Mary Poppins

Continuity mistake: When the kids meet Mary, Michael is in awe standing against a door. A frame later his head rests half on the door and half on its white frame.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When the bank executives are basically harassing Michael to give them his money, there is a shot where they are singing and marching forward and force the children to back into the wall. There is a pattern of large squares on the floor, and the men in the back are on the inside edge of the square. Then the camera goes out for a long shot so Mr. Dawes can talk about the banks of England. Now he is standing on the edge of the square. When he finishes his little speech, in the next shot they are standing back in the original position.

Continuity mistake: When Mary Poppins first enters the nursery and Jane apologies for it being a mess, the rocking horse is upright. When Mary starts singing a few minutes later, the rocking horse is now on its side and leaning against the white chair.

Continuity mistake: When Mary Poppins starts to read the "qualifications", the paper she reads from is whole, with no kind of indication that it had ever been torn. After a quick cut to George and back to the paper, the closeup of the paper reveals the lines where it was torn. Also in this scene, when she comes in, she has white gloves on. In the closeup on the paper, the gloves are gray, and a few shots later, they're white again.

Movie Nut

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Suggested correction: According to the 40th anniversary DVD special feature "Poppins Fun Facts", it is just the lighting that make her gloves appear gray/black. They are, in fact, white the entire time.

Continuity mistake: When Mary and Bert are sitting down at the table, the penguin waiters place in front of them a placemat with a knife and fork on it. When we see Bert dancing with the penguins a little later on, the placemats and knives and forks have all disappeared.

Continuity mistake: When Mary holds up the paper, it appears whole, but in close up, the places where it was torn are visible, then whole again.

Movie Nut

Continuity mistake: As the Penguins answer the call, and are setting up the table, Bert is laughing and leaning in, and a second later, he is upright and all the way back in the chair.

Movie Nut

Continuity mistake: When Admiral Boom makes his appearance, and asks about the time gun, he states "Three minutes and Six seconds" until the hour. However, the argument between Katie Nanna, the maid and cook, and Mrs. Banks' "Sister Suffragette" number, and Nanna's announcement of departure take a total of five minutes and ten seconds until the gun is fired.

Movie Nut

Continuity mistake: When Jane and Michael sneak inside the chimney, Jane's hands change positions between the front and back shots.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Mary Poppins is reading the childrens' torn-up note to Mr. Banks, she is wearing a pair of white gloves. The next shot is a close-up and she is wearing black gloves. And then finally a room shot, where she's wearing white gloves again.

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Suggested correction: The gloves appear black due to the bright light being show through the paper to show off the torn parts. It is a dark shadow.

I disagree. The gloves are actually black padded gloves instead of thin cotton gloves and are definitely a dark color.

Continuity mistake: When the kids enter their home after being found by the cop, Michael brings his kite with his right arm raised, and the kite standing up noticeably. A frame later his hand is down and the kite is laying so low it can't be seen.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Mary takes the mirror out of her bag the kids stand far from each other, but appear closer together in the close-up shot. This also happens when she takes the lamp out.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Bert is showing Jane and Michael his chalk sketches and doing his tightrope demonstration, you can see the pigeons in the corner on the far side of the bench. In the next shot when Jane points out the English countryside, the pigeons are right behind Bert again and walking away.

Continuity mistake: Mr. Banks is about to interview the nannies and looks at his watch. His handkerchief is longer on the right side. When the angle changes, both sides are equally long.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Mary, Bert, and the children enter the tea parlor and see Uncle Albert floating by the ceiling, the camera cuts to Bert behind Mary, then Bert in front of Mary (Bert preparing to laugh and levitate), then a shot of the children shows Bert behind Mary again. Bert cannot move this fast in a split second.

Factual error: The Robin that comes along in the movie is an American Robin, not a British Robin.

More mistakes in Mary Poppins

George Banks: Kindly do not attempt to cloud the issue with facts.

More quotes from Mary Poppins
More trivia for Mary Poppins

Chosen answer: They recorded her singing in two separate parts and fixed them together. The editors did a good job on it! It may have been made a long time ago but even then the technology was quite advanced enough to carry out that scene.

More questions & answers from Mary Poppins

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