The Robins are characters featured in the 1964 Disney film, Mary Poppins. They are two robins that live in Cherry Tree Lane next to the Banks family's house.
Background[]
The robins seen in the film are shown to be busy building a nest and are shown to be social. While they do not speak, they are shown to have a joyful personality to Mary Poppins, attracted to her singing. They are also shown to listen whenever it comes to those needing a peaceful moment, like when George Banks requested Ellen to keep the robins quiet so that George can enjoy his breakfast peacefully.
Role in the film[]
While singing the musical number "A Spoonful of Sugar", Mary Poppins peeks out through a window observing a pair of robins building their nest and while singing, one of the robins flies to Mary's finger and whistles along just as Mary shows the robin in front of Michael and Jane Banks just as the two feel happy of seeing a robin in their house. Mary then allows the robin to return to its nest so it and its partner can continue building it. Later the next day when Ellen serves breakfast to the Banks family, she hears the robins chirping together. George Banks, who feels irritated by the noisy chirping, requested Ellen to tell the robins to stop chirping to which the robins listen. They make no further appearances after that.
Trivia[]
- While Mary Poppins is set in the United Kingdom, the robins featured throughout the film are American robins (Turdus migratorius) rather than European robins (Erithacus rubecula).
- According to an interview with Julie Andrews in the audio commentary on the DVD releases of Mary Poppins, she provided the whistling effect for the robins.
- Despite their short amount of screen time in the film, the robins seen in Mary Poppins were animatronic figures. This makes it an example of one of the first uses of animatronics in film history. The animatronic robins were created by Walt Disney and his team of Imagineers in Walt Disney Enterprises.[1]