category. It also handed Julie Andrews her first and only Best Actress Oscar, while taking home statues for Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee") and Best Visual Effects. The lesson? Hollywood, often vilified as the greedy, artist-draining beast of creative burden it can be, sometimes knows best. It only requires the vision, hard work and persistence of a shrewd, never-say-die dreamer. Of course, a spoonful of sugar helps too.