APC vs PDP Broom vs Umbrella: IS MARY POPPINS AN ALIEN, WITCH, OR TIME TRAVELER? Nollywood Patience Ozokwor Take Note We need Good Witches arguments.com.ng

Mary Poppins
Returns^[1] hit theaters on
December 19, a magical confection of old-school Disney charm and
that very-Mary burst of imagination. The film has delighted critics
(myself included^[2]) and audience goers are
in for a delicious treat. But in the information age, critics and
fans alike are probing a little deeper into the Poppins mythos.
Like, what is the exact source of Mary Poppins^[3]‘ magical powers and
where the hell did she come from? We have some ideas.

The most likely possibility is that Mary Poppins is a witch of
some sort. That could explain her ageless exterior, her ability to
fly through the sky (with an umbrella in place of a broomstick),
her enchanted bag, and other peculiarities like flying up the
stairwell bannister or attracting animals. In the books, it’s
implied that all children are born with magic, and that Mary merely
never lost hers. That doesn’t necessarily make her a witch, but
why, then, was she the only one with this unique ability? It feels
vaguely Harry Potter-esqye in that “chosen one” sense.

We’re not the only ones who float this theory. It’s a popular
one on Twitter.

The books may imply that Mary is merely some nameless magical
being, but the movies make no such distinction, so we can go a
little more wild in our theories here. For instance, what if Mary
Poppins isn’t from this planet? That could explain why basic
physics don’t really apply to her, and how she’s able to jump
through time and space as she likes. If she’s from another planet,
that could also explain her almost robotic mannerisms and ability
to see straight into the soul of a problem.

Or maybe Mary’s simply hopped over from another dimension, and
that’s why she’s able to leap into painted bowls and into the
ocean-like depths of a simple bathtub. Her ability to bend and
manipulate time and place would make sense if she’s somehow learned
how to leap through string universes like Olivia Dunham.

This is a pet theory of mine that could also explain the long
gaps in her appearances. What if Mary was actually from another
future timeline, and travels back intermittently to check in on the
Bankses and other families? There’s a longstanding theory that Mary
was also Bert’s nanny long ago, and that’s why he recognizes and
even sings about her. (In the opening lines of the original Mary
Poppins, he sings: “Can’t put me finger on what lies in store/
But I feel what’s to happen all happened before.”) If Mary is
able to jump through time at will, that could explain why she
doesn’t seem to age: she merely pops in for a few months from her
timeline and then goes right back. What could be several decades
for the Banks children is just a wee bit of time out of her
schedule.

Or maybe she’s just a straight-up Time Lord. (Lin-Manuel
Miranda seems to
think so^[4], at least.)

It certainly feels like Mary was sent from the heavens to care
for the Banks family. That’s why she always arrives and leaves
through the sky, and why she arrives at such opportune moments.
Perhaps she exists only for the Banks family as an answer to the
bits of themselves they’ve buried deep within. She comes from up
above to bring out what they’ve always known rests inside, and then
she flits off once they’ve learned their lesson. That sounds like a
guardian angel to us, or at least some kind of special
protector.