Let's Go Fly a Kite
Encyclopedia
"Let's Go Fly A Kite" is a song from Walt Disney
's film Mary Poppins
, composed by Richard M. Sherman
and Robert B. Sherman
. This song is heard at the end of the film when the story's protagonist
, George Banks (played by David Tomlinson
), realizes that his family is more important than his job. He mends his son's kite and takes his family on a kite-flying outing. The song is sung by Tomlinson, Dick Van Dyke
and eventually the entire chorus.
In keeping with Mr. Banks' change in character, this song was pre-recorded, and thus sung normally, by Tomlinson, rather than in his previous talk-singing in the Rex Harrison style, seen earlier in "The Life I Lead
."
It is often rumored that Walt Disney had asked his songwriters to write a song about a kite because of his two daughters. Both of his daughters are members of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and their symbol is a kite. The song "Let's Go Fly a Kite" is sometimes believed dedicated to Kappa Alpha Theta.
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's film Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
, composed by Richard M. Sherman
Richard M. Sherman
Richard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical film with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman....
and Robert B. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman
Robert Bernard Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman...
. This song is heard at the end of the film when the story's protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, George Banks (played by David Tomlinson
David Tomlinson
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson was an English film actor. He is primarily remembered for his roles as authority figure George Banks in Mary Poppins, fraudulent magician Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and as hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug.-Early life:Born...
), realizes that his family is more important than his job. He mends his son's kite and takes his family on a kite-flying outing. The song is sung by Tomlinson, Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
and eventually the entire chorus.
In keeping with Mr. Banks' change in character, this song was pre-recorded, and thus sung normally, by Tomlinson, rather than in his previous talk-singing in the Rex Harrison style, seen earlier in "The Life I Lead
The Life I Lead
"The Life I Lead" is a song from the 1964 Walt Disney film Mary Poppins, composed by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Academy Award winning music arranger, Irwin Kostal used the theme from this song as the leit motif of the protagonist, "George Banks" as it most expresses the way he...
."
Development
- Although the notion of Mary Poppins gliding down a kite is mentioned incidentally in one of the P.L. Travers books, the metaphor of the mended kite (being a symbol of the mended Banks family) is taken from the 1961 Sherman BrothersSherman BrothersThe Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....
screenplay treatment. The song was inspired by the Sherman Brothers' father, Al ShermanAl ShermanAl Sherman was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter from the first half of the twentieth century. Sherman is a link in a long chain of musical Sherman family members.-Early life:...
, who besides being a well-known songwriter in his day was also an amateur kite maker, who made kites for neighborhood children as a weekend hobby.
- The song was originally written in 4/4 or common time, but Walt Disney felt it was too much like the ending of a Broadway show and wanted a song that was more "breezy", like a waltzWaltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
. The song was recrafted into a 3/4 waltz-like arrangement.
- The song appears in the stage musical versionMary Poppins (musical)Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre...
as well, but closer to the middle of the show and not at the show's end. In this version, the scene recreates what happens in the beginning of the second book when Mary Poppins came back on the string of Michael's kite.
It is often rumored that Walt Disney had asked his songwriters to write a song about a kite because of his two daughters. Both of his daughters are members of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and their symbol is a kite. The song "Let's Go Fly a Kite" is sometimes believed dedicated to Kappa Alpha Theta.
Literary Sources
- Sherman, Robert B. Walt's Time: from before to beyondWalt's Time: from before to beyondWalt's Time: from before to beyond is a 252-page autobiographic, full color book by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. It was edited by Imagineers Bruce Gordon, David Mumford and Jeff Kurtti and was published in 1998 by Camphor Tree Publishers who are out of Santa Clarita, California...
. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.